What's the difference between a Google Knowledge Panel and a Google Business Profile?

I’m a bit confused about something I noticed while helping my wife with her small bakery. We claimed and updated her Google Business Profile with photos, hours, and reviews, but when I search for some local businesses they also have that larger information box with extra details that looks different. At first I assumed they were the same thing, but now I’m not so sure. Is a Google Knowledge Panel just another name for the business profile, or are they actually separate?

They’re related, but they aren’t exactly the same. A Google Business Profile is something you manage yourself for your business, especially if you have a physical location or serve customers locally. A Knowledge Panel is more like the information Google puts together from different trusted sources, and you don’t always have full control over what appears there. I ran into this while helping a friend with his consulting business because he expected editing his business profile would automatically change everything in search. It didn’t. Reading about the google knowledge panel helped us understand why those search results look different and what can actually be influenced.

Search results have definitely become more layered over the years. I remember when typing a company name mostly brought up a list of websites, but now there are maps, images, reviews, and all kinds of extra information. It’s made searching more convenient, although it also means there are more things to keep updated if you want your online presence to stay accurate.