What is structured data and why it matters
Structured data is machine-readable markup that describes the meaning of a page. The recommended format, JSON-LD, lives in a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag and uses the shared Schema.org vocabulary. It tells search engines and AI assistants exactly what your content is — a product, an article, an FAQ, a business — instead of leaving them to guess from the raw text.
That clarity unlocks two things. First, rich results in Google: star ratings, FAQ drop-downs, breadcrumbs, and more. Second, and increasingly important, AI understanding: engines like Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity lean on structured data to extract and cite content accurately. The Schema Generator lets you produce valid markup for the most common types without writing any JSON by hand.
Supported schema types
- FAQ — question/answer pairs eligible for FAQ rich results and a strong AI-citation signal.
- Article — blog posts and news, with author, dates and publisher.
- Product — name, price, currency and aggregate rating for shopping results.
- Organization — brand name, logo and social profiles for your knowledge panel.
- Breadcrumb — the navigational path to the page, shown in search results.
- SoftwareApplication — apps and tools, with category, OS and pricing.
- LocalBusiness — name, address, phone and price range for local SEO.
How to use the generator
Pick a schema type, fill in the fields, and watch the JSON-LD build live on the right. Empty fields are automatically omitted so the output stays clean and valid. For FAQ and Breadcrumb schema you can add as many rows as you need. When you're happy, copy the complete <script> block and paste it into your page — typically in the <head>, though anywhere in the HTML works. The one rule that matters: the structured data must match the content visible on the page. Marking up an FAQ that isn't actually on the page violates Google's guidelines and can earn a manual action.
Validate before you ship
Structured data is easy to get subtly wrong, so always validate. Run your page through Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator to confirm the markup is valid and eligible. Remember that valid schema makes you eligible for rich results — it doesn't guarantee them; Google decides based on quality, relevance and policy. Once your markup is live and valid, check how it affects your AI-search readiness with our AI Citation Checker, which specifically rewards pages that ship structured data.
Structured data best practices
Keep a few principles in mind. Use the most specific type that fits (BlogPosting over Article, for example). Include the recommended properties for each type — Google publishes these in its structured-data documentation — because missing required fields make you ineligible for rich results. Don't mark up content that users can't see, and don't duplicate the same entity in multiple conflicting blocks. Finally, keep your markup in sync with the page: if you update a price, a date or an answer, update the schema too. Done well, structured data is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-effort improvements you can make for both traditional search and the new generation of AI answer engines.