Triggering knowledge panels

A system comprising:

• a data processing apparatus;
• and
• a memory storage apparatus in data communication with the data processing apparatus, the memory storage apparatus storing instructions executable by the data processing apparatus and that upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
• receiving a query from a client device;
• obtaining search results that are responsive to the query;
• identifying, using an entity index, at least two entities responsive to the query;
• determining, for each entity of the at least two entities, a respective topicality score that measures topical relatedness between the entity and content represented by a proper subset of the search results;
• determining that the respective topicality score of a first entity of the at least two entities is within a threshold difference with the respective topicality score of a second entity of the at least two entities, and the respective topicality score of the first entity represents a highest respective topicality score;
• in response to determining that the respective topicality score of the first entity is within the threshold difference, generating a disambiguation knowledge panel, the disambiguation knowledge panel including an image for the first entity, a title for the first entity, and a description for the first entity, an image for the second entity, a title for the second entity, and a description for the second entity;
• and
• providing at least the proper subset of the search results and the disambiguation knowledge panel in a response to the query.

A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a query from a client device;
• obtaining search results that are responsive to the query;
• identifying, using an entity index, at least two entities responsive to the query;
• determining, for each entity of the at least two entities, a respective topicality score that measures topical relatedness between the entity and content represented by a proper subset of the search results;
• determining that the respective topicality score of a first entity of the at least two entities is within a threshold difference with the respective topicality score of a second entity of the at least two entities, and the respective topicality score of the first entity represents a highest respective topicality score;
• in response to determining that the respective topicality score of the first entity is within the threshold difference, generating a disambiguation knowledge panel, the disambiguation knowledge panel including an image for the first entity, a title for the first entity, and a description for the first entity, an image for the second entity, a title for the second entity, and a description for the second entity;
• and
• providing at least the proper subset of the search results and the disambiguation knowledge panel in a response to the query.