Structured data helps search engines, large language models (LLMs), AI assistants, and other tools understand your website. Make your content clearer and easier to use across platforms with Schema.org and JSON-LD. This guide explains what structured data is, why it’s important today, and how to set it up properly.

Key insights

Structured data helps search engines and AI better understand your website, improving visibility and suitability for rich results.
Using Schema.org and JSON-LD improves content clarity and connects different information graphically.
By implementing structured data today, you prepare your content for future technologies and AI applications.
Yoast SEO simplifies structured data implementation by automatically generating schemas for different content types.
Focus on key elements like business details and products to maximize the impact of your structured data.

What is structured data?

Structured data is a way to tell computers exactly what is on your website. Using a standard set of tags from Schema.org, you can identify important details, such as: E.g. whether a page is about a product, a review, an article, an event or something else.

This structured format helps search engines, AI assistants, LLMs and other tools understand your content quickly and accurately. This may qualify your website for special features in search results and make it easier to be recognized by digital assistants or new AI applications.

Structured data is written in code, with JSON-LD being the most commonly used format. Adding it to your Pages increases the likelihood that your content will be found and understood, both now and as new technologies develop.

Read more: Schema and why you need Yoast SEO to do it right »

A simple example of structured data

Below is a simple example of structured data using Schema.org in JSON-LD format. This is a basic schema for a product with rating properties. This code tells search engines that the page is a product (product). It includes the product name and description, pricing information, URL, and product ratings and reviews. This helps search engines understand your products and present your content in search results.




    Product Title

Why do you need structured data?

Structured data gives computers a clear overview of what is on your website. It presents details about your products, reviews, events, and more in a format that is easy for search engines and other systems to process.

This clarity leads to better visibility in search, including features like star ratings, images or additional links. But the effects now extend even further. Structured data also helps AI assistants, voice search tools, and new web platforms like chatbots based on Large Language Models to better understand and present your content.

New standards such as NLWeb (Natural Language Web) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) are emerging to help different systems share and interpret web content consistently. Adding structured data today not only gives your website an advantage in search, but also prepares it for a future where your content will flow across more platforms and digital experiences.

The effort you put into structured data now ensures your content is found, used and displayed in many places where people search and explore online.

Is structured data important for SEO?

Structured data plays a key role in how your website appears in search results. It helps search engines understand your content and present it with additional features such as star ratings, images and additional links. These expanded listings can attract attention and generate more clicks to your website.

While using structured data won’t directly increase your rankings, it will make your site eligible for these rich search results. That alone can set you apart from the competition. As search engines evolve and adopt new standards, well-structured data ensures your content remains visible and accessible in the latest search features.

For SEO, structured data is about making your site stand out, improving user experience, and giving your content the best chance of being discovered, both now and in light of changing search technologies.

Structured data can lead to extensive results

By describing your website to search engines, you allow them to do exciting things with your content. Schema.org and its support are constantly being developed, improved and expanded. Since structured data forms the basis for many new developments in the SEO world, more will soon follow. Below you will find an overview of the available rich search results. Examples are in Google’s search gallery.

Structured data type	Example application/description
Article	News, blog or sports article
Breadcrumbs	Navigation shows the page position
carousel	Gallery/list from a website (with recipe, course, film, restaurant)
Course list	Lists of educational courses
Dataset	Large datasets (Google Dataset Search)
Discussion forum	User generated forum content
Questions and answers about education	Flashcard questions and answers
Overall rating of the employer	Reviews about employers in job search results
Event	Concerts, festivals and other events
FAQ	Frequently asked questions pages
Image metadata	Image creator, credit and license details
Job advertisement	Job advertisements
Local business	Store details: hours, directions, reviews
Math solver	Structured data for mathematical problems
film	Movie lists, movie details
organization	About your company: name, logo, contact, etc.
Practice problem	Problems of educational practice for students
product	Product lists with price, reviews and more
Profile page	Information about an individual or organization
questions and answers	Pages with a single question and answers
Recipe	Cooking recipes, steps and ingredients
Review excerpt	Short review/rating summaries
Software app	Reviews and details about apps or software
Speakable	Content for text-to-speech on Google Assistant
Subscription and Paywall Content	Mark articles/content behind a paywall
Holiday apartment	Details on vacation property listings
video	Video information, segments and live content

Rich search results were previously known as rich snippets

You may have heard the term “rich snippets” before. Google now calls these improvements “Rich Results.” Rich results are enhanced search entries that use structured data to display additional information such as images, reviews, product details or FAQs directly in the search.

