Knowledge panel for brands and businesses
We’re being asked about knowledge panels quite frequently of late and unfortunately it’s because of inaccurate and outdated information being displayed. So we have pieced together a rough guide of what they are and how you can influence the content being displayed.
What are Knowledge Panels?
A knowledge panel is drawn from Google’s knowledge Graph and other authoritative sources. The knowledge graph was launched in 2012 and links billions of entities with their attributes. (Barrack Obama + President)
It draws data from trusted sources like: Wikipedia and Wikidata, CIA world fact book, Official websites, public data and scheme data on websites.
Other key sources are:
- Your own company website
- Social profiles
- Google my business
- Uniformed brand logos online
- Other websites that hosts data about your business
Can I change what is being displayed on a Knowledge Panel?
Yes and no, mainly no. You can influence it to a degree.
Here are the top ways in which you can alter the content being displayed on your Knowledge Panel
Brand Uniformity
Ensure all published content is correct and accurate. This is an easy one when it comes to your own properties, but becomes more difficult when the KP is pulling data from other sources such as 3rd party retailers or publishers. I know you don’t want this answer, but you need to reach out and ask to update / correct outdated information on these sources.
It goes without saying that this is time consuming and results are not guaranteed.
Use Structured Data (Schema Markup)
Implement schema mark up on your site ( Organisation, Person, Product) to help Google understand your products. Think of schema data on your website like flash cards for a 2 year old. Google can’t always read your page so marking up this data basically means you’re spoonfeeding the information to the search engine about what it’s about. Super essential for SEO etc, but keep in mind this is helpful for the Knowledge panel (but) doesn’t guarantee results.
Wikipage
This one keeps popping up as a current source for Knowledge Panels. If you don’t currently have a wikipage, you can create one following the guidelines for submitting content. The content needs to be factual, not opinionated and well cited throughout. Alternatively, if you do have a wiki page already, it might be worth reaching out and submitting some updates and amends to keep the content relevant and on-brand.
You can reach out to Google and claim the knowledge panel, or so it says, but we haven’t been able to find anywhere to claim the panel as yet.
https://support.google.com/knowledgepanel/answer/7534842?hl=en
If you need help with implementing schema data or anything else affecting your knowledge panel, drop the Agency Director, Jennifer a line. Or say hi on chat.
