Definition
What is schema markup?
Schema markup (structured data): Schema markup is structured data, usually JSON-LD using the Schema.org vocabulary, embedded in a page to state explicitly what it is about (the business, its services, products, people, articles) so search engines and AI systems read facts rather than infer them. It earns rich results, not rankings.
Also called: structured data, JSON-LD, Schema.org markup.
Published
What good schema looks like
One connected graph per page: Organization and WebSite nodes with stable identifiers, a WebPage node for the page, and the page’s main entity (Service, Product, Article, Person), cross-referenced rather than duplicated. Every property describes something visible on the page. Data is generated from the same source as the visible content, so it cannot drift.
What to avoid
Deprecated types Google no longer uses (FAQPage and HowTo among them), self-serving review ratings on your own business, invented properties, and hand-pasted snippets on pages whose content changes. Structured data that lies is a manual-action category, not a shortcut.