> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.kernel.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.kernel.ai/concepts/kern-id.md). # KERN ID {% embed url="" %} The Kernel Entity Reference Number (KERN) is a proprietary 10-digit ID that uniquely and persistently identifies a real-world entity. A KERN ID answers a simple question: **which entity does this CRM record actually mean?** It is not just a cleaned website, company name, or parent account. Kernel uses the available account evidence to decide the correct entity boundary, then assigns or reuses the KERN ID for that exact entity. Two records should share a KERN ID when they refer to the same entity at the same level. Two records should have different KERN IDs when they refer to different levels of the same family, such as a holding company, an operating subsidiary, a brand, or a physical branch. #### How Kernel decides the entity Before assigning a KERN ID, Kernel reviews the signals available on and around the CRM record, such as the company name, website, legal name, country, LinkedIn URL, address, related domains, parent relationship, and opportunity context. Kernel then uses [entity resolution](/concepts/entity-resolution.md) to resolve the record into a consistent identity: | Dimension | What it answers | Example | | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | Legal anchor | Which legal entity is responsible for this identity? | Kraft Heinz Company | | Country of incorporation or registration | Where is that legal entity registered? | US | | Trading identity | What name or website does the market recognize? | Jell-O | | Identity type | Is this the legal entity itself, or a trading identity inside it? | Trading identity | | Entity classification | What kind of entity is it? | Company / Business Unit | | Hierarchy | Which parent and ultimate parent does it belong to? | Kraft Heinz | The KERN ID itself is just the persistent identifier. The surrounding fields explain what the identifier represents. #### Legal and trading identities A legal entity is an incorporated or registered organization that can contract in its own name. Examples include **Google LLC**, **Salesforce, Inc.**, or **Kraft Heinz Company**. A trading identity is a real market-facing identity that operates through a legal entity. This can be a brand, division, business unit, academic unit, or physical establishment. These can receive their own KERN IDs when the CRM record clearly refers to them as the account being tracked. Examples: | CRM record means... | KERN ID represents... | Why | | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Alphabet Inc. | Alphabet Inc. | The holding company itself | | Google | Google | The operating company or main operating brand, not Alphabet | | Jell-O | Jell-O | A brand/business unit under Kraft Heinz | | Lloyds Bank - London Bridge branch | The London Bridge branch | A specific establishment, not the whole bank | Hierarchy connects these entities together. It does not collapse them into one ID. A parent, subsidiary, brand, and branch can each have their own KERN ID when they represent distinct account identities. #### Company sub-categories For companies, Kernel pays particular attention to whether the record is an **Operating** company, a **HoldCo / Investment** entity, a **Business Unit**, or an **Establishment**. | Sub-category | Meaning | Simple example | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------- | | Operating | Sells goods or services directly under its own company or brand identity | Salesforce, Heineken, Google | | HoldCo / Investment | Primarily owns or controls companies, brands, or assets | Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet Inc., KKR | | Business Unit | A brand, division, portfolio, or named unit inside a company that is not a separate legal entity | Jell-O under Kraft Heinz, Amazon Music under Amazon | | Establishment | A specific physical location such as a branch, store, hotel, office, warehouse, or plant | Lloyds Bank - London Bridge branch | #### HoldCo / Investment A **HoldCo / Investment** entity is mainly an ownership or control entity. It may have a website, employees, investors, and a public profile, but the account represents the parent or investment vehicle rather than a customer-facing operating business. Examples: | If the CRM record is... | Kernel should resolve it as... | Not as... | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------- | | Berkshire Hathaway | Company / HoldCo / Investment | GEICO or Duracell | | Alphabet Inc. | Company / HoldCo / Investment | Google | | KKR & Co. | Company / HoldCo / Investment | A specific KKR portfolio company | A holding company gets its own KERN ID when the customer is tracking the holding company itself. Its operating subsidiaries keep separate KERN IDs. This matters because a sales motion, territory assignment, enrichment value, or parent hierarchy may be different for the parent than for the operating company. Kernel does not classify a company as HoldCo / Investment just because its name contains "Holdings" or "Group". There needs to be evidence that the entity mainly owns, controls, or invests in other entities rather than operating the customer-facing business directly. #### Business Unit A **Business Unit** is a named business, brand, division, portfolio, or offering inside a company. It is not usually incorporated separately, but it can still be the entity a GTM team means when they create an account. Examples: | If the CRM record is... | Kernel should resolve it as... | Parent legal anchor | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------- | | Jell-O | Company / Business Unit | Kraft Heinz | | Amazon Music | Company / Business Unit | Amazon | | Dove | Company / Business Unit | Unilever | This does not mean the business unit signs contracts in its own name. It means the CRM account is intentionally tracking that customer-facing identity. Kernel keeps the business unit distinct while linking it back to the closest responsible legal entity and parent hierarchy. {% hint style="info" %} **Why this matters for firmographics:** A Business Unit should not automatically be treated as the whole parent company. For example, **Dove** should stay distinct from **Unilever**, and **Amazon Music** should stay distinct from **Amazon**. This helps avoid using parent-level headcount, revenue, industry, geography, or hierarchy context as if it described only the brand or division. Kernel keeps the parent legal anchor visible, while preserving the more specific account identity for analysis and GTM workflows. {% endhint %} A Business Unit is different from: * **A HoldCo / Investment entity:** the HoldCo owns or controls assets; the Business Unit is the customer-facing brand, division, or offering. * **An Operating company:** the Operating company is a legal or commercial entity in its own right. * **An Establishment:** the Establishment is a specific physical location, such as a branch or store. * **A product-only label:** a single SKU, product model, plan, or catalog item is usually not an account-level entity. #### Reuse and persistence If Kernel has already seen the same entity, it reuses the existing KERN ID. If the record represents a new entity, Kernel creates a new KERN ID for that entity. The KERN ID should stay stable when superficial details change, such as punctuation, formatting, a redirected website, or a corrected company name. If the record is later found to refer to a different entity, it should be linked to that other entity's KERN ID instead. #### Limitations Every KERN ID must ultimately be tied to a legal entity. Kernel can represent sub-legal entities such as brands, business units, branches, sites, hotels, plants, divisions, and academic units, but each is still connected to its closest responsible legal entity. Records with no credible organization or legal-entity association, such as a personal blog with only an individual's email address, would not receive a KERN ID.
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