What it is, in one minute
Structured data is markup that spells out what a page is using the shared schema.org vocabulary — “this is an Article, by this Person, published on this date” — instead of leaving a crawler to infer it from your HTML. The recommended format is JSON-LD: a self-contained block of JSON in a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag, kept cleanly apart from your visible markup.
Why it matters — twice over
For Google: valid schema unlocks rich results — star ratings, FAQ accordions, breadcrumbs, product and recipe cards — which lift click-through even when your rank doesn’t change. It is not a direct ranking boost; it is a presentation and eligibility signal.
For AI answer engines: structured data is the clearest way to state entities and relationships without a model running JavaScript or guessing from layout. It is core to the comprehension and trust pillars of AI search — accurate schema helps ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews build a citation from real fields.
What to add, in order
- Organization + WebSite on the home page — who you are, plus a sitewide search box if you have one.
- BreadcrumbList site-wide — cheap, universally ingested, states your hierarchy.
- The page’s own type — Article / BlogPosting for posts, Product for products, FAQPage for FAQ sections, Person for author bios.
- Provenance fields — author, datePublished, dateModified. This is what earns trust.
A copy-paste example
A minimal, valid Article block — swap in your values and drop it in the page’s <head> or body:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How to reduce Largest Contentful Paint",
"description": "A practical guide to cutting LCP on real sites.",
"datePublished": "2026-08-25",
"dateModified": "2026-08-25",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Jane Doe",
"url": "https://example.com/authors/jane"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Example",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://example.com/logo.png"
}
},
"mainEntityOfPage": "https://example.com/blog/reduce-lcp"
}
</script>One rule above all: the schema must describe what’s actually on the page. Marking up a rating or an author that doesn’t appear in the visible content is a violation and can earn a manual action.
Common mistakes
- ✕Schema that doesn’t match the page. Marking up reviews, prices or FAQs that aren’t visible to users. Google treats this as spam.
- ✕Missing required properties. Each type has required and recommended fields; a Product without a name or an Article without a headline won’t qualify for rich results.
- ✕Invalid JSON. A trailing comma or unescaped quote silently breaks the whole block — always validate after editing.
- ✕One giant blob. Prefer a few focused, correct types over a sprawling graph you can’t keep accurate.
Validate, then keep it honest
After adding schema, check it with Google’s Rich Results Test and the schema.org validator to catch errors and see which rich results you qualify for. Then keep it in sync as pages change — stale schema pointing at removed content is worse than none.
AvocadoScore checks structured-data presence and depth across your whole site as part of the readiness scorecard and the full audit, so you can see at a glance which pages are missing it.
Questions, answered
What is structured data?+
Structured data is machine-readable markup you add to a page to describe what it is — an article, a product, an organization, an FAQ — using the shared schema.org vocabulary. Search engines and AI answer engines read it to understand your content precisely, rather than guessing from the raw HTML. The recommended format is JSON-LD, a small block of JSON in a script tag.
Does structured data help with rankings?+
Not directly as a ranking boost, but it earns rich results (star ratings, FAQ accordions, breadcrumbs, product cards) that increase click-through, and it makes your entities unambiguous to AI engines deciding whether to cite you. Google is explicit that structured data enables features rather than raising rank — but those features and that clarity are worth a lot.
JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa — which should I use?+
JSON-LD. Google recommends it, it keeps the markup separate from your HTML (a single script block rather than attributes sprinkled through the page), and it is by far the easiest to add and maintain. Microdata and RDFa still work but are legacy approaches for most sites.
What structured data types should I add first?+
Start with Organization and WebSite on your home page (who you are), BreadcrumbList site-wide (hierarchy), and then the type that matches each page: Article or BlogPosting for posts, Product for products, FAQPage for FAQ sections, and Person for author bios. Add author and date fields for provenance — AI engines lean on those for trust.
Do AI engines actually read structured data?+
Yes. Structured data is one of the clearest signals an AI answer engine has for understanding entities and relationships without executing JavaScript or inferring meaning from layout. Valid, accurate schema helps ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews format a citation from real fields instead of scraped text.
See which of your pages are missing structured data
AvocadoScore checks schema presence and depth across your whole site, alongside SEO, performance and AI readiness. Free, every fix unlocked.