---
title: "Building Ontology Models Without Ever Saying “Ontology” — Vlad Flaks"
canonical: "https://www.vladflaks.com/thoughts/building-ontology-models-without-ever-saying-ontology-7/"
description: "I asked three experts about their work and never said the word “ontology.” An LLM turned each conversation into an ontology model anyway, and all three made sense. The hardest part had nothing to do with ontology"
updated: "2026-10-12T14:09:37.812Z"
---

# Building Ontology Models Without Ever Saying “Ontology”

![](https://media.vladflaks.com/image-1.webp?v=1791653330645)

The hardest part of building an ontology has nothing to do with ontology.

On paper, an ontology model helps data make sense in the domain it describes. In practice, there’s only one way to know whether it works — build one and put it to use.

Building it was the part I was curious about. You need someone who knows the domain deeply. Then you need to turn what they know into entities, relationships and properties.

That second step is where things usually slow down. Experts are busy, and very few of them enjoy being asked to “define a class hierarchy” on a Tuesday afternoon.

So I wanted to check something specific. What if I talked to an expert about their work, asked only general questions, never mentioned ontology, and built the model from that conversation? Would it be good enough to use?

I interviewed three friends, each one of the best experts in their field:

— [Max Roslyakov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/xamsor/), search engine optimization[1](#ref-1)
— [Lesley van de Mortel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lezvandemortel/), healthcare[2](#ref-2)
— [Peter O’Neill](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteroneill/), data analytics conferences[3](#ref-3)

The questions were simple. What industry are you in? Which entities do you deal with? Which processes connect them? Not a word about ontology.

I transcribed the conversations and asked an LLM to turn each one into an ontology model in Open Knowledge Format[4](#ref-4).

I expected a mess. Instead, I got a model of each industry with its entities, their properties and the relationships between them. All three made total sense and needed only a few adjustments.

Then I added data and started asking questions. The answers were meaningful — not hallucinated, but backed and guided by the models.

I believe the method deserves only part of the credit. The rest goes to the people I talked to.

[Peter](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteroneill/), [Max](https://www.linkedin.com/in/xamsor/), [Lesley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lezvandemortel/) and didn’t just describe their industries. They explained how those industries actually work, including the details only someone deep inside would know. That depth ended up in the transcripts, and then in the models.

Have the same conversation with someone who knows the industry only from the outside, and you’d barely get anything usable. An LLM is great at structuring knowledge. It can’t invent the expertise that was never in the room.

[Lesley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lezvandemortel/), [Peter](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteroneill/), [Max](https://www.linkedin.com/in/xamsor/) — thank you for your time and for patiently answering questions that sounded much simpler than what I was really up to.

If you want to try this, start with the expert closest to you — most likely your manager or your boss. Ask them about the business the way I did, without mentioning ontology, and see what comes out. I was surprised by how beautiful these models turned out, and I believe yours can look just as good.

All three models are below. Feel free to check them out 👇

[![Healthcare Clinic Attribution Model](/embeds/4e8293ef344ac661.svg)](/embeds/4e8293ef344ac661.svg)

Healthcare Clinic Attribution Model

[![Search Engine Optimization Model](/embeds/02c99ea27f22002b.svg)](/embeds/02c99ea27f22002b.svg)

Search Engine Optimization Model

[![MeasureCamp Model](/embeds/a4137a706c600dfd.svg)](/embeds/a4137a706c600dfd.svg)

MeasureCamp Model

## References

1.  [https://github.com/OWOX/models/blob/main/bundles/seo/index.md](https://github.com/OWOX/models/blob/main/bundles/seo/index.md)
2.  [https://github.com/OWOX/models/blob/main/bundles/healthcare-clinic-attribution/index.md](https://github.com/OWOX/models/blob/main/bundles/healthcare-clinic-attribution/index.md)
3.  [https://github.com/OWOX/models/blob/main/bundles/measurecamp/index.md](https://github.com/OWOX/models/blob/main/bundles/measurecamp/index.md)
4.  [https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/knowledge-catalog/blob/main/okf/SPEC.md](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/knowledge-catalog/blob/main/okf/SPEC.md)