In practice
The mechanism is corroboration rather than declaration. Marking up your own site states a claim; the claim becomes confidence when independent sources agree — directories, registries, reference sites, coverage. That is why entity work runs on a longer clock than on-page work and cannot be completed entirely on your own domain.
It has become unavoidable because answer and generative systems reason about entities. An engine that cannot confidently say what your company is, what it sells and who it competes with will not name it in a recommendation, however well individual pages rank for individual phrases.
The diagnostic is simple and takes minutes: ask several assistants what your company does and who it competes with. Vague, wrong or absent answers indicate an entity problem, and the specific errors usually point directly at which sources need correcting.
Not to be confused with
- Keyword targeting
- Keywords match the phrase someone types. Entities identify the thing that phrase refers to, and its relationships to other things.
- Structured data
- Structured data is one input to entity confidence, not the whole of it. Markup states a claim; independent sources make it credible.
Questions
How do we know if we have an entity problem?
Ask several assistants what your company does and who it competes with. Vague, wrong or absent answers indicate one, and the specific errors usually point straight at which sources need fixing.
How long does entity work take?
Structured data changes register within weeks. Shifting what engines believe about your category position depends on third-party corroboration accumulating, which realistically means three to six months.
Does this replace keyword research?
No. Keyword research still establishes what demand exists and what is winnable. Entity work determines whether you are a candidate in answers and generative results at all.