For example, a product page tagged with structured data can display price, inventory, and customer reviews directly below the search listing before anyone clicks on it. This is what it could look like:

Some listings provide additional information such as star ratings or product details

Rich results allow users to see helpful details in advance, such as a product’s price, star ratings, or inventory. This can make your listing stand out and attract more clicks.

Remember that valid structured data increases your chances of getting rich results, but the display is controlled by Google’s systems and can never be guaranteed.

Mobile rich search results

Structured Data with Schema for Search and AI • Yoast — Delicious, right?

Such results often appear more clear on mobile devices. Search listings with structured data can display important information such as product prices, reviews, recipes or booking options in a mobile-friendly format. Carousels, images, and quick actions are designed for tapping and swiping with your finger.

For example, if you search for a recipe on your phone, you might see a swipeable carousel with photos, cooking times, and ratings for each dish. When searching for products, prices, availability and reviews can be highlighted directly in the results, allowing users to make decisions more quickly.

Many people now use mobile search as their default search method. Well-implemented structured data not only improves your visibility on mobile devices, but can also make it easier for users to explore and respond to your content on their mobile phones. To stay visible and competitive, review your markup regularly and ensure it works smoothly on mobile devices.

Knowledge Graph panel

The Knowledge Graph panel displays key facts about companies, organizations, or people alongside search results on desktop and at the top of mobile devices. It can include your logo, company description, location, contact details and social profiles.

In particular the use of structured data Organization, LocalBusinessor Person Markup with up-to-date details helps Google accurately recognize and display your entity. Add recommended fields such as your legal name, logo, and social links (using sameAs) and contact information.

Entity verification is becoming increasingly important. Claim your knowledge panel through Google and ensure your information is consistent across your website, social media, and trusted directories. Major search engines and AI assistants use this entity data for results, summaries and answers, not only in search but also in AI-powered interfaces and smart devices.

While Google decides who appears in the knowledge panel and what details are displayed, reliable structured data, a verified identity and a clear online presence give you the best chance of being featured.

Different types of structured data

Schema.org contains many types of structured data. You don’t have to use all of them. Just focus on what fits the content of your website. For example:

If you sell products, use the product schema
For restaurant or local business pages, use the local business schema
Recipe pages should add a recipe schema

Before adding structured data, decide which parts of your website you want to highlight. Check the documentation from Google or other search engines to see which types are supported and what details they require. This ensures you’re using the markup that actually makes your content stand out in search and other platforms.

How Yoast SEO helps with structured data

Yoast SEO automatically adds structured data to your website using intelligent default settings, making it easier for search engines and platforms to understand your content. The plugin supports a variety of content types such as articles, products, local businesses, and FAQs without the need for manual schema coding.

With Yoast SEO you can:

Set the right content type for each page (e.g. contact page, product or article) with just a few clicks.
Use built-in WordPress blocks for FAQs and guides that automatically generate valid schemas
Link related entities on your website, e.g. B. Authors, brands and organizations so that search engines keep track
Customize the schema details per page or post via the plugin’s settings

Yoast SEO also offers an extensible structured data platform. Developers can build on Yoast’s schema framework, add custom schema types, or connect other plugins. This helps advanced users or larger websites adapt their structured data to specific content, integrations or new standards.

Yoast keeps up with updates to structured data guidelines so your markup is consistent with what Google and other platforms support. This makes it easier to achieve rich results and other search improvements.

Which structured data types are most important?

