What is Entity Resolution?

Entity resolution is the process of determining whether two or more references in structured or unstructured data refer to the same real-world entity. Entity resolution enables AI systems to consolidate fragmented mentions of a business, person, or concept into a single, canonical record—even when names, spellings, or contextual details vary across sources. In AI search optimization, entity resolution is critical because large language models (LLMs) encounter entity data across websites, knowledge graphs, registries, and unstructured text. Without resolution, an LLM may treat "Growth Marshal," "Growth Marshal, LLC," and "growthmarshal.io" as three separate entities rather than one. Persistent identifiers such as LEI numbers, ISNI codes, Wikidata QIDs, and canonical @id URIs reduce ambiguity and increase the probability that an LLM resolves all references to a single, citable entity. Entity resolution is a core dependency of the Entity API™ framework.