Entity Resolution & Merging
G-BRIS provides a unified view of legal entities by merging records from multiple data sources into a single, enriched profile. This allows clients to access a consolidated, up-to-date representation of an entity without the need to manually reconcile fragmented data.
How Entity Resolution Works
Entity resolution is the process of determining whether two or more records from different sources refer to the same real-world legal entity.
In the public G-BRIS API, this resolution process is currently deterministic: entities are considered equivalent only if they share a verified, unique identifier.
Identifiers Used for Matching
Currently, G-BRIS performs resolution based on identifiers only. The following identifier types are supported:
- National registry IDs (e.g., company registration number in the UK)
- Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs)
- Other structured identifiers provided by supported sources
These identifiers are classified and validated using the Classifier System.
How Merging Works
When multiple records are resolved to the same entity, G-BRIS merges their data into a single, standardized profile. This includes combining names, identifiers, addresses, and other properties.
If conflicting values are found (e.g., different legal forms or names), G-BRIS uses a source trust model to determine which value to prefer:
| Source Type | Trust Level |
|---|---|
| National company registries | Highest |
| International aggregators (e.g., GLEIF) | Lower |
| Third-party datasets (e.g local yellow pages) | Fallback |
Only the most trusted value is retained for each conflicting field.
Source Attribution
At this time, the G-BRIS API does not expose field-level source metadata. Each returned entity is presented as the best-available consolidated view based on the resolution and merging process.