Introduction
In the digital landscape, Google’s Knowledge Graph and structured data play a crucial role in understanding relationships between entities. When a company operates multiple brands, subsidiaries, or projects, it’s essential to define parent-child relationships using Schema.org markup.
A well-structured Schema markup helps search engines correctly associate a parent organization (like Meta) with its sub-organizations (like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). This improves Google Knowledge Panel visibility, SEO, and entity recognition.
In this post, we’ll explore the correct way to connect a parent organization with its sub-organizations using Schema markup, with real-world examples like Meta & Facebook, Alphabet & Google, and FamePedia & its sub-projects.
Why Define Parent-Child Relationships in Schema?
Using structured data to establish ownership and hierarchy between organizations has multiple benefits:
✅ Improves Google Knowledge Graph Understanding – Helps Google correctly classify parent and sub-organizations.
✅ Enhances SEO & Brand Authority – Proper Schema markup boosts credibility and structured search results.
✅ Prevents Confusion in Entity Recognition – Ensures Google doesn’t mistake sub-organizations for independent brands.
✅ Increases Knowledge Panel Eligibility – Strengthens chances of separate Knowledge Panels for parent and sub-brands.
Key Schema Properties for Parent & Sub-Organizations
When connecting organizations, two key Schema.org properties are used:
1️⃣ parentOrganization (Used in Sub-Organizations)
- Defines the parent company of a specific brand, subsidiary, or sub-project.
- Used in the structured data of the sub-organization to establish its connection with the parent.
2️⃣ subOrganization (Used in the Parent Organization)
- Lists all child brands, subsidiaries, or projects under a parent organization.
- Used in the structured data of the parent organization to explicitly list its sub-organizations.
These properties ensure that Google correctly maps the hierarchical relationship between brands.
Example 1: Meta & Its Sub-Organizations
🔹 Schema Markup for Meta (Parent Organization)
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Meta",
"url": "https://about.fb.com/meta/",
"logo": "https://about.fb.com/meta/meta-logo.png",
"description": "Meta is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other digital platforms.",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170519",
"https://twitter.com/Meta",
"https://www.facebook.com/Meta"
],
"subOrganization": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Facebook",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/",
"logo": "https://www.facebook.com/logo.png"
},
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Instagram",
"url": "https://www.instagram.com/",
"logo": "https://www.instagram.com/logo.png"
},
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "WhatsApp",
"url": "https://www.whatsapp.com/",
"logo": "https://www.whatsapp.com/logo.png"
}
]
}
🔹 Schema Markup for Facebook (Sub-Organization of Meta)
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Facebook",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/",
"logo": "https://www.facebook.com/logo.png",
"parentOrganization": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Meta",
"url": "https://about.fb.com/meta/"
},
"sameAs": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q355",
"https://twitter.com/Facebook"
]
}
🔹 How This Works:
- Meta (the parent) lists Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp as
subOrganization. - Facebook (the child) declares Meta as its
parentOrganization. - This two-way linking ensures Google understands the hierarchy.
Example 2: Alphabet & Google
🔹 Schema Markup for Alphabet (Parent Organization of Google)
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Alphabet Inc.",
"url": "https://abc.xyz/",
"logo": "https://abc.xyz/logo.png",
"description": "Alphabet Inc. is the parent company of Google and other subsidiaries.",
"subOrganization": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Google",
"url": "https://www.google.com/",
"logo": "https://www.google.com/logo.png"
},
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "YouTube",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/",
"logo": "https://www.youtube.com/logo.png"
}
]
}
🔹 Schema Markup for Google (Sub-Organization of Alphabet)
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Google",
"url": "https://www.google.com/",
"logo": "https://www.google.com/logo.png",
"parentOrganization": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Alphabet Inc.",
"url": "https://abc.xyz/"
}
}
Example 3: FamePedia & Its Sub-Organizations
🔹 Schema Markup for FamePedia (Parent Organization)
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "FamePedia",
"url": "https://famepedia.org",
"subOrganization": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "English FamePedia",
"url": "https://en.famepedia.org"
},
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Hindi FamePedia",
"url": "https://hi.famepedia.org"
},
{
"@type": ["Organization", "Dataset"],
"name": "FameData",
"url": "https://famedata.org"
}
]
}
🔹 Schema Markup for English FamePedia (Sub-Organization of FamePedia)
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "English FamePedia",
"url": "https://en.famepedia.org",
"parentOrganization": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "FamePedia",
"url": "https://famepedia.org"
}
}
Final Takeaways
✅ Use subOrganization in the Parent’s Schema to list all child brands.
✅ Use parentOrganization in the Sub-Organization’s Schema to define the relationship.
✅ Ensure Two-Way Linking between parent and sub-organizations.
✅ Use Structured Data Testing Tools to validate the implementation.
By applying this strategy, companies can strengthen their entity presence, improve Knowledge Panel recognition, and enhance SEO visibility.
Would you like help in implementing this for your organization? Let’s discuss how to optimize it further!