Structured data
Structured data is code added to a page that describes its content in a standard format, usually JSON-LD using the Schema.org vocabulary.
It tells search engines facts directly: this page is an article by this author, this company has this logo, this product costs this much. Google uses it to understand pages and to decide eligibility for rich results.
The list of rich results structured data can earn is shrinking. Google limited FAQ rich results to government and health sites in August 2023, and they stopped appearing for every site on 7 May 2026. In June 2025, Google phased out Book Actions, Course Info, Claim Review, Estimated Salary, Learning Video, Special Announcement and Vehicle Listing. Markup added purely to win those features now does nothing visible in Search.
Structured data worth adding on a B2B site
| Type | What Google uses it for | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Identifying and disambiguating your company; can influence the logo in your knowledge panel | Home page |
| Breadcrumb | Showing site hierarchy | Every page below the home page |
| Article | Headline, author and dates for articles | Blog posts and guides |
| Software app | App details and ratings in results | SaaS product pages |
| Profile page | Information about a person or organisation as a content creator | Author and About pages |
| Local business | Business details for local results | Location pages, if you serve customers locally |
Structured data and AI search
Google’s documentation on AI features says you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Structured data still helps Google understand who you are, which supports entity SEO. It won’t get a page cited if the content doesn’t answer the question.
Every structured data claim must match what the page shows. Markup describing reviews, prices or authors that aren’t on the page breaks Google’s guidelines and can lose the page its eligibility for rich results.
Common mistakes
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Adding FAQ markup to win rich results that no longer appear.
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Markup that contradicts the visible page.
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Treating schema as a shortcut into AI answers.
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Copying the same Organization block with wrong details across client sites.
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Never testing markup after a template change.