Grounding Pages: Give Company Facts a Clear Home
In short
A grounding page is a reference page for verifiable facts about an entity. It can make a company's own account easier to inspect, but publishing one does not force an assistant to retrieve or trust it. scaile uses this pattern to organize approved company knowledge.
Simon WilhelmCo-founder
Simon is co-founder of scaile and works with enterprise teams on visibility in AI search, from the first audit to defensible Share of Voice numbers.
Key takeaways
Give each reference page one clearly defined subject.
Support important facts with sources and identify who maintains them.
Separate a useful publishing pattern from a search-engine requirement.
Decide explicitly whether the page should be indexed or only accessible by a direct link.
What is a grounding page?
A grounding page is a factual reference for a company, person, service or another identifiable subject. Think of it as the reference section behind the marketing copy: what the entity is, what it does, how it differs from similarly named entities and where a reader can verify those statements.
The page is not an instruction telling an AI system to recommend a business. It supplies information that a reader or a system may inspect. It also differs from grounding inside a particular AI application, where the application connects a response to retrieved source material. Merely naming a public page “grounding” does not create that connection.
What should the page contain?
Start with a short definition, then a compact fact table. A useful working template has these fields:
| Field | What to supply |
|---|---|
| Subject | The exact company, person or offering being described |
| Current description | A plain statement of the subject’s role or purpose |
| Official reference | The canonical page for that subject |
| Scope | Markets, use cases or responsibilities that are actually supported |
| Disambiguation | Similar names or former offers a reader might confuse |
| Evidence | Sources for material facts, with any relevant limitations |
| Maintenance | A responsible owner and the date of a substantive review |
Do not make every field a sales claim. If the evidence only supports a limited customer result, retain that limitation. A company-written page does not make a claim independently verified.
How do you keep it accurate?
Maintain the reference from approved company documents rather than copying whatever an assistant currently says. Check names, roles and service descriptions against their owners. When an offering changes, update both the reference and the visible commercial page; leaving two conflicting accounts defeats the purpose.
Use the entity audit to locate those conflicts. Add structured data only when it describes the same visible facts. Test it using the schema review workflow, not just a syntax check.
Should a grounding page be indexed?
Choose based on the page’s job. A useful public explanation intended to earn search visits should be evaluated as a normal search page. A machine-facing reference can have a different indexation policy, but that choice has consequences.
scaile’s fact pages and entity map are currently noindex reference material. They remain accessible; they are not offered as Google search landing pages. Google says a supporting link in its AI search features must be eligible for Search with a snippet. A noindex reference therefore does not substitute for a useful indexable About, service or article page.
This distinction also applies to this article: an explanation of grounding pages is a different resource from the individual fact pages it discusses.
How does this fit a content programme?
Use the fact register as an input, then write the answer the buyer needs. A company reference may establish who supplies a service; an implementation guide explains how the service works, and a customer case supports a particular result.
In scaile’s offering-definition step, that separation helps keep research and publication consistent. It does not turn a company reference into a ranking guarantee. If a search service continues using an outdated source, record the source and correct what can be corrected rather than publishing more contradictory pages.
FAQ
Is a special grounding file required for Google AI features?
No. Google does not prescribe a special AI text file or grounding-page format for inclusion.
Can a grounding page prevent hallucinations?
It cannot guarantee that. It gives readers an inspectable account of the facts; whether a particular system retrieves and uses it is a separate question.
Should private customer information go on the page?
No. Publish only information authorized for public use. A reference page is public content, not an internal knowledge store.
Sources
- Google: AI features and your website: search eligibility and the absence of a special file requirement.
- Google: blocking indexing with noindex: indexation controls.
- scaile fact pages: the reference collection discussed here.
