Introduction to the Knowledge Graph API
The Google Knowledge Graph API reveals entity information related to a keyword, that Google knows about. This information can be very useful for SEO – discovering related topics and what Google believes is relevant. It can also help when trying to claim/win a Knowledge Graph box on search results. The API requires a high level of technical understanding, so this tool creates a simple public interface, with the ability to export data into spreadsheets.
Understanding the search results
- Relevancy Score: How relevant Google thinks this entity is to your search term. Higher numbers indicate more confidence.
- Description: A short description of the entity.
- Types: The entity’s object Schema.org types. More information on this on the Schema.org website.
- View on Google: Preview the information box that Google sometimes displays to the right of search results. This special URL is generated using the entity’s unique ID.
- Detailed Description: A detailed description of the entity. At this time, these seem to always be sourced from Wikipedia. After the description, links to the source article (Wikipedia) and license are listed.
- Image: As with the description, this appears to always be taken from Wikipedia.
- Image (URL): Google-hosted copy of the image. These are usually small and heavily compressed.
- Image (Source): The image’s Wikipedia media page. Typically this will have much higher-quality versions of the image.
- Image (License): A link to the image’s license and usage information.
Further reading
- A Layman’s Visual Guide To Google’s Knowledge Graph Search API – Search Engine Land
- What Are Entities & Why They Matter for SEO – Search Engine Journal
- Answering Questions using the Knowledge Graph – Bill Slawski
- Entity Extractions for Knowledge Graphs at Google – Bill Slawski
- Guide to the Knowledge Graph – Google Inside Search
- Discussion of the Knowledge Graph API Release – Hacker News
- How to Check If You’re an Online Entity – Knowledge Graph Search API – Elite SEM
- Entity Associations with Websites and Related Entities – SEO by the Sea
- Google Releases Long-Awaited Knowledge Graph API – SEO Skeptic
- Google Knowledge Graph Search API Documentation – Google