An entity-based search system is described herein that detects and recognizes entities in Internet-based content and uses this recognition to organize search results. The system associates one or more entity identifiers with a web page and stores this information as metadata of the page in a search engine index. This metadata will enable entity-based queries as well as rich data presentations in a search engine result page (SERP), including grouping results by entities, filtering results by one or more particular entities, or re-ranking search results based on user preference of entities. Thus, the entity-based search system allows users to identify a particular entity the user is interested in finding, and to receive search results directly related to that entity.