Retrieval and usability, control 15 of 18
R-15 Use coherent entity identifiers and genuine profile relationships
Use stable identifiers and appropriate types for real entities. sameAs should identify the same entity, not imply that every article mentioning it is its official identity.
- Priority
- Optimisation.
- Hard gate
- No
- Change class
- AUTO_WITH_TEST: A candidate requiring relevant tests.
- Quality bucket
- Retrieval and usability
Why it matters
If identity markup points at the wrong entity or at unrelated profiles, search engines and AI answer engines can mix up who a business or author really is. Google's documentation on Organization and ProfilePage data expects the markup to describe the real entity and page. Invented details or loose sameAs links weaken the identity signals that these systems use to connect a brand to its profiles.
Evidence to review
- Entity inventory, ownership or identity evidence and structured-data review.
How to implement
- Connect legal and trading names truthfully.
- Use genuine profiles, including authoritative third-party identity pages where appropriate.
- Remove dead or mismatched identity URLs.
- Apply ProfilePage only to pages whose main subject is that profile.
How UltimateSEO checks this
Automated. A check in the scan sets PASS or FAIL for this control, and reports UNKNOWN or BLOCKED when its input is missing.
States used: PASS, FAIL, UNKNOWN, NOT_APPLICABLE or BLOCKED. UNKNOWN is never shown as a pass. How states work.
Sources
Part of The UltimateSEO Framework v4.3, catalogue dated 2026-10-14. Evidence states, control states and the publish gate are explained on the hub.