Embodiments include a computer-implemented method that includes identifying a candidate parent entity having one or more characteristics indicative of the entity having a parent hierarchical relationship to another entity of an entity set, identifying a candidate child entity set including entities of the entity set that each have one or more characteristics indicative of the entity having a child hierarchical relationship to the candidate parent entity, comparing characteristics of the candidate parent entity to characteristics of an entity of the candidate child entity set to determine whether a hierarchical relationship exists between the candidate parent entity and the entity of the candidate child entity set, determining that a hierarchical relationship exists between the candidate parent entity and the entity of the candidate child entity set, and updating a hierarchical index to reflect the hierarchical relationship between the candidate parent entity and the entity of the candidate child entity set.