1. A computer-implemented method comprising: clustering hierarchical database records into a first set of clusters having corresponding first cluster identifications (IDs), each hierarchical database record comprising one or more field values, the clustering based at least in part on determining similarity among corresponding field values of the hierarchical database records; determining parent-child hierarchical relationships among the hierarchical database records; associating related hierarchical database records by applying a hierarchal directional linking process, the hierarchal directional linking process comprising selecting and applying at least an upward process based on the determined parent-child hierarchical relationship wherein the upward process comprises: determining, from the parent-child hierarchical relationships, similarity among a plurality of child records having separate parent records; and in response to determining a threshold similarity among the plurality of child records, inferring that the separate parent records correspond to the same entity; re-clustering at least a portion of the database records into a second set of clusters having corresponding second cluster IDs, the re-clustering based at least in part on the associating related hierarchical database records and on the determining similarity among corresponding field values of the database records; and outputting database record information, based at least in part on the re-clustering.