Getting Google verified: How to claim your knowledge panel
One of the first things a curious listener sees when they Google an artist is likely the knowledge panel that appears on the right side of the screen, so for a band or musician, not having control of this knowledge panel is incredibly frustrating. Here, we look at how to get verified and claim that knowledge panel as your own!
Guest post from Fiona Z
One of my favorite things is to figure something out with a client and then be able to share that tip with the rest of my clients, and you! And that thing this past month was claiming their Knowledge Panel.
What’s a Knowledge Panel?
Knowledge panels are information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities (people, places, organizations, things) that are in the Knowledge Graph. They are meant to help you get a quick snapshot of information on the topic you are googling. It looks a little something like this:
Now, my client came to me saying, “How can we remove XY and Z! It’s not correct, it’s not relevant!”. Which is when I noticed the button at the bottom of the panel saying “Claim this knowledge panel”. I thought this had to be the way to edit this panel since there’s no dedicated person or any person on the side of support that could just change it for us.
We worked on being able to claim the panel. Once we were successful, boom, we were able to request edits to be made to the panel! Now, of course, the changes could take months, but it does assure us that we have *more* control than before with what is shared with the world when they search for my client.
So, what are you waiting for! Claim your knowledge panel today. It’s quick and painless, full instructions here.
Oh, honestly. This article is sadly unrealistic. I went through the painful process of claiming my knowledge panel, as there are two “Corinna Jane”s and we’re always getting confused for eachother. Not only did it take two full attempts with all the required documentation/screenshots/personal information, and over 30 emails, it ended up taking EIGHT MONTHS. I was finally granted access to my own panel, but GUESS WHAT!? Google utterly refuse to accept any changes I request. I try to remove songs mistakenly attributed to me but no luck. I try to add songs that I wrote/recorded/sang on but Google simply writes back with form emails: “Your changes are not currently supported.” I write back with firm evidence of my ownership but the emails go around and around in circles. The whole thing is an absolute joke. Never mind the fact that Australian musicians/creators have the moral right to correct attribution under our laws. Google staff don’t seem inclined to do any actual work and would rather just churn out form responses. Lame, Google, lame.