The Knowledge Graph is Google's database of facts about people, places, organisations and things, launched in May 2012. Google confirms it and says it held over 500 billion facts about five billion entities by 2020. It is infrastructure rather than a ranking system: it powers knowledge panels, answers factual questions and is named as a data source for AI Mode. For a site, the practical questions are whether its organisation is a recognised entity and whether the facts Google shows about it are correct.
What is the Knowledge Graph?
The Knowledge Graph is Google's store of facts about entities, meaning people, places, organisations and things, and the relationships between them. Google launched it in May 2012 under the phrase "things, not strings".
Its most visible output is the knowledge panel, but Google also uses it to answer factual questions directly.
Google's search results sometimes show information that comes from our Knowledge Graph, our database of billions of facts about people, places, and things.
Google, How Google's Knowledge Graph works, Knowledge Panel Help
How does the Knowledge Graph work?
Google describes it as modelling relationships as well as facts. The 2012 launch post used Marie Curie's family, linked through their Nobel Prizes, as an example of entities joined in the graph.
Facts come from several places. A 2020 Google post says they are gathered from material across the web and from open source and licensed databases, with Wikipedia a common but not sole source. Google's help documentation adds licensed data such as sports scores and facts supplied by entities that have claimed their knowledge panel.
It's not just a catalog of objects; it also models all these inter-relationships.
Amit Singhal, Google, Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings, Google Blog
What evidence is there that Google uses the Knowledge Graph?
The evidence label is Confirmed. Google announced it, documents it in its Knowledge Panel Help and has published its scale twice. At launch in May 2012 it held more than 500 million objects and 3.5 billion facts; by May 2020 Google said it held over 500 billion facts about five billion entities.
It remains current infrastructure. Google's March 2025 AI Mode announcement names the Knowledge Graph as one of the sources AI Mode draws on.
It has amassed over 500 billion facts about five billion entities.
Danny Sullivan, Google, A reintroduction to our Knowledge Graph and knowledge panels, Google Blog
Is the Knowledge Graph a ranking factor?
Google has not said that being in the Knowledge Graph improves a page's rankings, so this page does not claim it. What is documented is that it supplies facts to knowledge panels, direct answers and AI Mode. Those are visibility surfaces in their own right.
Google also says knowledge panels are generated automatically when there is enough information on the open web, and that when a panel displays is decided by automated systems, not something Google will influence on request. Corroborated, consistent public information is the input; there is no form to request inclusion.
Knowledge Panels are created automatically by Google Search Algorithm when there is enough information available on the open web.
Google, How Google's Knowledge Graph works, Knowledge Panel Help
What should sites do about the Knowledge Graph?
Every step here can be checked, and the outcome is visible in the search results.
- Search for your organisation's name and check whether a knowledge panel appears, and whether its facts are correct.
- If a panel exists, claim it through Google's verification process so you can suggest changes.
- Keep your name, address, founders and profiles consistent across your site, structured data and third party profiles, since Google compiles facts from many sources.
- Use Organization structured data with sameAs links to profiles that actually describe you.
Which Laurelin audit checks test for the Knowledge Graph?
These checks test the inputs Google says it uses: consistent public facts about an entity. None can confirm what Google's graph actually holds, except the new check, which reads the knowledge panel output directly.
Knowledge panel missing, unclaimed or showing wrong facts: the new check for this page.
Brand has no resolvable entity: the entity must exist before a panel can.
Inconsistent entity identity: conflicting names and details weaken corroboration.
Entity attributes conflict across sources: Google compiles facts from many sources.
sameAs missing from Organization or Person: links your site to the profiles that corroborate it.
No Wikidata or Wikipedia where notable: Wikipedia is a commonly cited Knowledge Graph source.
What are the key dates for Google Knowledge Graph?
Frequently asked questions about Google Knowledge Graph
How big is Google's Knowledge Graph?
Google said in May 2020 that it held over 500 billion facts about five billion entities. Google has not published a newer figure.
Can I ask Google to create a knowledge panel?
No. Google says panels are created automatically when enough information exists on the open web. You can claim an existing panel and suggest changes.
Does the Knowledge Graph affect rankings?
Google has not said so. It documents the Knowledge Graph as a source for knowledge panels, direct answers and AI Mode.