Structured data (schema) — making your facts legible to AI

A human sees at once that "£149" is a price and "Sandefjord" is a place. A machine guesses. Structured data removes the guesswork by labelling the facts on your page explicitly — and that makes you easier to understand for both Google and AI models.

The short version

• Structured data (often called schema or JSON-LD) is invisible code that explains what your content is.
• It labels facts clearly: this is a business, this is a price, this is a question with an answer.
• It helps both search engines and AI models reproduce you accurately.
• The types that matter most for most businesses: organisation, local business, service, FAQ and article.
• It guarantees nothing, but it removes ambiguity — and models prefer sources they don't have to interpret.

What structured data actually is

Structured data is a standardised "map" of your content, added to the page's code. The most common format is called JSON-LD and sits invisibly in the background — the reader sees nothing, but the machine sees everything.

Instead of a search engine or AI model having to infer that a chunk of text is your opening hours, a price or an author, the schema says so outright. It's the difference between letting someone guess from context and handing them the answer key.

Why it matters for AI search

AI models build answers from sources they trust, and they trust facts that are clearly labelled. When a page says "this is a service, it costs X, it's delivered by this business", the model doesn't have to interpret — it can reproduce it directly.

This ties into a wider principle in GEO, or AI search optimisation: the less a machine has to guess, the more safely it can cite you. Structured data and an up-to-date llms.txt work towards the same goal from different angles — making facts machine-readable.

Which schema types matter most

You don't need all of it. For most small and medium businesses, a handful of types are what actually count:

• Organisation. Who the business is: name, logo, contact details, profiles.
• LocalBusiness. Address, opening hours and service area — important for local visibility.
• Service or Product. What you offer, with a price where it fits.
• FAQPage. Questions and answers labelled as exactly that, so the model finds the answer fast.
• Article. For blog posts: author, date and topic, which strengthens credibility.

Start with the two or three types that suit your business best. A correctly set-up LocalBusiness is worth more than ten half-finished labels.

Common mistakes

Structured data only helps when it's accurate. The most common traps:

1. The schema contradicts the page. If the schema says one price and the text says another, it creates confusion instead of clarity. The facts must match in both places.
2. You label something that isn't shown. Schema should describe content that actually appears on the page, not facts you wish were there.
3. It never gets updated. If you change prices or services, the schema has to follow. Stale data can lead a model to reproduce something wrong.

Where to begin

You don't have to do it all at once. A sensible order:

1. Add Organisation to the homepage so the core business facts are clearly labelled.
2. Add LocalBusiness if you serve a geographic area.
3. Mark up your most important service or product pages.
4. Add FAQPage to pages with genuine questions and answers.
5. Test everything with Google's rich results tool to catch errors.

Structured data isn't magic — it's tidying-up work. But it's one of the most concrete things you can do to be understood by AI. If you'd like to know which types are worth the effort for your particular business, we're happy to have a short call.

Frequently asked questions

What is structured data, simply put?

Invisible code on your page that tells machines what the content is — that something is a price, an address or a question with an answer. It helps search engines and AI models reproduce you accurately.

Are schema and structured data the same thing?

In practice the terms are used interchangeably. Schema.org is the vocabulary that defines the types, and JSON-LD is the most common format for adding them. Together they make up structured data.

Does structured data improve my ranking?

Not directly, but it helps search engines and models understand and present you correctly, and it can trigger rich results. For AI search, it makes facts safer to cite.

Which schema types should a small business start with?

Organisation and LocalBusiness cover the core facts. Add Service or Product for what you offer, and FAQPage on pages with genuine questions and answers.