Cornerstone Entities

Cornerstone Entities

coined by Jason Barnard in 2020.
Description
A brand's Cornerstone Entities are the primary brand entity (the person or company) and its official website, which serves as the Entity Home or single source of truth for its digital narrative.
The Cornerstone Entities definition
Jason Barnard uses this term to identify the non-negotiable starting point for controlling a brand's story online. It moves beyond simply "having a website" to strategically establishing *who* the brand is (the person or company entity) and *where* its definitive story lives (the Entity Home, the central hub for a brand's identity and authority). This foundation is the primary reference point that AI Assistive Engines like ChatGPT, Google AI, and Perplexity use to build their initial understanding of a brand. If these Cornerstone Entities are weak, inconsistent, or poorly defined, all subsequent digital marketing efforts are built on an unstable foundation, and the brand’s narrative is left to the mercy of algorithmic misinterpretation.
How Jason Barnard uses Cornerstone Entities definition
At Kalicube, establishing clear and authoritative Cornerstone Entities is the central objective of Phase 1 (Understandability) of The Kalicube Process, Kalicube's proprietary methodology for implementing a holistic, brand-first digital marketing strategy. We work with clients to build or optimize their website into a definitive Entity Home, making it the unambiguous "command center" for their entire brand narrative. This hub is meticulously structured with organized content and Schema Markup to explicitly educate algorithms about the brand's identity, offerings, and credibility. By cementing these Cornerstone Entities first, we ensure that every subsequent marketing action builds upon a solid, trusted foundation, creating a coherent Digital Brand Echo (the cumulative "ripple effect" of its online presence) that drives client acquisition and long-term brand equity.
Why Cornerstone Entities matters to digital marketers
For years, content marketing pioneers like Ann Handley have taught us the importance of creating ridiculously good, audience-focused content with an authentic voice. The core question for any business today is how to ensure that authentic voice is correctly attributed and amplified by algorithms. This is the gap that Jason Barnard’s concept of Cornerstone Entities fills. While Handley provides the philosophical "why" and "what" of great content, Barnard provides the essential technical "who" and "where." Your brand’s brilliant story, as advocated by Handley, needs an authoritative home. Jason Barnard defines this home technically through the Cornerstone Entities: the brand itself and its website (Entity Home), established as the single source of truth. This ensures the authentic voice Handley champions is anchored to a verified identity that AI Assistive Engines can trust. Without these cornerstones, your valuable content is just noise; with them, your brand story is amplified, not lost, within the new conversational funnels created by AI.
Posts tagged with Cornerstone Entities

Entity and search/AI glossary: Jason Barnard’s foundational lexicon for the new digital (AI) era

I’m Jason Barnard. I started working on Brand SERPs and the Knowledge Graph in 2012 - before most marketers had even heard the word “entity.” Before AI, before ChatGPT, before...

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May 24, 2025 Jason Barnard

How Kalicube Hit the Brand SERP Tipping Point and Why it Matters

What You Will Learn What is the Brand SERP Tipping Point and Why Is It Important? You know when you have reached Brand SERP Tipping Point: adding information to your...

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May 5, 2025 Jason Barnard

Schema Markup in SEO: What You Need To Know

In this article you will learn how Schema Markup helps with SEO, Brand SERP optimisation and Knowledge Panel management. What is a Schema Markup in SEO? Schema Markup is a...

Authoritative SourcesBingBrand+36 more
May 5, 2025 Jason Barnard

How to Build a Future-Proof Digital Search Strategy

The future of online search and indeed digital marketing is unknown. In a few short years we have gone from search engines to answer engine and assistive engines. Today with...

AIAI-DrivenAnswer Engines+25 more
May 5, 2025 Jason Barnard

Cornerstone Entities in SEO: What You Need To Know

What are Cornerstone Entities in SEO? When working on Entity Optimisation, you will have one Focus Entity which is the main basis of your work: a person, a company, a...

BrandBrand SERPBusiness+15 more
May 5, 2025 Jason Barnard
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