In the dynamic landscape of search optimization, multi-location businesses are increasingly employing entity linking as a strategy to enhance their competitive stature.
This method, which establishes connections between on-site content and reputable external knowledge repositories, provides clear signals to search engines and artificial intelligence systems.
A recent case study published by Search Engine Journal presents how Brightview Senior Living, which operates over 47 senior living communities, utilized entity linking to elevate local rankings and improve performance in non-branded queries amidst the evolving search paradigm influenced by AI technologies.
Brightview contended with common challenges faced by chain establishments: the misinterpretation of ambiguous location names such as Phoenix, Maryland, in contrast to Phoenix, Arizona, which resulted in users being misdirected when searching for “assisted living near me.”
By adopting an entity-centric strategy, the organization categorized its locations and services as distinct entities, subsequently fortifying these connections through schema.org markup linked to resources like Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Google’s Knowledge Graph. Properties like “sameAs,” “mentions,” and “areaServed” were instrumental in providing the necessary disambiguation.
Disambiguating Locations Drives Precise Visibility
The implementation encompassed community pages, blogs, and various resources, culminating in a comprehensive site-wide knowledge graph. Martha van Berkel, CEO of Schema App and the author of the case study, underscored the importance of external linking in elucidating content for machines.
Reinforcing this point, Krishna Madhavan, Principal Product Manager at Bing, remarked in a Microsoft publication, “Schema can label your content as a product, review, FAQ, or event, transforming plain text into structured data interpretable by machines.”
Ryan Pitcheralle, Brightview’s SEO consultant, directly linked the improvements to the use of schema, stating, “It is a complete causation, not merely correlation. This is why we’ve maintained our competitiveness in clickthrough rates and overall performance while others falter.”
This initiative produced impressive outcomes, including a 25% surge in clicks and a 30% increase in impressions for non-branded “assisted living” searches, in addition to a 16% year-over-year growth in clicks and a 26% rise in impressions across community pages—outstripping industry declines attributed to AI-driven Overviews.
Non-Branded Queries Benefit from Service Entity Mapping
Beyond the success of Brightview, the adoption of entity-oriented strategies is gaining traction. InLinks promotes the concept of entity referencing for establishing topical authority, encouraging thorough audits of content gaps relative to competitors to enhance semantic relevance.
According to a 2025 survey mentioned therein, a significant 80% of U.S. consumers engage in local searches on a weekly basis, highlighting the critical importance of these strategies. Tools like InLinks serve to categorize entities, thereby improving internal linking and overall visibility.
Link-Assistant detailed an instance where the integration of entity association, keyword clustering, and schema propelled a local enterprise from no traffic to front-page search results.
Initially devoid of backlinks or citations since its domain registration in 2016, the site achieved organic, maps, and Bing visibility by strategically targeting geographical landmarks as entities.
Schema Powers AI and Traditional Search Accuracy
The Schema App platform, utilized by Brightview, automates dynamic markup and entity linking for enterprises. Research findings indicate that pages incorporating linking experience heightened click rates, which is essential as AI-generated summaries diminish traditional traffic.
Schema App reports that Brightview’s analytics concerning entities demonstrated increased impressions and click-through rates subsequent to implementation, aligning with Google’s October 2025 Search Central Live focus on structured data.
HubSpot’s entity-based SEO guide emphasizes the significance of Knowledge Graph connections for achieving rankings that extend beyond mere exact keyword matches.
These content clusters, fortified with schema and internal links, cultivate authority, intriguingly illustrated through tools such as HubSpot’s SEO recommendations. Research by Fractl reveals that 66% of consumers anticipate AI will soon supersede traditional search, amplifying the necessity for entity visibility.
Broader Industry Echoes Brightview’s Tactics
For multi-location brands, Searchscope suggests the development of entity-rich content that connects with local landmarks, thereby reinforcing internal links and on-page elements.
Furthermore, Jasmine Directory underscores the necessity of linking to Wikidata IDs for successful Knowledge Graph integration, citing data from Schema App demonstrating SEO improvements. Google’s knowledge graph encompasses over 500 billion facts regarding 5 billion entities.
Forbes Councils discuss how hyperlocal entities, like parks and events, can enhance Google Business Profile metrics. A 2025 McKinsey study indicated that 47% of consumers value the characteristics of being “locally owned,” thereby magnifying the importance of entity associations.
Tracking Google Business Profile impressions for neighborhood-specific terms and reviewing mentions of local landmarks is crucial.
Scaling Entity Strategies Across Chains
Prose Media’s entity-based link building offers a new trajectory in off-page SEO, linking brands with local entities for enhanced visibility beyond mere keyword associations.
Search Engine Land’s entity-first optimization guide recommends thorough audits of top pages to identify canonical entities and align schema and links effectively. Semrush data indicates that AI traffic converts at four times better rates.
Discussions on social media amplify this urgency. Throughout January 2026, Search Engine Journal highlighted the Brightview case multiple times, igniting interest within the industry.
Practitioners like Noel Ceta emphasize the significance of Google Business Profile optimization alongside entity strategies, while Schema App has been actively promoting the insights shared by van Berkel.
Future-Proofing Multi-Site Operations
Numerous enterprise examples exist. Marriott, for instance, manages 9,361 properties with an established entity governance structure, as noted by MarTech. According to trends forecasted by Rio SEO for 2025, structured data is set to dominate AI discovery.
Whitespark’s 2026 factors highlight that local business signals account for 32%, with reviews constituting 16%—both of which are underpinned by entity structures.
Backlinko’s multi-location playbook emphasizes the necessity for consistent name, address, phone number (NAP) information and the importance of schema-structured location pages.
As AI innovations, such as ChatGPT, increasingly rely on entity patterns, brands must proactively foster co-occurrences across platforms like Wikipedia, LinkedIn, and various forums.
Observations from the Schema App reveal that entity-linked pages are more resilient against declines in click rates, thus positioning adopters favorably for the future.
Source link: Webpronews.com.
