STRUCTURED DATA · SEO GLOSSARY
Schema Markup
A shared vocabulary of types and properties from Schema.org used to annotate web content in machine-readable format — enabling search engines to understand what content means, not just what it says, and to generate rich results.
Definition
Schema markup refers to structured data annotations using the Schema.org vocabulary — a collaborative project between Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex that defines standard types (Article, Product, FAQPage, Event, Recipe, etc.) and their properties. Schema markup can be embedded in three formats: **JSON-LD** (the recommended format, in a `<script type="application/ld+json">` tag), **Microdata** (HTML attributes on existing elements), and **RDFa** (similar attribute-based approach). Schema.org defines hundreds of types, but only a subset are supported for Google rich results — Google's Rich Results documentation lists the specific types and required/recommended properties for each eligible rich result format. Common types with direct SEO value: FAQPage (expandable FAQ in SERP), HowTo (step-by-step rich result), Article (E-E-A-T author/publisher signals), Product (star ratings and pricing in product listings), BreadcrumbList (breadcrumb URL display in SERP), Organization (Knowledge Panel), SoftwareApplication (app ratings), Recipe (rich recipe cards), Event (event dates in SERP).
Why it matters for SEO
Schema markup has two distinct SEO values: (1) **Rich result eligibility** — valid schema unlocks visual rich result formats in SERPs (expandable FAQs, star ratings, step-by-step guides) that increase CTR from existing rankings without improving the ranking position itself; (2) **Semantic understanding** — beyond rich results, schema helps Google understand the content's meaning, entity relationships, and context — contributing to Knowledge Graph connections, E-E-A-T assessment (Article author/publisher signals), and AI answer engine citation eligibility. The GEO score's FAQPage/HowTo check is the primary schema-related AI visibility signal: FAQPage and HowTo are the two schema types most directly correlated with AI Overview citations and People Also Ask coverage.
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
The audit parses JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa on every crawled page. It detects which schema types are present, validates required and recommended properties against Google's Rich Results specifications, and flags validation errors (missing required properties, incorrect nesting, property type mismatches). It also identifies pages that would benefit from schema but have none — blog posts without Article schema, FAQ sections without FAQPage schema, product pages without Product schema. Results appear in the Structured Data section of the audit report with per-type pass/fail status.
Useful tools and resources
GLOSSARY
Related terms
structured data
FAQPage Schema
JSON-LD structured data that marks Q&A pairs on a page so search engines and AI systems can display and cite them directly.
Read definition →structured data
HowTo Schema
JSON-LD structured data that marks step-by-step instructional content so search engines and AI systems can identify and cite procedural answers.
Read definition →structured data
Structured Data
Machine-readable annotations added to HTML — usually JSON-LD — that explicitly describe what a page is about to search engines and AI systems.
Read definition →structured data
Rich Result
An enhanced SERP listing that shows additional content — star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, sitelinks, How-To steps — generated from valid structured data on the page.
Read definition →technical
Breadcrumb Navigation
A secondary navigation trail showing a page's position in the site hierarchy — used for UX, internal linking, and BreadcrumbList schema in SERPs.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Schema Markup.
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