Part of Entity strategy is curating what information about your brand (and related entities) is available and likely to be used by AI:
- Update Public Facts: Through your audit, you identified if any public data was outdated or wrong (like an old CEO name). Take steps to correct these. Often, Wikipedia or Wikidata can be updated with new info (with citations). If a data site like Data.com or a government registry has an old address, update those as well. Think of all the “factual” questions someone could ask about your business – make sure each has a source of truth you control or influence.
- Suppressing Undesired Info (Ethically): If there’s an unfavorable but valid piece of info (say a past lawsuit that’s been resolved), you can’t erase history (nor should you try to illegitimately). But you can create newer, positive content that pushes it down in prominence. For instance, publish news about your recent awards or community contributions. Over time, AI models get updated and will emphasize more recent or frequently mentioned information. If the negative info is truly wrong or defamatory, engage in online reputation management: reach out to sites to correct it, use legal channels if necessary. For AI, one challenge is it might regurgitate even content that’s been removed from the web (if it was in the training set). However, future retraining and real-time search components won’t surface it if it’s gone from live web. So cleansing the web where possible is beneficial.
- Expand Your Digital Footprint: If your Entity is scarcely mentioned online, it’s hard for AI to learn about it. Work on digital PR to get more mentions and features. Sponsor relevant events or webinars (and get listed on their sites), collaborate with influencers or academics on content (getting your brand mentioned in their outputs), publish research or data studies (which others might cite). Each mention is another point of reference. This isn’t just link-building for SEO, but knowledge-building for AI.
Monitor AI References Over Time: Periodically, ask AI chatbots about your brand or product. As you implement your Entity strategy, you should see answers get more detailed and accurate. For example, where ChatGPT once said “I’m not familiar with that company,” it might later provide a summary of your company history – a clear win for your Entity optimization. If inaccuracies persist, figure out what source might be leading to that and fix it. In the early 2020s, some companies discovered AI would mention false things like “Company X is shutting down” – tracing those often led to a misinterpreted forum post or an April Fool’s joke article. The solution was to create new content clarifying “Company X is thriving” with up-to-date facts, which eventually overrides the narrative.