Key takeaways
- org sameAs property is an identity equivalence signal, not a ranking trick
- This guide explains how sameAs helps entity resolution, why it often “does nothing” when sources disagree, and the minimal safe pattern for a person profile
Table of Contents
sameAs is one of the most misunderstood schema fields.
People treat it like a button: “add sameAs → get a Knowledge Panel”.
That is not what it does.
sameAs is an identity equivalence claim: “this URL refers to the same entity as this other URL”.
If the system already trusts the entity and the sources agree, sameAs reduces ambiguity. If the sources disagree, sameAs will not override the hierarchy.
What sameAs is (in practice)
On a Person entity, sameAs is best used for:
- primary profiles (LinkedIn, Crunchbase, GitHub, X, YouTube, Telegram)
- one canonical site URL
- a small number of secondary profiles (only if consistent)
It tells systems: “these URLs are the same person”.
What sameAs is not
sameAs is not:
- a ranking factor you can “stack”
- a link-building substitute
- a way to force Google to cite your site
If you add 30 low-signal links, you are not “stronger”. You are noisier.
Noise increases ambiguity. Ambiguity increases risk.
Why sameAs often looks like it does nothing
Because entity resolution is a trust problem, not a markup problem.
sameAs works when:
- your canonical person URL is stable
- the same name/alias appears across independent sources
- profiles link back to the same canonical URL
- the system is confident it won’t attach facts to the wrong person
If one directory is dominant and contains different facts, the system will keep trusting that source until agreement improves.
For the broader model:
Minimal safe pattern (Person)
Use a stable @id and keep the list short.
Example (conceptually):
- Person
@id:https://example.com#person - Person
url:https://example.com/person/name sameAs: Tier‑1 profiles + 1–3 secondary links max
If you want a concrete reference implementation:
Common mistakes
- Using different person URLs across the site (
/about,/author, homepage). Pick one canonical person URL. - Mixing Organization profiles into Person sameAs (keep entity types clean).
- Including low-quality profile farms (creates ambiguity).
- Changing sameAs every week (churn looks like risk).
How to validate sameAs (without guessing)
Use “agreement checks”:
- Does each Tier‑1 profile show the same name + alias?
- Does it link back to the canonical person URL?
- Do independent sources (not your site) describe the same identity?
If yes, sameAs is doing its job: reducing ambiguity. If no, fix the sources first.