Schema markup, also called structured data, is code that tells search engines exactly what’s on a page: your business, its products, its people, its articles and its reviews. Done well, it helps search engines understand you and can unlock enhanced results. Done badly, or left untouched for years, it can describe things that aren’t on the page or rely on features Google has retired. I audit, build and maintain structured data that’s accurate and current.
Structured data is the one part of SEO with a published specification. Most of the errors I find are certainties, not judgement calls.
What schema markup is
Schema markup is a standard vocabulary, from schema.org, added to a web page’s code, usually as JSON-LD, to describe what the page contains in a way machines can read precisely. Google’s introduction to structured data explains that it uses structured data to understand the content of a page and information about the wider world, and to enable some special search result features.
The key word is “some”. Structured data doesn’t guarantee an enhanced result, and the features Google supports change over time.
Why it needs keeping current
Search features come and go. Google has retired HowTo rich results, and its documentation updates record that the FAQ rich result stopped appearing in Google Search from 7 May 2026, with its documentation since removed. Plenty of sites still carry markup added for features that no longer exist, or markup that no longer matches the page after a redesign.
It’s also worth being clear about AI search. Google’s documentation on AI features says there are no additional requirements or special markup needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Structured data supports clear understanding, but it isn’t a shortcut into AI answers.
Who it’s for
Schema work suits businesses that:
- sell products online and want product details understood and eligible for product features
- have never checked whether their structured data is valid
- redesigned or replatformed and aren’t sure the markup survived
- carry old markup for features Google no longer shows
- want their business, people and content described consistently as one connected picture
What’s included
| Area | What happens |
|---|---|
| Audit | Every page type checked for existing structured data, errors, warnings and markup that doesn’t match visible content |
| Clean-up | Remove or fix invalid, outdated or misleading markup, including types used only for retired features |
| Site-wide entities | Organization or LocalBusiness, WebSite and Person, defined once and referenced from every page |
| Page types | The right markup by template: Product, Article or BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList, Service, ProfilePage and others where they genuinely fit |
| Validation | Every template tested in the Schema Markup Validator and Google’s Rich Results Test |
| Monitoring | Search Console enhancement reports checked for new errors after changes |
How structured data is built
Markup is built as one connected graph per page, so the business, its people, its services and its content reference each other rather than repeating the same details on every page. It only ever describes what a visitor can see on the page. Self-serving review markup for a business’s own testimonials isn’t used, because Google doesn’t allow it.
What you get
- A structured data audit by page type, with every error and mismatch listed
- JSON-LD templates for each page type, or the markup implemented directly
- Validation results for every template
- Guidance on keeping markup correct when pages change
Sample output
TEMPLATE: Product pages FOUND: Product markup present, but price missing and availability hard-coded as “InStock” on discontinued products. ACTION: Pull price and availability from the product data so the markup always matches the page, then revalidate. ALSO FOUND: FAQPage markup on 40 pages where the FAQ isn’t visible. Remove it, or make the FAQs visible.
The example above is illustrative.
Results
Schema templates for treatment, condition and clinician pages were part of the pre-migration work in the Evewell case study, and collection page rewrites for FalseEyelashes.co.uk included FAQ schema matched to visible FAQs.
Limitations
Structured data helps search engines understand a page, but it doesn’t guarantee a rich result or better rankings on its own. Google decides which features to show and can change or retire them. Validation confirms markup is technically correct, not that Google will use it.
What schema won’t solve
Schema can’t make a thin page useful or fix pages Google isn’t indexing. Those need on-page SEO or a technical SEO audit.
Talk to the person doing the work
There is no account manager here and no team to be handed to. If you get in touch, it is me who reads it, me who looks at your site, and me who does the work if we go ahead.
Get in touch, or start with a free assessment.
Engagement and price
There are no list prices here, and that is deliberate. What a piece of work costs depends on the state of the site, how much of it there is and what you actually need, none of which I know before looking at it.
So it starts with a free analysis. I look at your site, your Search Console and who you are really competing with, then come back with what I would do first and what it would cost to do. No obligation attached, and if the honest answer is that you do not need me yet, I will say so.
How the work gets done
Markup is detected, validated and generated with the schema toolkit, and every template is reviewed by me before it goes live. This service is part of SEO services. For more, which schema types still matter goes through what’s worth adding now, and how to write content AI tools will quote covers the content side of AI search.
FAQ
Does schema markup still help SEO?
Yes, for understanding more than for special displays. Structured data helps search engines understand your business, products, articles and people, and some types still enable rich results, such as product details and breadcrumbs. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in May 2026, so schema should be chosen for what it currently supports.
Should I still add FAQPage schema?
It won’t create FAQ rich results in Google any more, because Google stopped showing them in May 2026. It can still describe a genuine, visible FAQ section clearly to other systems. If you keep it, make sure the questions and answers are visible on the page and match the markup exactly.
What schema should a small business website have?
Most small business sites benefit from Organization or LocalBusiness schema, WebSite and BreadcrumbList on every page, and page-specific types such as Product for shops, Article or BlogPosting for posts, and Person for the people behind the business. The markup must always match what’s visible on the page.
Is schema required to appear in AI Overviews?
No. Google says there are no additional requirements or special markup needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Accurate structured data can still help search engines understand a business and its content, but a page without schema can be used as a source if it’s indexed and eligible for a snippet.
Get your structured data right
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