"Do I have a knowledge panel?" sounds like a yes or no question. It is really two questions, and mixing them up is behind most of the confusion people have about panels. The first is whether Google has built an entity for you in its Knowledge Graph. The second is whether Google shows that entity's panel when someone searches your name. You can have the first without the second, and knowing which situation you are in tells you what to do next.
What a panel is made of
A panel is Google displaying its record about an entity. The name and subtitle at the top come from the record. The image is chosen by Google from sources it trusts, or set by you once you have claimed the panel. The short description often comes from Wikipedia if there is an article, and otherwise may be missing. The facts below, such as education or employer, come from structured sources, including Wikidata and the hidden layer on sites Google trusts. The profile links come from sameAs connections Google is confident about. The website is the one Google believes is officially yours.
Every one of those parts is built from sources, which is why everything earlier in this course matters. The claim gives you a voice in a few of them. It does not give you a pen.
Check whether your entity exists
Google gives every entity an ID, called a kgmid, that looks like /g/11ab12cd34 or /m/0abc12. If you know your kgmid, you can ask Google for that entity directly, regardless of whether it shows up for your name.
There are several ways to find it.
If a panel already shows for your name, or for your name with your company, the kgmid is usually in the page address. Click the name at the top of the panel, or use the panel's share option, and look in the resulting address for kgmid= followed by the ID.
If you have a Wikidata item, check whether someone has added "Google Knowledge Graph ID" (P2671). Bots and editors often do.
If you are comfortable with a little technical work, Google's Knowledge Graph Search API returns entities matching a name, with their IDs. It needs a free API key from Google Cloud. It does not return every entity, but it often finds people who have no visible panel.
If none of those work, search your name with each of your strongest disambiguators: your company, your book, your city, your field. A panel that appears for "Dana Reyes Reyes Advisory" but not for "Dana Reyes" still gives you the kgmid.
Once you have a kgmid, test it by entering this in your browser's address bar, with your ID in place of the example:
https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/11ab12cd34
Look at the All tab. Not the Web tab, which strips panels out by design and will never show one. Do this in a private window, and again signed in, because the two can differ.
Read what you find
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The kgmid shows your panel, and so does a search for your plain name | Your entity exists and Google is confident | Claim it, below, and keep it accurate |
| The kgmid shows your panel, but your plain name does not | Your entity exists; Google is not confident enough to show it for your name | Look for a namesake or a duplicate; strengthen the record (modules 2 and 3) |
| Your name with your company shows a panel, the plain name does not | Same as above, usually a namesake problem | Use your disambiguating phrase everywhere; be patient |
| The kgmid shows normal results and no panel | The entity has probably been merged into another or dropped | Search for a newer kgmid; check for a duplicate |
| You cannot find any kgmid for yourself | Google has not built an entity yet, or it is too weak to surface | Keep building; check monthly. There is nothing to claim yet |
| Two different kgmids both look like you | A duplicate entity | See duplicates, below |
If you are in the last two rows, nothing in the rest of this module applies yet, and that is normal. Most people who take this course start there. The work is in modules 2, 3 and 5, and the check becomes part of your monthly routine in module 8.
Claim the panel
When a panel appears that is unmistakably you, claim it. Claiming tells Google that the person behind the panel is you, and unlocks a small set of controls and a feedback channel that gets priority.
- Use the right account. Open a private window and sign in only as your domain account from module 4. If you are signed in to several Google accounts, the claim can attach to the wrong one.
- Find your panel. Search your name. If the panel only shows with your company added, search that.
- Find the claim link. It reads "Claim this knowledge panel". On a computer it is usually at the bottom of the panel, sometimes in the About section. On a phone it is in the panel's menu. If you see no claim link, either someone has already claimed the panel, or it is a kind Google does not yet let people claim. Google says not every panel is claimable and suggests checking back from time to time.
- Verify through an official site or profile. Google asks you to sign in to one it associates with you. Its help page lists YouTube, Search Console, X (Twitter) and Facebook. Choose Search Console if it is offered and your domain property is verified under this account. If Google cannot identify any official site connected to you, it asks for more information to verify who you are instead, which takes longer.
- Confirm it worked. Once verified, you manage the panel on Google, and you will see options to suggest edits when you search yourself while signed in. You can add other people as managers later, which is safer than sharing your login.
If Google says the panel is already managed by someone, check whether anyone helped you in the past: a publicist, an agency, an employer. If you truly cannot find who claimed it, Google's help pages describe an account recovery route through the knowledge panel support team.
After the claim: suggesting edits
Claiming gives you the ability to suggest changes. Suggest, not make. Google reviews every suggestion and approves only what it can check against sources and its policies.
