Structured Data (Schema.org)
Structured data is markup that explains to search engines what exactly is on the page: whether it is a product, an article, a recipe, an organization, or a list of questions. It is written according to the Schema.org vocabulary, most often in JSON-LD format in a separate script block.
What it provides
- Rich results. Star ratings, price, availability, breadcrumbs, expandable questions directly in the search results.
- Higher click-through rate. The result takes up more space and looks more informative.
- Understandability for machines. The markup is read not only by search engines but also by aggregators and AI assistants.
What the markup does not provide is a direct increase in rankings. It affects the appearance of the result and the understanding of the content, but not the ranking itself.
The most useful types
| Type | Purpose | What appears in the results |
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Company information | Brand panel, logo |
| Product / Offer | Products | Price, availability, rating |
| Article | Articles and news | Date, author, image |
| FAQPage | Questions and answers | Expandable questions |
| BreadcrumbList | Path through sections | Bread crumbs instead of a long address |
| LocalBusiness | Locations on the map | Address, hours of operation |
How to implement and check
- Gather the markup code — you can use the markup generator from the tools catalog.
- Insert the JSON-LD block into the HTML of the page.
- Check with the rich results validator and the report in Search Console.
- After a couple of weeks, check if the click-through rate has changed — see CTR.
Our example
Each article in this knowledge base is marked up as TechArticle, the question block as FAQPage, and the navigation as BreadcrumbList. This is one of the reasons why articles are cited by AI assistants: the machine-readable structure simplifies the extraction of answers.
If rich results do not appear
Valid markup does not obligate search to show rich results — that is its decision. First, ensure there are no errors in the Search Console report, then allow a few weeks for re-crawling. If nothing has changed after that, the issue is usually not with the markup but with the page not ranking high enough for the query.