How to Get a Google Knowledge Panel (and Claim the One You Have)

A Google knowledge panel is the box that appears to the right of the results (or near the top on a phone) when you search for a well-known person, company or brand. It shows a name, a photo or logo, a short description, key facts and links to official profiles. You can't apply for one. Google creates panels automatically once it's confident who you are and that people want to know.

So getting one comes down to making your identity unmistakable and well documented, then claiming the panel when it appears.

First, check whether you already have one

Search your name (or your company's name) on Google, signed out and on a phone as well as a computer. Try the variations people use: with and without "Inc.", with your job title, with your city. You'll see one of three things:

• A panel about you. Skip ahead to claiming it.
• A panel about someone else with your name. Google has to tell you apart, so the steps below matter even more. Use your full name and a consistent title everywhere.
• No panel. Google doesn't yet have enough consistent information about you, or doesn't think enough people need it.

A Google Business Profile is a different box. Google says Business Profiles look "similar to knowledge panels" but are "specific to businesses that serve customers at a particular location," and you create one yourself. Any business with a location customers can visit qualifies, including a software company with a staffed office, as long as it follows Google's Business Profile guidelines (no virtual offices or mailing addresses). A company can have both: a Business Profile for its office and a knowledge panel for the brand. The rest of this guide is about the knowledge panel.

How Google decides to show a panel

Google builds panels from its Knowledge Graph, and says the information "comes from various sources across the web." It publishes no threshold or checklist. In practice, panels show up when two things are true:

1. Google can identify you without doubt. The same name, description, photo and facts appear on your own site and on profiles and pages that link to each other.
2. Independent sources talk about you. Press coverage, interviews, podcast pages, conference speaker pages, books, awards and industry directories that describe you in their own words.

Every step below builds one or both.

Step 1: Settle on one name and one description

Before you touch any profile, write down the version of you that should appear everywhere:

• Your name exactly as you want it shown (pick one form and stick to it)
• A one-sentence description: who you are and what you're known for
• Your title and company, or for a company: what it does, founding year, founders, headquarters
• One current photo (or logo), used everywhere
• A list of every official profile you control

Conflicting facts are the most common reason Google hesitates. A different founding year on LinkedIn, an old logo on Crunchbase or three versions of your title make it harder for Google to be sure these all describe the same entity.

Step 2: Build one page that's the official source about you

This page is where Google can confirm the facts. For a company, it's the About page. For a person, it can be a bio page on your company's site or a personal site. Google's documentation accepts "an employee page on a company website" as a profile page, so you don't need a separate site.

The page should state your one-sentence description, your role, your background, your photo, and link to every official profile. Then add structured data so Google can read those facts directly:

• For a company: Organization markup with your name, logo, website and a sameAs list of your official profiles.
• For a person: profile page markup with a Person that includes your name, job title, employer, image and sameAs links.

Markup alone won't create a panel. It removes guesswork once Google is already paying attention.

Step 3: Make every profile match

Go through each profile on your list and make it agree with step 1: same name, same photo, same one-line bio, and a link back to your official page. For people, that usually means LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and author pages on sites where you've written. For companies, add your LinkedIn company page, Crunchbase, review sites such as G2 or Trustpilot, app store listings and industry directories.

The profiles you'll use to verify your panel later (YouTube, Search Console, X or Facebook) are worth getting right first.

Step 4: Earn independent mentions

This is the slow part, and the one most people skip. Google needs to see that sources other than you describe you. Good ones:

• Interviews and podcast episodes with a page about you
• Conference and event speaker pages
• Articles you write for respected publications in your field, with an author bio
• Press coverage that names you or your company
• A published book, with listings on retailer and library sites
• Awards, association memberships and industry rankings with public pages

Keep the details consistent here too. When a podcast asks for your bio, send the one from step 1, with a link to your official page.

Step 5: Leave Wikipedia to others

A Wikipedia article is a strong source for Google, which is why people try to shortcut it. Don't write your own or pay someone to. Wikimedia's terms of use require anyone paid to edit to disclose it, and English Wikipedia strongly discourages editing articles about yourself or your company. Articles that fail Wikipedia's notability rules get deleted, sometimes taking your credibility with them. If the independent coverage from step 4 builds up, an independent editor may write one.

The same goes for Wikidata: items need serious, public references, and Google doesn't document Wikidata as a source for its panels.

How to claim your knowledge panel

Once a panel shows up, claim it so you can suggest changes with priority. Google's verification steps:

1. Sign in to a Google Account.
2. Search for yourself or the company you represent and find the panel.
3. Click Claim this knowledge panel at the bottom of the panel (on a phone, open the panel's menu).
4. Review the information, then sign in to one of the official sites or profiles Google lists, such as your website's Search Console, YouTube, X or Facebook.

No claim button? Google says "not all knowledge panels are claimable as of now," so check back from time to time and use the Feedback link meanwhile. If no official sites are linked to the panel, Google asks for more information to verify you.

After you're verified, you can add other people as managers or contributors and suggest changes. Google says owners can also pick the panel's featured image.

How to edit or fix a knowledge panel

Use the Feedback option on the panel to suggest an edit. Google reviews feedback "by comparing it with other public information on the web," and feedback from verified users is reviewed "within a few days." That's why steps 1 to 3 matter even after you have a panel: an edit sticks when your site and profiles back it up.

A few common fixes:

• Wrong photo or logo: as the verified owner, choose a featured image, and make sure the one you want is on your official page and profiles.
• Old title or description: update your official page and profiles first, then suggest the edit and link to them.
• Someone else's details mixed in: suggest the correction with links that show which facts are yours, and keep your name and description consistent so Google can separate you.

Google says its policy "doesn't manually create or delete Knowledge Panels," so nobody at Google can add or remove one on request.

How long it takes

Google gives no timeline. Panels appear when its systems are confident, and they can disappear again if the information goes stale or conflicts. A company with real press coverage and tidy profiles may see one within months of cleaning things up. A person starting from scratch needs the independent mentions from step 4 first, which takes as long as earning them takes.

A side benefit: the same consistent facts are what ChatGPT, Google's AI Mode and other assistants read when someone asks about you, so this work improves how they describe you too.

What to avoid

• Anyone who guarantees a panel. Google decides whether one appears, so a guarantee is a promise about something the seller doesn't control.
• Paid Wikipedia or Wikidata entries, for the reasons in step 5.
• Press release blasts and paid guest posts placed to manufacture mentions. Google's spam policies treat links in them as link spam.
• Handing over your login or ID. Claiming is your step. Do it yourself, in Google's own flow.

Checklist

If you publish with KoalaWriter, keep your facts in your brand's Brand DNA so every article describes you the same way.