What Is a Knowledge Graph?

A knowledge graph is a data framework used to centralize, structure, manage, and distribute information at scale. It can store all of your company/brand data together, and it understands the relationships between all that data, too.

The LLMs that power AI search experiences consume the data structured in a knowledge graph. Whether a customer asks Siri, searches Google, or prompts Perplexity AI, your knowledge graph makes it easy for the platform to tease out the content it needs to respond.

How a knowledge graph impacts search results

In simplest terms, when a customer queries an AI platform (or partners with an AI agent), the answers they get from AI are actually just repackaged data — content the AI finds and AI trains on. When that content is consistent — because a brand has published it from a knowledge graph — AI will prioritize it and surface that brand’s content in its response to related customer searches.

Four ways that brands benefit from a knowledge graph

As artificial intelligence and AI search become part of our lives, knowledge graphs have an even bigger role to play for brands. Every second, customers are searching everywhere. At the same time, AI-driven technology is processing new types of data and training on unprecedented amounts of it. Brands must meet this moment, so they can stay relevant and competitive during this shift.

Here are four ways brands and marketers can benefit from adopting a knowledge graph into their data, AI, and marketing strategies:

1. Improve discoverability in AI search

A knowledge graph takes brands beyond keywords. It responds accurately and relevantly to explicit search terms and contextual search factors (e.g., geography, demographics, historical use, personal mood, or local weather). This contextual awareness is what helps brands create personal experiences for customers, offering the right information at the right moment, exactly where customers ask for it.

Yext’s Knowledge Graph organizes your data so it's easy for search engines and AI platforms to find and interpret. Whether your customer is one of the 64% still turning to traditional search or part of the 45% already using AI platforms for search, Yext organizes your data so it's accurately interconnected, understood, and accessible everywhere customers are searching.

2. Automate data updates everywhere at once

When marketers can manage all their brand data in a knowledge graph, it can save the team time while reducing risk to brand reputation. After all, AI-driven search will deprioritize information with inconsistencies. 64% of customers distrust a brand when they find inconsistencies, too.

Yext's Knowledge Graph links related entities (e.g. locations, products, etc.) and the data points that shape them (e.g.hours, photos, etc.). When one updates, the change automatically cascades across all digital touchpoints. This reduces manual work, helps keep brand data accurate and consistent across every platform, and allows brands to scale updates — with the touch of a button.

3. Operate from a single, centralized source of truth

When brands combine structured and unstructured data into a knowledge graph, it's easy to keep all their brand information up-to-date and synced. From Apple Maps to ChatGPT and everywhere in between, customers can find accurate, up-to-date information wherever they search.

Yext’s Knowledge Graph serves as a single, centralized place for all your brand’s information (e.g., structured data, like locations and hours; semi-structured data, like FAQs; and unstructured content, like blog posts). On top of keeping your data properly organized, Yext keeps it accessible, connected, and ready for both traditional search engines and AI-driven search experiences.

4. Refocus your team on strategic plays, not manual labor

With Knowledge Graph at the ready, marketers don't have to spend time or energy manually updating data across channels and platforms.

Yext’s Knowledge Graph:

• Streamlines data management
• Integrates data and workflows with existing systems
• Does it all without the need for technical support or headcount

With one update, marketers can trust their work will scale across locations, products, services, and channels. This frees up valuable time for more strategic projects.

Outpace your competition with a knowledge graph

Brands that have already invested in a knowledge graph are operating with all the benefits of a first mover. But it's still early days in the Age of AI. Brands that adapt now can catch up and pull ahead of the competition.

Don't take our word for it — here's what ChatGPT has to say:

Learn how to power up your brand with Yext's Knowledge Graph — a comprehensive, connected brand data resource that AI prioritizes and brands prefer.