Schema SEO: Structured Data Markup for search and AI

Schema has important implementations for both SEO and AI marketing. It unlocks features for products, reviews, images, and local searches, and can change how pages appear in search results. Information about a website included in schema markup becomes clear, unambiguous statements that can show up in search engines, knowledge panels, or AI systems (who currently struggle to understand the content).

Schema elements diagram

Product schema markup allows pages to be included in Google Shopping by clearly providing details such as price and stock availability.

Structured data markup (schema) that includes images offers rich descriptions, enhancing image search results and improving page relevancy within web searches.

Including location, hours of operation, and other business details in structured data markup (schema) improves local search visibility and helps populate knowledge panels or other business-specific displays in search results.

Json schema and microdata schema are interchangable, Although Json Schema is easier to check than microdata.

Realistic Expectations for Schema Markup

While structured data enhances the interpretability of a page, it is not a silver bullet for SEO. Search engines evaluate content within the broader context of the site, including its topical authority and historical association with the entity. A page snapshot may not fully convey the intended meaning or relevance in context. Schema can help communicate contextual intent, potentially influencing rankings positively, negatively, or not at all.

Negative effects are often the easiest to observe. It’s important to understand that systems interpreting JSON-LD schema data may adopt a “trust but verify” approach. While schema can guide how content is processed or highlighted, it is not authoritative on its own. Discrepancies between on-page content and structured data can lead to a loss of trust and reduced visibility in search results.

Structured Data Enables Search Features

Some schema types can enable enhanced search features, (such as review snippets, product listings, FAQs, or event cards), but inclusion is not guaranteed. Search engines determine eligibility based on the quality, accuracy, and relevance of both the structured data and the visible page content.

Brand Entity Creation

The brand, organization, website, and author are all entities with relationships to other entities, such as products and services. Schema markup can be used to unambiguously state facts about the brand, which may appear in Google's Knowledge Panel, other areas of Google Search, and help associate brands or websites with specific topics.

Website and Organization Schema

Actual Site Name, Not Domain Name

About Page Description for Knowledge Panel

Navigational Site Links

Byline published date and author

WebPage Schema

The WebPage schema defines details about the page, including its type, content structure, and supplemental resources it links to. Visual breadcrumbs not only assist with user navigation, but also help search engines understand the hierarchical relationships between pages on a website. In essence, WebPage schema contributes to the overall entity relationship framework of the site.

Schema: Content Structure and Supplemental Content

Site Structure Breadcrumbs

Solution Smith tests SEO and guided AI search the same way it tests software -- methodically and with evidence. If a feature is claimed, it gets tested. Observations begin as anecdotal data points, which are then verified through repeated experiments.

Solution Smith does not rely on Google to confirm or deny findings -- in fact, it’s expected that Google and other search engines won’t publicly disclose the inner workings of their algorithms.