Knowledge Panel

When Google recognizes an entity — a business, person, organization, landmark, movie, brand — it surfaces a Knowledge Panel with verified facts about it. For local businesses, the panel typically shows the business name, logo, a map pin, opening hours, phone number, website, reviews, and social links. For people and organizations, it shows biographical information, images, related entities, and notable facts. The panel serves as a direct answer to informational queries, reducing the need for users to click through to learn basic facts. Knowledge Panels appear for roughly 40% of searches on Google desktop and mobile, and they draw traffic away from traditional organic results toward direct website visits and phone calls.

Google's Knowledge Graph is a database of interconnected entities and their relationships. It's built from structured data markup on the web, public databases (Wikipedia, Wikidata, government records), Google My Business data, user corrections, and continuous machine learning. When you search for a business, person, or place, Google queries the Knowledge Graph for that entity and renders the matching facts in the Knowledge Panel. The panel isn't manually curated — it's algorithmic. Google weighs signal strength: if your Google Business Profile says you're open until 9 PM but a directory says 10 PM, Google makes a confidence judgment about which is authoritative. The panel updates dynamically as the Knowledge Graph learns.

You don't directly edit a Knowledge Panel — you influence it. Your primary lever is your Google Business Profile, which feeds directly into the Knowledge Graph and typically takes priority in the panel. You can also add structured data markup (schema.org) to your website to signal facts about your business, person, or organization. If Google's panel contains factual errors, you can suggest edits directly in the Knowledge Panel via a small "Suggest an edit" link. For people with Knowledge Panels, you can claim or create a Knowledge Panel via the Google Business Profile or by verifying via Google Search Console. Some entities (public figures, organizations) require verification before edits take effect.

A Knowledge Panel is a ranking feature — it's often the destination for high-intent local searches. When someone searches "[Your Business Name]," the Knowledge Panel appears above the organic results, sometimes with a direct call button or instant navigation link. Accurate Google Business Profile data and consistent NAP across the web improve the quality of the Knowledge Panel Google builds. The panel also influences AI recommendations: when AI Overviews recommend local businesses, they pull facts from the Knowledge Graph, the same source as the Knowledge Panel. Keeping your Knowledge Panel facts complete, current, and consistent with your place ID is foundational to both classic local ranking and AI-era visibility.