Entity SEO for Tool Rankings

2026-01-18•7 min read

Key Takeaways

•Entities = known things: Products, companies, and people that AI systems recognize
•Canonical names matter: Use the exact names AI already knows
•Consistent attributes: Same properties (price, features) across all mentions
•Relationship context: Help AI understand how entities relate to each other

Entity SEO is about helping AI systems correctly identify and understand the products and tools you're ranking. When AI can confidently match your content to known entities, it's more likely to cite your rankings.

What Are Entities in SEO?#

Entities are things that exist in knowledge graphs—products, companies, people, concepts. Google, Wikipedia, and AI systems maintain databases of entities with known attributes and relationships.

Notion (company and product)
Asana (company and product)
Slack (owned by Salesforce)
HubSpot CRM (product by HubSpot)

Using Canonical Entity Names#

AI systems recognize entities by their canonical (official) names. Using variations reduces citation likelihood.

Pros

Notion (official name)
Asana (official name)
HubSpot CRM (full product name)
Salesforce (company name)

Cons

The Notion app
Asana software
HubSpot's CRM tool
SFDC or SF

Find Canonical Names

Check Wikipedia, Google Knowledge Panel, or the company's official "About" page. Use the exact formatting (capitalization, spacing) you find there.

Consistent Entity Attributes#

When describing tools, use consistent attributes that AI systems can compare:

Pricing

Format: $XX/user/month or $XX/month. Be consistent across all tools.

Entity Relationships#

Help AI understand how entities relate to each other:

1
Owned by / Parent company
"Slack (owned by Salesforce)" provides context.
2
Competes with
"Notion competes with Asana and Monday.com" establishes relationships.
3
Integrates with
"Zapier integrates with 5,000+ apps" describes capabilities.
4
Best for
"HubSpot CRM is best for small businesses" defines use case.

Schema Markup for Entities#

Use appropriate schema types to reinforce entity understanding:

entity-schema.json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
  "name": "Notion",
  "applicationCategory": "Productivity",
  "operatingSystem": "Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Notion Labs, Inc."
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "8",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "priceSpecification": {
      "@type": "UnitPriceSpecification",
      "price": "8",
      "priceCurrency": "USD",
      "unitText": "per user per month"
    }
  }
}

Entity SEO Checklist#

Use canonical entity names throughout
Verify names match Wikipedia/Knowledge Graph
Include parent company for sub-brands
Use consistent pricing format
Add SoftwareApplication or Product schema
Mention key competitors to establish context

Frequently Asked Questions#

What if a tool has multiple names?

Use the primary name consistently, then mention alternatives once: "Notion (formerly known as Notion.so)" establishes both names.

How do I handle rebranded products?

Use the current name but reference the old name for search purposes: "Webflow (the company behind the Webflow design platform, previously a startup tool)"