GlossaryAI search
What is Wikidata?
Also called: Wikidata item, Q ID, Wikidata entry
Definition
Wikidata is a free, collaborative, multilingual knowledge base of structured facts, run by the Wikimedia movement. Each entity is an item with a Q number, described by statements that other sites and systems can reuse.
Wikidata, explained
Wikidata's own introduction calls it a free, collaborative, multilingual, secondary knowledge base, collecting structured data to support Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and other wikis, and anyone in the world. Items are identified by a Q followed by a number, Douglas Adams is Q42, and described by statements made of a property (like "founded by") and a value.
It matters for entity SEO because it's open, structured and widely reused. Search engines, AI systems, apps and researchers all pull from it. A Wikidata item with your official website, founders, founding date and profile identifiers is a clean, machine-readable description of your company that others can trust and link to.
The catch is notability. Wikidata's policy says an item is acceptable if it meets at least one of three criteria: it has a valid link to a Wikimedia page such as a Wikipedia article; it refers to a clearly identifiable entity that can be described using serious and publicly available references; or it fulfills a structural need. Most very young startups don't meet the second test yet because independent, serious coverage doesn't exist.
Wikipedia is stricter. Its general notability guideline presumes a topic merits an article when it has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject. Founders writing their own company's article usually end badly.
So the honest approach is: earn coverage first, then add or improve a Wikidata item with neutral facts and references, following the community's rules. Link to it from your sameAs list once it exists. Don't create promotional items, and don't pay services that promise Wikipedia pages.
Why it matters for founders
Once you qualify, a Wikidata item gives search engines and AI a neutral, structured description of your company to reuse. Trying to force one before you qualify wastes time and can backfire.
Example
After coverage in two trade publications, a startup's item is created with its official site, founders and founding date, each backed by a reference. Its homepage Organization markup then adds the item to sameAs.
Common mistakes
- Creating a promotional item with no independent references.
- Paying for a Wikipedia article that gets deleted for lack of notability.
- Letting the item's facts drift out of date after a rebrand or move.
Sources
Checked
Related terms
- Entity SEOEntity SEO is the work of helping search engines and AI systems recognize your company or product as one distinct thing, an entity, and connect the right facts, profiles and pages to it.
- sameAs (schema.org)sameAs is a schema.org property that lists URLs of other pages which unambiguously identify the same entity, such as your official social profiles, Wikidata item or Crunchbase page, inside your structured data.
- Knowledge GraphThe Knowledge Graph is Google's database of real-world entities, such as people, companies, places and products, and the facts and relationships connecting them. It powers knowledge panels and helps Google understand queries.
- Brand mentionA brand mention is any place your company or product name appears on the web, in articles, forums, reviews, directories or AI answers, whether or not it links to your site.