When adding structured data, start by focusing on the types that have the greatest impact on visibility and functionality in Google Search. These schema forms are widely supported, trigger rich results, and apply to most types of websites:

Most important structured data types

Article: For news sites, blogs and sports publishers. Adding an article schema can enable rich results such as Top Stories, article carousels, and visual enhancements
Product: Essential for e-commerce. Product schema helps display prices, stock status, ratings and reviews right in search. This type is crucial for online stores and retailers
Event: For concerts, webinars, exhibitions or planned events. Event Schema can display the date, time and location directly in search results, making it easier to find and attend people
Recipe: This is for food blogs and cooking sites. Recipe Schema supports images, cooking times, ratings, and step-by-step instructions as rich results, making your recipes stand out in searches
FAQ page: For each frequently asked questions page. This markup allows you to extend your search list with question and answer drop-down lists so users can get answers quickly
QAPage: For online communities, forums or support sites. The QAPage schema helps find complete question and answer threads
Review excerpt: This markup is used for feedback on products, books, companies, or services. It can display star ratings and short excerpts and add trust signals to your listings
Local company is vital for local shops, restaurants and service providers. It provides address, opening hours and contact information, supporting your visibility in the map package and knowledge panel
Organization: Use it to describe your brand or company with a logo, contact details and social profiles. The organizational schema feeds into Google’s Knowledge Panel and builds your online presence
Video: Tag video content to enable video previews, structured timestamps (key moments), and improved video visibility
Breadcrumbs: This feature displays your website’s structure in Google results, making navigation easier and making your website look more reputable

Other valuable or industry-specific types:

Course: Highlight educational course listings and details for training providers or schools
Job advertisement: Share open positions on job boards or company career pages, and make jobs discoverable in Google’s job search features
Software app: For software and app details including reviews and download links
Film: Used for movies and movie lists, supports entertainment search carousels and provides additional movie details
Dataset: Makes large amounts of research or open data discoverable in Google dataset search
Discussion forum: Displays user-generated threads in dedicated “forum” search features
Profile page: Used for pages that focus on an individual (author profiles, biographies) or an organization
EmployerAggregateRating: Shows company ratings and reviews in job search results
Practice problem: For educational sites that offer practice questions or exam preparation
Holiday rental: Displays vacation property listings and details in trip results

Special or supporting types:

Person: This helps Google recognize and understand individuals for entity and knowledge panel purposes (it does not produce a direct rich result).
Book: Can enhance book search capabilities, usually through review or product snippets
Speakable: Reserved for news sites and voice assistant features; limited support
Image Metadata, Math Solver, Subscription/Paywall Content: Niche markups that help Google properly display, credit, or label specific content
Carousel: Used in combination with other types (such as Recipe or Movie) to display a list or gallery format in the results

When choosing which schema to add, always choose types that match the actual content of your website. See Google’s search gallery for the latest guidelines and requirements for each type.

Adding the right structured data makes your pages rich search eligible, increases your visibility, and prepares your content for the next generation of search and AI-powered platforms.

Read more: Local business listings with Schema.org and JSON-LD »

Structured data for voice assistants

Voice search remains important as a significant proportion of online queries are now made via voice-controlled devices. Structured data helps understand and, in some cases, select content in response to language results.

The Speakable scheme (for marking sections to be read aloud by voice assistants) remains officially supported, but adoption is largely limited to news content. Google and other assistants also use a broader mix of signals, such as content clarity, authority, EEAT and traditional structured data, to support their spoken responses.

If you publish news or regularly answer concise, fact-based questions, consider using Speakable markup. For other content types, focus on structured data and well-organized, user-focused pages to increase your chances of being selected by voice assistants. Voice search and voice assistants continue to rely on featured snippets, clear questions and answers, and trusted sources.

Google Search Console

If you want to check how your structured data is performing in Google, check your Search Console. Look for Structured Data Insights in the Improvement tab. There you will see all pages with structured data as well as an overview of pages that may contain errors. For more information, see our beginner’s guide to Search Console.

The technical details

Structured data uses the Schema.org hierarchy. This vocabulary starts with general types like “Thing” and narrows down to specific types like “Product,” “Movie,” or “Local Business.” Each type has its own characteristics and more specific types inherit from their ancestors. For example, a film is a type of creative work, which in turn is a type of thing.

