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Artificial Intelligence

Entity

Also known as: search entity, AI entity & semantic entity

Plain English

A thing that can be clearly identified and understood.

Definition

An entity is a clearly defined concept, object, or thing that can be understood independently, such as a person, place, organisation, or idea.

In practice

Used by engines and AI to understand relationships between concepts rather than relying on keywords alone.

In context

It is why a page about a named method outperforms a page about the general topic. can attach an entity to a ; a vague topic has nothing to attach to.

The reality

is no longer about keywords. It is about how well understand entities and their relationships.

Compared with

Entity vs Keyword

A keyword is a string that has to match. An entity is a concept that persists across the different words used for it. Optimising for entities survives the paraphrasing that generative do by default.

FAQ

Common questions

A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this term.

What is an entity in search?

An entity is a distinct concept like a person, place, or organisation.

Why are entities important?

They help understand meaning and relationships.

How are entities used?

To connect related concepts and improve accuracy.

How do entities differ from keywords?

Entities represent meaning, while keywords are just words.

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