On this page
- Before week one: what this plan can and cannot do
- Week one: decide which version of you is true
- Week two: an author page on your own domain
- Weeks three and four: make the bylines agree
- Weeks five and six: start the outside mentions
- The whole plan as a checklist
- After week six, and the claim
- When doing it yourself stops making sense
Before week one: what this plan can and cannot do
This plan builds the record Google reads. It does not produce a panel on a schedule, because nothing does. Google shows a panel when what has been published about you agrees with itself so thoroughly that it is confident it has the right person, and most of that confidence comes from pages you do not own.
| Six weeks will | Six weeks will not |
|---|---|
| Settle one name, one photo and one description of you | Put a panel on your name. Nothing does that in six weeks |
| Give you a page on your own domain that Google can treat as the source | Replace the outside mentions that take months to gather |
| Make every profile you control say the same thing | Separate you from a famous namesake, which is a longer job |
| Start the first round of outside mentions | Make a thin record look thick |
Set expectations here and the rest of the plan is easy to keep.
Put in the hours you can honestly give each week. The tool works out when the setup finishes, and the window in which a panel tends to appear on a strong name.
Week one: decide which version of you is true
Writers resist this week. You have described yourself a hundred ways and each one was right for its audience. Google does not reward range here. It wants the same person described the same way, often enough to be certain.
One spelling, with or without the middle initial. Decide it now and never deviate, on any page, for any editor. This is the highest-value hour in the whole plan.
Who you are. What you stand for. What result you drive, and for whom. Plain words, no adjectives. If one will not come, stop and settle it before going further.
An identity line of about 25 words, then 75, 150 and 350. Third person. The same first eight words in all four, so every version is recognisably the same person.
Draft your versions below. The checker counts words and tells you whether the openings match, which is the part people get wrong.
If the voice in these drafts feels off, the voice profile template is the fastest fix we know.
Week two: an author page on your own domain
Buy your name as a domain if you do not already own it. Put one page on it. The first paragraph is your identity line, written as text and not inside an image. Your headshot sits above the fold. Below that, sections for Writing, Books, Talks, Press and Contact, each listing real items with links. An empty section is fine and honest; a missing one is a gap Google cannot fill.
If you use a link-in-bio service, replace it with a /links page on your own domain, and point every profile's single link field there. That one change sends every profile back to a page you own.
Why an ebook on Google Books strengthens the record, and the listing details that decide whether it counts.
A short ebook is within reach for most writers. Collect your ten best essays, give them an introduction, list it under your exact name, and make sure the author page links to your site. It becomes a record Google holds in its own catalogue.
Weeks three and four: make the bylines agree
List every place your name has been published. Most writers find twice as many as they expected. Then work through the list in the order below, from the places you control to the places you have to ask for.
| Where | What to change | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Author Central | Claim the author page, add the identity line and the site link | 30 min |
| Google Books listing | Exact name on the cover and in the author field | 1 hr |
| Bylines on publications | Email each editor asking for the canonical name and a two-line bio | 2 hr |
| Name, photo file, first eight words of the headline, site link | 45 min | |
| Podcast and event bios | Send hosts the 75-word bio and ask them to swap it in | 1 hr |
| YouTube and X | Display name, about text, link to /links | 45 min |
Bylines first, because they are the evidence editors chose to publish.
Under a minute: being recognised in Google as an author, writer or entrepreneur.
While you are in the bylines, read how an editor judges writing samples. Better samples get you better bylines, and better bylines are better evidence.
Weeks five and six: start the outside mentions
This is the part no plan can shorten. Pitch ten guest pieces or podcast appearances. In every one, give the host your identity line word for word, so whoever publishes it repeats the exact string. Aim for three to five yeses, from people in your trade and people in your city.
Mentions matter more than links. In the study above, being named across the web tracked visibility in Google's AI Overviews about three times as strongly as backlinks did. A host who writes your name correctly helps you even if they never link to you.
Last, set a baseline. Ask ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity who you are, and save the answers with the date. In ninety days you ask again, and the difference is your measurement.
The whole plan as a checklist
Your ticks are saved in this browser, so you can come back to it.
0 of 16 done
- Week one
- Week two
- Weeks three and four
- Weeks five and six
- Then for good
After week six, and the claim
When the panel appears, claim it from your own Google account: the three dots on the panel, then the option to claim it, then verification. The form asks why you are claiming. Answer with evidence Google can already see, such as your author page and your bylines, not with why you would like it.
A long-form newsletter is one of the steadiest ways to keep publishing under one name after week six.
When doing it yourself stops making sense
Most of the time, doing it yourself makes sense. Forty hours over six weeks needs no paid tool. It stops making sense in a few specific cases.
- You can protect four to six hours a week for the six weeks
- Your name is uncommon enough that no namesake competes with you
- You already publish, so the mentions step has material to work with
- You will do week one and then nothing for four months
- Someone with your name already has a panel
- Your hours are the most expensive part of your week
If you land in the second list, our service page explains what we take on and what stays yours. Either way, the reading below helps.
Questions people ask next
How long does a DIY Google Knowledge Panel take?
Do I need to pay for any tools?
Should I create a Wikidata entry myself?
Can I claim a Knowledge Panel before it appears?
What if Google shows the wrong photo or a wrong fact?
Stuck somewhere in the six weeks?
Email your name and the week you are on. We will tell you in writing what is holding the record back, free, and whether it is worth handing over.
Ask about my record →