Schema markup, also called structured data, is a block of machine-readable labels in your page's code, usually JSON-LD, that tells search engines exactly what the page is: a business with this name and location, a product at this price, an article last updated on this date. It won't lift your rankings on its own. It does make pages eligible for the rich results Google still shows, and it states your facts plainly for any machine that reads them. Most business sites need five or six types, and an afternoon covers them.
It's a few lines of code your visitors never see
Here's a minimal real example, the same kind of label this site carries:
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Houtos Labs",
"url": "https://houtoslabs.com/",
"email": "hello@houtoslabs.com",
"slogan": "We don't guess. We grade."
}
Google and Bing both parse these labels to learn what a page is without having to infer it from the prose. Whether a given AI assistant reads them is up to that assistant, and Google says its own AI features need no special markup.
What schema can do, and what it can't
- It does make you eligible for the rich results Google still shows, such as product details, review stars on eligible pages, event listings and, on desktop, breadcrumbs. Those can raise click-through without any change in position. FAQ dropdowns are gone: Google limited them to government and health sites in 2023 and stopped showing them in May 2026.
- It does give any engine that reads it clean statements of who you are and what your pages claim. That can help in AEO, where a machine has to file you correctly before it can cite you.
- It doesn't raise rankings directly; Google's people have said repeatedly there's no generic ranking boost for it. A page with perfect markup and a weak answer still has a weak answer.
- It doesn't let you claim what the page doesn't show. Engines cross-check, and markup that contradicts the visible content can cost you rich results altogether.
Six types cover most business sites
- Organization (or LocalBusiness) says who you are on every page: name, URL, contact details and logo. If you serve a local area, LocalBusiness adds your address and hours, plus the area you cover.
- Service or Product describes what you sell, one offering page at a time, in terms a machine understands.
- FAQPage marks up the questions customers really ask, matching the visible text word for word. Google no longer shows FAQ rich results, so this one is optional; its value now is plain labeling for other machines.
- Article goes on guides and posts, with the headline, the author and true published and modified dates. Dates matter most on topics where readers want current information.
- BreadcrumbList shows where each page sits in the site. Google still displays the trail in desktop results; on mobile it has shown only the domain since January 2025.
- Review/AggregateRating belongs only on pages that show real reviews. Google won't show stars for reviews of your own business hosted on your own site, which it calls self-serving.
Add it, then prove it works
Most platforms have a schema layer or plugin. Custom sites add a JSON-LD block to each page, which is how this site does it. Either way, validate the result with Google's Rich Results Test and Schema.org's validator (both free), then watch the rich result reports in Search Console to confirm Google reads what you shipped. Two rules prevent most mistakes: mirror the visible page exactly, and mark up only what's true. For the wider picture, your markup plus the pages around it, there's the Grader.
Schema questions, answered short
Does schema markup improve rankings?
Not directly. Google's people have said repeatedly that there's no generic ranking boost for using it. It makes pages eligible for rich results that can raise click-through, and it states your facts plainly for any engine that reads it.
Which schema types should I add first?
Start with Organization, or LocalBusiness if you serve a local area. Then add Service on your offering pages, Article on guides, and BreadcrumbList. FAQPage is optional now that Google has retired FAQ rich results. Use review markup only where genuine reviews are visible, and not for reviews of your own business on your own site.
Can wrong schema markup hurt my site?
Yes. Markup that claims what the page doesn't show can cost you rich results, and spammy patterns such as fake reviews or irrelevant types can draw a manual action. One rule covers it: match the visible content exactly and add nothing it doesn't say.
How do I check whether my schema is working?
Run the page through Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator, both free. They show what parses and what's eligible. Search Console's rich result reports then show what Google reads on your live site over time.
Check the markup, then the pages around it
Structured data is one of the things the Grader's Findability lens is built to read, alongside the pages it describes, and the grade is free. Until live scanning reaches that lens, what you see is a sample-mode estimate, labeled as one. For a definitive check of your markup today, Google's Rich Results Test is the authority.
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