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AEO & GEOSEO & Search

Structured Data for Beginners: What to Add First

The three markup types to add first, the rules that keep it safe, and how to test it.

Sajjad āœ“ Verified author
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The short answer

Structured data is code that describes a page's content in a format machines can read. Start with Organization markup on your homepage, Article markup on your posts and BreadcrumbList on pages with a clear hierarchy, written in JSON-LD, and never mark up anything a visitor cannot see. It can make a page eligible for rich results, but it does not guarantee them and does not lift rankings on its own.

Bottom lineAdd Organization, Article and BreadcrumbList in JSON-LD, make sure every detail matches what visitors see, and test before you publish.
On this page

Structured data is code you add to a page that describes its content in a standard format machines can read, such as "this is an article, written by this person, published on this date." Start with three things: Organization markup on your homepage, Article markup on your posts, and BreadcrumbList on pages with a clear hierarchy. Add other types only when your page has the matching content. Use the JSON-LD format, and never mark up anything a visitor cannot see on the page.

Structured data helps search engines understand a page and can make it eligible for certain rich results. It does not guarantee any feature will appear, and it does not lift rankings on its own. If you are still sorting out how search, answer engines and AI tools fit together, read SEO, AEO and GEO: what is the difference first.

What structured data looks like

Most structured data uses the vocabulary at schema.org. The format Google recommends for most sites is JSON-LD, a block of JSON inside a script tag. Google says all three supported formats (JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa) are fine if they are valid, and JSON-LD is usually the easiest to maintain because it sits apart from your visible HTML.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Example Co",
  "url": "https://www.example.com",
  "logo": "https://www.example.com/logo.png",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/example-co",
    "https://x.com/exampleco"
  ]
}
</script>

You can place this in the head or body of the page. Each block says what type of thing the page describes and lists its properties. The sameAs list points to your official profiles, which helps machines connect your site to the right organization.

What to add first

1. Organization (on your homepage)

This tells machines who you are: your name, your site, your logo, and links to your official profiles. Add it once, on the homepage, rather than on every page. The example above is a complete starting point. If you run a local business, the LocalBusiness type is a more specific version with address and opening hours.

2. Article or BlogPosting (on your posts)

For any dated editorial content, mark up the headline, author, publisher, publish date and modified date, and a main image. Keep the dates accurate. Update the modified date only when you genuinely change the content. For a step-by-step on getting dates onto the page and into your markup, see how to add a publish and updated date to your pages.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Check Canonical Tags",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Your Name",
    "url": "https://www.example.com/about/your-name"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Example Co",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://www.example.com/logo.png"
    }
  },
  "datePublished": "2026-10-04",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-04",
  "image": "https://www.example.com/images/canonical-tags.png",
  "mainEntityOfPage": "https://www.example.com/guides/check-canonical-tags"
}
</script>

Point the author url at a real author page that shows the person's name and background. The author and dates in your markup should match what a reader sees at the top of the post.

3. BreadcrumbList (on pages with a hierarchy)

Breadcrumbs describe where a page sits in your site, such as Home, Guides, then the page. Google notes that breadcrumb results appear on desktop search and not on mobile, so treat this as a small extra rather than a priority. Each item gets a position, a name and a URL. The last item is the current page, and its URL can be left out.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Home",
      "item": "https://www.example.com/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Guides",
      "item": "https://www.example.com/guides/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 3,
      "name": "How to Check Canonical Tags"
    }
  ]
}
</script>

The trail in your markup should match the breadcrumb links visitors see on the page.

4. Product, LocalBusiness or other types that match your site

If you sell products, Product markup with price and availability is the one to get right. A minimal example looks like this:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Example Running Shoe",
  "image": "https://www.example.com/images/running-shoe.jpg",
  "description": "Lightweight running shoe with a breathable mesh upper.",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "url": "https://www.example.com/shoes/running-shoe",
    "price": "89.00",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
  }
}
</script>

The price, currency and availability must match what the shopper sees on the page, and they must be kept current. If you are a local business, LocalBusiness covers address, phone and hours. Pick types based on what the page actually contains.

5. FAQPage, only for a real FAQ section

Add FAQPage only if the page has a genuine list of questions and answers that visitors can read. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026, as its documentation updates record, and has since removed its FAQ rich result documentation, so this is no longer a way to win extra space in search. The content itself is still worth having, because clear questions and answers are easy for people and machines to use. Read what FAQ schema does and does not do before you decide, and if you do add it, how to add FAQPage schema, with copy-paste JSON-LD has a ready-to-use template.

The rules that matter

  • Match the visible page. Markup must describe content users can see. Hidden or invented details can create quality problems.
  • Be accurate and current. Wrong prices, dates or authors are worse than none.
  • Use the right type. Do not label a page as a Product if it is a blog post.
  • Do not expect a guarantee. Google says it does not promise features that use structured data will show up.
  • One topic per block. Describe what the page is about rather than stuffing every type you know.
  • Fill in the required fields first. A short, correct block beats a long one with errors.

How to test your markup

  1. Use Google's Rich Results Test for types that Google supports as rich results, such as Product and Breadcrumb.
  2. Use the Schema.org validator to check that the markup is valid, including types Google does not turn into rich results. This is also the tool to use for FAQPage, since FAQ rich results no longer appear in Google Search.
  3. After you publish, watch the structured data and enhancement reports in Google Search Console for errors.
  4. View the page source and confirm the script is actually in the HTML. Markup added only by JavaScript can be missed by tools that do not run scripts.

If you are setting up a brand-new site, run through the SEO audit checklist for a new site alongside this, so structured data is not the only thing you check.

Structured data is a standard way to label what a page is about, so it is reasonable to expect machines of many kinds to find it useful. But no AI tool has published a promise that markup will get you cited, and Google says you do not need special structured data to appear in its AI features. Use it because it describes your page accurately and may unlock rich results, not as a shortcut.

Clear, crawlable, well-written content matters more. A short, direct answer near the top of a section is far easier for a person or a machine to quote than a long, wandering one. Our guide on how to write answers AI tools can quote shows how.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Marking up content that is not on the page, such as reviews or ratings you do not show.
  • Adding the same Organization block to every page instead of once on the homepage.
  • Leaving the placeholder author name or the example dates in a template.
  • Changing dateModified after a trivial edit like fixing a typo.
  • Trusting plugin defaults without checking the output.

Quick checklist

  • JSON-LD in the page HTML
  • Organization on the homepage
  • Article on posts, with real dates, author and publisher
  • BreadcrumbList where the page has a clear hierarchy
  • Only types that match visible content
  • Tested in a validator
  • Reviewed in Search Console after launch

To see whether your own page carries structured data and AI crawlers can reach it, run it through the free GEO checker or the AEO checker.

What this cannot tell you

This does not promise any rich result or ranking boost, and it relies on Google's guidance rather than on how other AI tools read markup.

Rankings and recommendations reflect our own testing and criteria. Pricing and features change often ā€” always confirm current details directly with the provider.

FAQ

Google does not present it as a direct ranking factor. It helps Google understand your page and can make you eligible for rich results.

JSON-LD. It is the format Google generally recommends and the simplest to maintain.

Yes. Markup that does not match the page or repeats irrelevant types adds risk and no benefit.

There is no need to rush. The markup is still valid, but it no longer produces FAQ rich results in Google. Our guide on what FAQ schema does and does not do has the details.

Search engines need to recrawl the page first, which can take days or weeks. Even then, rich results are never guaranteed.

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