The featured image is the change most people want and the one most often approved. Suggest the same headshot you use everywhere, from module 2. Do not change it again for a long time; a panel photo that keeps changing undoes the consistency you built.
Factual attributes such as your website and social profiles can be suggested. Each suggestion should be small, specific and supported by a source Google can see, usually your site or your Wikidata item.
Some parts cannot be edited directly. The subtitle, the description pulled from Wikipedia and the "people also search for" section come from sources and from Google's own systems. To change them, you either change the sources or use feedback, below.
Make one or two suggestions at a time, wait for them to be reviewed, and keep a dated note. A flood of suggestions all at once is harder to review and easier to reject.
Feedback, and where to send it
For anything you cannot suggest as an edit, use feedback, and use the right feedback link. Under the panel's overview there is a small feedback link that belongs to that specific entity. That is the one to use. The "Send feedback" link at the bottom of the results page goes to general search feedback, which is not tied to your panel at all.
When you send panel feedback:
- Be signed in as the account that verified the panel. Google says this gives the feedback priority.
- Pick the specific item that is wrong, such as the subtitle, and say what it should say.
- Give sources. Link your site's home page and your Wikidata item if you have one. Google asks for pages that verify the change.
- Keep it short and factual. "The subtitle says Managing Partner at a firm I left in 2023. I am now the founder of Reyes Advisory, as stated on my site and in my Wikidata item."
There is no dashboard showing the status of feedback. You may get a confirmation email. In our experience the signal that it worked is the panel changing, usually within a few weeks, or an email asking for more evidence. If nothing changes after about three weeks, send it once more, then leave it.
Duplicates and mix ups
Two kinds of problem are more common than people expect.
A duplicate entity is when Google has built two records for the same person. Usually one is the real record, connected to your site, and the other was built from an old source: a stale author bio, an old company page, a conference listing with a previous job title. The two compete, and Google may show neither for your name. We have had exactly this on our own records, with a duplicate built from an author bio on an industry site that described a role left years before.
To fix it: find the source feeding the duplicate, usually by testing the duplicate's kgmid and looking at what it says, then fix that source with the update email from module 3. Then send feedback on your real panel explaining that a second entity describes the same person, with both kgmids, and link your site and Wikidata item as evidence. Google has to merge the two; you cannot. It can take more than one round.
A mixed up panel is the reverse: one panel combining you with someone of the same or a similar name, such as their photo with your job title. Google's help pages list this as a problem to contact them about. Use the panel feedback link, explain which parts belong to the other person, and point to your site as the source of your facts. Then make sure your disambiguating phrase from module 1 is on every profile, so the confusion has less to feed on.
If your panel disappears
Panels come and go. A panel that showed last month and does not show today usually means Google's confidence dropped, often because a new namesake appeared, a duplicate formed, or a change in Google's systems. Test your kgmid first. If it still resolves to your panel, the entity is fine and the problem is triggering, so look for whatever is competing. If it no longer resolves, look for a new kgmid and a duplicate.
Do not respond by changing everything at once. The record that earned the panel is still there. Check the sources, fix what has drifted, and give it a few weeks.
Do this now
- Try each method above to find your kgmid, and write it down if you find one.
- Test the kgmid in the All tab, in a private window and signed in, and record which row of the table you are in.
- If a panel shows and is clearly you, claim it as your domain account, verifying through Search Console if offered.
- After claiming, suggest your one headshot as the featured image, and nothing else for now.
- If you find a second kgmid that looks like you, find the source behind it and add both to your evidence log.
- Add the kgmid test to your monthly routine, which module 8 sets up.
Questions
How do I get a panel if I do not have one?
You do not request one; Google builds it when it is confident about you. Modules 2, 3 and 5 are how you make it confident: a consistent record, independent coverage and a referenced Wikidata item, all pointing at your site. Check monthly, and claim when it appears.
Can I pay Google to show my panel?
No. There is no paid route, and advertising has no effect on it. Services that promise a panel are either doing the work this course describes and charging for the promise, or using methods that risk getting your entity treated as manipulated.
Someone else claimed my panel. What do I do?
Ask anyone who might have done it on your behalf, such as a former agency, employer or publicist, and have them add you as a manager. If nobody did, Google's help pages describe an account recovery process through its knowledge panel support team.
Why does my panel show a different photo from the one I suggested?
Google chooses whether to accept a suggested image, and it can take a while to update. Make sure the photo you suggested is the one used on your site, your profiles and your Wikidata item if any, so every source agrees. Suggesting a new photo every few weeks makes it less likely, not more, that any of them sticks.