Best Practices: Using the sameAs Property

Use the sameAs property to delcare that the entity you're defining in Schema App is the "exact same as" another entity on the Internet. This property expects a URL pointing to other authoritative sources (e.g. official social profiles, knowledge graph IDs, or trusted third-party sources).

Read this article to better understand what qualifies as a valid sameAs reference and how to implement it correctly in both the Editor and Highlighter.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What is the sameAs Property?
  • Best Practices for sameAs
  • Valid vs. Invalid sameAs URLs
• Four Schema App Tools for Defining sameAs
  • What Schema App tools can define sameAs values in my markup?
• Using sameAs in Schema App Editor
  • What are best practices for defining sameAs in the Editor?
• Using sameAs in Schema App Highlighter
  • How can I add sameAs values with the Schema App Highlighter? 
  • What do I do when sameAs value is relevant for only some of my pages?
• Automated Entity Linking and sameAs in Entity Hub
• Conclusion

What is the sameAs Property?

The schema.org sameAs property is used to declare a URL that represents an identiical entity as the one being defined using the Schema App tools. For example, the Schema App Organization data item references our social media profiles and Google KG entity using sameAs. Using the sameAs property helps search engines and knowledge graphs reconcile identity across multiple sources on the web. 

Best Practices for sameAs

No matter what tool you use, the following 4 best practices will always be relevant:

1. Ensure every URL represents the exact same entity (i.e. don't say your Organization is the sameAs an entity defining your industry)
2. Prioritize authoritative and stable identifiers (e.g. Google KG, Wikidata, etc)
3. Avoid overpopulation - focus on quality over quantity
4. Periodically review links to ensure they remain valid

Valid vs. Invalid sameAs URLs

Not all URLs are appropriate or valid to be used for sameAs. Here are some examples of valid and invalid URLs.

Four Schema App Tools for Defining sameAs

While the purpose of sameAs remains consistent, implementation instructions depend on the Schema App tool you are using.

What Schema App tools can define sameAs values in my markup?

There are four ways Schema App can be used to define sameAs values:

1. Schema App Editor
2. Schema App Highlighter
3. Schema App Entity Hub
4. Schema App WordPress Advanced Plugin

Note: For more information on Schema App WordPress Advanced Plugin and how it generates sameAs values, review the article How To: Automate Entity Linking in WordPress.

Using sameAs in Schema App Editor

In the Schema App Editor, sameAs is typically added directly to a data item representing a single entity. This allows for precise control over which identifiers are associated with that entity.

What are best practices for defining sameAs in the Editor?

• Add sameAs at the entity (data item) level
• Use canonical, fully qualified URLs
• Validate that each URL clearly represents the entity
• Leverage Editor-managed entities for reuse across templates where appropriate

What are common scenarios for using sameAs in the Editor?
There are many occasions to use sameAs when defining an Entity. These are some common scenarios but is far from an exhaustive list!

• clarifying that an Organization is the sameAs its social media profiles
  Example: SchemaApp~sameAs: https://www.linkedin.com/company/schemaapp/ 
• defining Entities an Organization "knowsAbout"
  Example:  SchemaApp~knowsAbout~Semantic Search~sameAs: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1891170
• defining specific audiences, areas served, etc
  Example: audience~Canadians~geographicArea~Canada~sameAs: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16

Note: the sameAs property is available to any entity you define in Schema App. If you have questions about whether you are defining sameAs correct, you can always email support@schemaapp.com for guidance.

Using sameAs in Schema App Highlighter

In Schema App Highlighter, sameAs can be implemented using Fixed Properties or Linked Data Items. Because Highlighter deployments apply across a page set, careful consideration is required to ensure the property is contextually accurate for every page.

How can I add sameAs values with the Schema App Highlighter? 

1. Fixed Properties
   Only use this when the sameAs value applies to all pages in the page set (e.g a template is deploying to a group of pages about a specific topic, for example Mortgage Loans).
2. Linked Data Items
   Use these to reference relevant Editor Data Items (e.g. a page's intended Audience, or the Thing a page is about) 
3. Entity Linking
   Use Entity Linking to automatically identify entities in your text content. Any entities identified will include relevant sameAs values. With Entity Hub, users can modify or add to those sameAs values.

What do I do when sameAs value is relevant for only some of my pages?

All highlights in the Schema App Highlighter can be applied conditionally. This means that an XPath expression has to evaluate or be True before a highlight will be applied. Use this on Fixed Properties or Linked Data Item highlights to apply information to only a subset of URLs. 

Tip: To identify those subsets, look for on-page content that only appears on that subset. For example, breadcrumb value under a certain folder, metadata like a topic tag or keyword, or a specific subdirectory. 

Automated Entity Linking and sameAs in Entity Hub

Entity Linking is a Schema App service where entities are automatically identified in your text content and added to the output of your Highlighter template. External Entity Linking specifically uses sameAs linking to establish connections between on-page content and authoritative external knowledge graphs. If your Schema App Enterprise subscription includes Entity Hub, you can modify or add to the sameAs values of the automatically identified entities using the Entity Manager 

Conclusion

Using the sameAs property is key to a well defined, externally connected knowledge graph. This article outlines how to use the Editor, Highlighter and Entity Hub to define sameAs values across your Schema App knowledge graph.

No matter what tool you use, sameAs URLs should be stable, high quality and nested directly in the data item they share an identity with. If using the Schema App Highlighter, additional care must be taken to ensure that the property is either universally applicable to the page set or conditionally deployed using XPath logic.