@id

The primary function of @id is to assign a unique Internationalized Resource Identifier (IRI) to a node. This prevents entity disambiguation errors where an AI might confuse two distinct entities with the same name.

• Mechanism: A node representing a specific person, like 'John Smith', is assigned a URI such as https://example.com/people#john-smith.
• Result: All subsequent references to that URI are understood to be about that exact entity, not a different 'John Smith'.

@id enables the creation of a directed graph by allowing one node to reference another. This is the core of building a semantic web of relationships.

• Example: A Product node can link to its manufacturer by referencing the manufacturer's @id, rather than duplicating the manufacturer's data.
• Benefit: This creates a single source of truth. If the manufacturer's phone number changes, you update it in one place, and all products linking to that @id are implicitly updated.

Use @id to explicitly link your local entities to their canonical counterparts in public knowledge graphs like Wikidata or DBpedia.

• Implementation: Set the @id of your Organization node to its Wikidata IRI (e.g., https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q95 for Google).
• SEO Impact: This provides a powerful entity reconciliation signal, helping AI-driven search engines merge your data with their existing world knowledge, solidifying your entity's identity and authority.

The @id keyword is essential when using the top-level @graph array to define multiple top-level entities in a single JSON-LD block.

• Function: Each object within the @graph array must have a unique @id to serve as its node identifier.
• Interconnection: You can then use these local @ids to define relationships between the entities within the same script block, creating a self-contained, coherent knowledge graph fragment on a single page.

By using @id to reference a node, you avoid embedding the same complex object multiple times. This keeps your structured data payload lean and maintainable.

• Scenario: An Article has an author and a publisher. Both are the same Organization.
• Solution: Define the Organization node once with an @id. Both the author and publisher properties can then simply reference that single @id string, eliminating redundant data and reducing the risk of inconsistencies.

Search engines like Google use @id connections to understand the depth of relationships for rich result eligibility.

• Example: A Recipe with an @id can be linked to a HowTo guide. A Review can be linked to a Product via its @id.
• Outcome: This explicit nesting helps search engines parse complex, multi-faceted content and generate more informative rich results, such as a product carousel with aggregate ratings directly in the SERP.

A fundamental property that assigns a class to an entity node. While @id provides a unique identifier, @type defines what the entity is—such as Person, Organization, or Product. An entity must have both an @id and an @type to be a valid node in a knowledge graph. Common types include:

• Thing: The top-level ancestor of all Schema.org types
• CreativeWork: For articles, videos, and media
• Event: For scheduled occurrences with a location and time

A critical Schema.org property that establishes external equivalence between your local @id and canonical URIs on authoritative knowledge bases. By linking your entity to its corresponding Wikidata, Wikipedia, or official website URL, you perform entity reconciliation—telling search engines that your node represents the same real-world thing. This is a cornerstone of entity salience optimization and brand authority signaling.

A top-level JSON-LD construct that encapsulates multiple interconnected nodes within a single structured data block. Instead of defining isolated entities, a @graph array allows you to declare several @id nodes and link them via properties like author, publisher, or subjectOf. This creates a self-contained knowledge graph that parsers can ingest atomically, reducing ambiguity and ensuring relationship integrity.

A Schema.org property used to disambiguate the primary topic of a web page. When a page contains multiple entities, mainEntity points to the single most prominent @id. This helps search engines understand that, for example, a product page's central subject is the Product node, not the Organization or Review nodes also present. It directly influences AI-generated summaries and featured snippets.

The computational process of identifying and disambiguating textual mentions of real-world objects. In the context of @id, entity linking connects a string like 'Elon Musk' to a canonical IRI such as https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q317521. This disambiguation is essential for generative engines to avoid conflating entities with similar names and to ground their outputs in factual, verifiable nodes within the global knowledge graph.