How to modify associated websites in Google search results

Question

It seems Google tries to suggest additional information for some sites, and unfortunately it is quite often wrong or misleading. For instance results for some government offices will attempt to link to the office holders Wikipedia page.

Is there a way to request that Google update this content? Is there some sort of metadata that can be embedded in the website that will trigger an update?

Here is an example:

Notice that the Nellie Gorbea is correctly identified from the Wikipedia page, but that the previous Secretary has a link to his wiki page showing up right next to the URL.

Here is another example:

In this case, the correct New Mexico Secretary of State is Brad Winter, yet former Secretary of State Dianna Duran has her wiki page displayed next to the sites URL.

As a webmaster for a state agency, how do I request this information be updated?

Answer 1

Looking at http://www.sos.state.nm.us/ I'd say the page could do with some microdata. For example, use https://schema.org/Person for Brad Winter on the homepage:

<div itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person">
  <img src="http://www.sos.state.nm.us/uploads/images/BRAD-WINTER-small(3).jpg" itemprop="image" alt="Photo of Brad Winter">
  <span itemprop="affiliation" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization">New Mexico</span>
  <span itemprop="jobTitle">Secretary of State</span><br>
  <span itemprop="name">Brad Winter</span>
</div>

Answer 2

I am afraid not. There is probably nothing you can do short of posting here or on a Google site.

The good news it this. Google does go through this site periodically and does make changes based upon things they see. They have requested additional information in the past and have focused on user issues. It is just a matter of time now.

This is another Google oddity. It appears that both names are coming from the knowledge graph. The answer box is obviously correct. If you hover the mouse over the incorrect name, A. Ralph Mollis, and click, you can see this too comes from the knowledge graph. Why Google does this correctly in one place and not the other is odd to me. Please understand that the data in the knowledge graph is not intended to be deleted, but managed in a way that some information becomes historical. As well, the data is supposed to be corroborated before being used. Since we can see the date ranges and it is clear, it seems to me that this is just a Google algorithm error that we will not have control over.