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Glossary · Technical SEO

schema markup

Also called structured data, JSON-LD

Reviewed 31 Oct 2026 By Madiha Fatima 4 min read Check it yourself: yes, free

4 min
Definition

Schema markup is code added to a page that labels its facts in a format machines can read: this is a business, this is its address, these are its opening hours, this is a review and its rating. Search engines use those labels to understand the page with certainty and to show richer results such as stars, prices and FAQs.

It does not make a page rank higher on its own. It makes what the page says unambiguous, which earns the richer listings and helps AI answers quote the right facts about you.

Short version: labels on your facts so machines stop guessing.
Why it matters for your business

The facts machines can read
are the facts they repeat.

Search engines and AI assistants are good at reading words and poor at being sure what they mean. A page that says open until six could be the clinic, the car park or the pharmacy next door. Schema markup removes the doubt. When your page says in code that this is a dental clinic, at this address, with these hours and this rating, Google can show those details in the result and an AI answer can repeat them without inventing anything.

The visible payoff is the richer listing. Stars under a result, an FAQ that opens in the results page, a price and stock line on a product. Those listings take more space and earn more clicks than a plain blue link in the same position, which matters more than a small ranking change would.

It is also one of the most oversold items in agency proposals. Adding schema is a few hours of work on most sites, not a monthly service. If it appears as a recurring line, ask what is being added each month and compare it with our price list.

Example

Two dental clinics on the same street,
one of them labelled.

What the clinic sees

A good website. The hours, address and phone number are in the footer and the reviews page shows an average of 4.8 from over two hundred patients. All of it is there for anyone who reads.

Opening hours: Mon to Fri 8am to 6pm Rated 4.8 from 212 reviews
What Google sees

Text that probably means hours and probably means a rating. The clinic across the road has the same facts wrapped in Dentist schema with openingHoursSpecification and AggregateRating. Their result shows stars and today's hours. Yours shows a blue link. Same facts, different certainty, and the richer result takes the click.

How to check it on your site

Four checks, all free.

Tick each one as you go. 0 of 4 checked on your site.

  1. Run the Rich Results Test

    Open Google's Rich Results Test, paste your homepage and then your main service page. A good result lists detected items such as LocalBusiness, Breadcrumb or FAQ with no errors. A bad result is no items detected at all, or items with errors in red that stop Google using them.

  2. Read what the markup actually says

    View the page source (Ctrl+U) and search for ld+json. Check the business name, phone number and address match your Google Business Profile exactly. Mismatches here are a common reason the map listing and the website disagree about who you are.

  3. Check the Enhancements reports

    In Google Search Console, look down the left menu for reports such as Breadcrumbs, FAQs, Products or Review snippets. Valid items mean Google is reading them. Items with errors mean the markup exists but is not usable.

  4. Make sure it describes what is on the page

    Compare the markup against the visible page. Ratings in the code with no reviews on the page, or hours in the code that differ from the footer, break Google's rules and can cost you the rich results entirely.

Related terms

Usually in the same sentence.

Read next

Where this shows up in practice.

AI search How ChatGPT chooses businesses

Clear, machine-readable facts about a business are part of what gets it picked, and schema is how you supply them.

 Technical SEO What technical SEO actually means

Schema sits in the technical list with redirects and speed. Here is where it fits and how much of it you need.

 Service Local SEO

Business schema matched to your Google Business Profile is part of the local setup.
Related service

Business, service and FAQ schema are set up once in month one of the SEO service and are built into every site from the web design service. Prices are on the price list, not on a call.

See the SEO service
Reviewed by Madiha Fatima, founder of 99creatix

Every entry in this glossary is written and checked by the person who runs the agency, reviewed at least once a quarter and dated. Last reviewed 31 October 2026.

Spotted an error or a term we are missing? Tell us and it is fixed within the week.

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