Structured Data (Schema Markup)
Also known as: Schema, JSON-LD
What is Structured Data?
Structured data is standardized markup — most commonly JSON-LD using the schema.org vocabulary — that labels the meaning of content on a page. It tells engines "this is a product with this price and rating," "this is an FAQ," or "this is a how-to with these steps," instead of leaving them to infer it from raw text.
Supported structured data can enable eligibility for search features such as review stars and product information. Google retired HowTo rich results in 2023 and FAQ rich results in May 2026. Describing content clearly does not guarantee rankings, clicks or AI citations.
Common types include Organization, WebSite, Article, Product, FAQPage, HowTo, BreadcrumbList, and DefinedTerm. Markup must reflect visible page content — marking up content users can't see is a violation that can trigger a manual action.
Why it matters
It describes page content explicitly; supported Google features have separate eligibility rules and display is not guaranteed.
Structured Data — FAQ
What format should schema use?
JSON-LD is Google's recommended format — a script block in the page head or body. It's easier to maintain than inline microdata and keeps markup separate from HTML.
Does schema improve rankings directly?
It's not a direct ranking factor, but it enables rich results and clearer understanding, which lift click-through and make a page a better citation candidate — both of which help performance.
Related terms
Featured Snippet
A featured snippet is the boxed answer Google pulls to the top of results (position zero), extracted from a page that answers the query concisely.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Answer Engine Optimization is the practice of structuring content so AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews cite it directly.
Rich Results
Rich results are enhanced Google listings, such as review stars or product details, that may use supported structured data.
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust)
E-E-A-T is Google's framework — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust — for how human raters judge content quality.
Put SEO on autopilot
AutoSEO writes, optimizes, and publishes answer-first content that ranks in Google and gets cited by AI engines — automatically.
$39/mo per website · cancel anytime · 30-day money-back guarantee · See pricing or how we compare.