When adding structured data, choose the most specific type that fits your content. For a movie, this means using the Movie schema. For a local business, select the type of business that best fits your offering under LocalBusiness.

Characteristics

Each Schema.org type includes a set of properties. While you can add a lot of detail, focus on the characteristics that Google or other search engines require or recommend for rich results. For example, a LocalBusiness should include your name, address, phone number and, if possible, details such as opening hours, geo-coordinates, website and reviews. Our Local SEO plugin (available in Yoast SEO Premium) is very helpful if you need help branding your local business.

Here are two examples of structures:

Film hierarchy

thing
Creative work
- film
- Features: Name, Description, Director, Actors, Image, Genre, Duration

Local business hierarchy

thing
Organization/location
- Local company
- Properties: name, address, telephone, email, opening hours, geo, rating, logo

The more complete and accurate your markup is, the better your chances of appearing with advanced features like knowledge panels or map results. Details about recommended properties can always be found up to date from Google Structured data documentation.

In the local business example, you’ll see that Google lists several required properties, such as your business’s NAP details (name and phone number). There are also recommended properties such as URLs, geo-coordinates, opening hours, etc. Try to fill in as many of them as possible because search engines will only show you the entire presentation you want.

Structured data should be a chart

When you add structured data to your website, you’re not just identifying individual elements, you’re creating a data graph. A diagram, in this context, is a web of connections between all the different elements on your website, e.g. B. Articles, authors, organizations, products and events. Each entity is connected to others through clear relationships. For example, an article can be marked as written by a specific author, published by your organization, and referencing a specific product. These connections help search engines and AI systems see the big picture of how everything on your website fits together.

Creating a fully connected data graph eliminates ambiguity. This allows search engines to understand exactly who created content, what brand a product belongs to, or where and when an event takes place, rather than making assumptions based on scattered information. This detailed understanding increases the chances that your site will be suitable for rich results, knowledge panels, and other advanced search features. As your website grows, a well-connected graph also makes it easier to add new content or expand into new areas, because everything fits together in a way that search engines can quickly process and understand.

Yoast SEO creates a chart

With Yoast SEO, many of the important connections are generated automatically, giving your website a solid foundation. Still, understanding the importance of creating a connected data diagram will help you make better decisions when structuring your own content or customizing advanced schemas. A thoughtful, well-connected diagram prepares your site for today’s search capabilities while making it more adaptable for the future.

Beyond search: AI, assistants and interoperability

Structured data is not just about search results. It’s a map that helps AI assistants, knowledge graphs, and cross-platform apps understand your content. It’s not just about displaying a more extensive entry; It’s about enabling reliable AI interpretation and cross-context reuse.

Today, the main benefit is still better search experiences. In the future, AI systems and interoperable platforms will rely on clean, well-defined data to summarize, rethink and reuse your content. This change makes data quality more important than ever.

Practical steps for today

Keep your structured data clean with a few simple habits. Always use the same names for people, organizations, and products when they appear on your website. Link related information so search engines can see the links. For example, link each article to its author or a product to its brand. Enter all the important details for your main schema types and make sure nothing is missing. After you make changes or add new content, run your markup through a validation tool. If you add custom fields or special schemas, write down what they do so others can follow along later. Performing quick checks every now and then will keep your data accurate and ready for search engines and AI.

Interoperability, MCP and the role of structured data

AI systems and search tools are increasingly looking for websites that are easy to understand not only by humans but also by machines. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is on the rise as a way for language models like Google Gemini and ChatGPT to leverage the structured data that already exists on your website. MCP draws on formats like Schema.org and JSON-LD to help AI match the connections between things like products, authors, and organizations.

Another project that Natural Language Web (NLWeb)an open project developed by Microsoft aims to make web content for AI easier to use in conversations and summaries. NLWeb builds on concepts like MCP, but has not yet become the standard. Currently, most of the progress and adoption is in MCP, and major language models are focusing their efforts in this area.

When you use Schema.org and JSON-LD to keep your structured data clean (no duplicate entities), complete (all indexable content included), and connected (relationships preserved), you’ll be prepared for search engines and new AI-driven features popping up across the web.

Schema.org and JSON-LD: the foundation you can trust

Schema.org and JSON-LD remain the foundation for structured data on the web. They enable today’s rich results in search and form the basis for how AI systems will interpret web content in the future. JSON-LD should be your default format for new markup so you can create structured data charts that are clean, accurate, and easy to maintain. Focus on accuracy in your markup rather than unnecessary complexity.

To future-proof your data, prioritize stable identifiers such as: @id and use clear types to reduce ambiguity. Create strong connections between related entities on your pages. When developing custom extensions for your structured data, document them thoroughly so that both your team and automated tools can understand their purpose.

Design your schema so that components can be added or removed without affecting the entire diagram. Make it a habit to perform validations and audits after changing the structure or content of your website.

Finally, stay informed by following guidance and news from official sources, including updates to standards like NLWeb and MCP, to ensure your site remains compatible with both current search capabilities and new interoperability initiatives.

What do you need to describe for search engines?

To get the most value from structured data, start by focusing on the most important elements of your website. Describe the details that matter most to users and search, such as: B. Your company information, your top products or services, reviews, events or original articles. This is the core information search engines look for to understand your website and show improved results.

Instead of trying to label everything, start with the essential points that best fit your content. As you gain experience, you can build on this foundation by adding more details and creating links between related entities. Accurate, well-prioritized markup is both easier to maintain and more effective, helping your site stand out in search results and new AI-driven features.

How to implement structured data

We would like to remind you that Yoast SEO has an excellent implementation of structured data. It will automatically meet the most pressing structured data needs of most websites. Of course, as mentioned below, you can extend our structured data framework as your needs grow.

Perform Yoast SEO configuration and set up your website’s structured data in just a few clicks! The configuration is available to all Yoast SEO users to help you configure your plugin correctly. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’ll pay off. Additionally, if you use the new block editor in WordPress, you can also add structured data to your FAQ pages and how-to articles using our structured data content blocks.

Thanks to JSON-LD, adding the data to your pages is no longer a problem. This JavaScript-based data format makes adding structured data much easier because it forms a block of code and is no longer embedded in the HTML of your page. This makes it easier to write and maintain, and easier for both humans and machines to understand. If you need help implementing JSON-LD structured data, you can sign up for or read our free Structured Data for Beginners course or our Understanding Structured Data course Google’s introduction to structured data.

Structured data with JSON-LD

JSON-LD is the recommended method for adding structured data to your website. All major search engines, including Google and Bing, now fully support this format. JSON-LD is easy to implement and maintain because it separates your structured data from the main HTML.

Yoast SEO automatically creates a structured data chart for each page, connecting key elements such as articles, authors, products and organizations. This approach helps search engines and AI systems understand the structure of your website. Our developer resources include detailed schema documentation and sample diagrams, so you can easily extend or customize your markup as your site grows.

Yoast SEO processes much of the structured data automatically in the background. You could of course extend our schema framework – see the next chapter – but if adding code manually scares you, you can try some of the tools listed below. If you need help moving forward, ask your web developer for help. They will fix the problem for you in a few minutes.

Generators
Validators and testing tools
WordPress plugins
- Yoast SEO Local (Our Local SEO plugin adds Schema.org for your business data such as address, geographical location, opening hours, etc.)
- The Yoast SEO WooCommerce plugin outputs a product schema to highlight your products in search.
- Yoast SEO uses JSON-LD to add Schema.org information about your site search, site name, logo, images, articles, social profiles, and more to your web pages. We ask whether your website represents an individual or an organization and tailor our structured data accordingly. Additionally, our structured data content blocks for the WordPress block editor make it easy to add structured data to your FAQs and guides. Check out the structured data features in Yoast SEO.

The Yoast SEO Schema structured data framework

Implementing structured data has always been a challenge. Additionally, the results of most of these implementations often required improvement. At Yoast, we’re on a mission to improve schema output for millions of websites. To do this, we have created a schema framework that can be customized and extended by anyone. We’ve consolidated, improved, and redirected all the loose pieces of structured data that appear on many websites graph. By linking all of these pieces together, we offer search engines all of your connections on a silver platter.

For more background information on the schematic diagram, see this video.