Technical SEO
Structured data
Structured data is machine-readable markup, usually JSON-LD using the schema.
What is structured data?
Structured data is machine-readable markup, usually JSON-LD using the schema.org vocabulary, that states explicitly what a page is about. It makes meaning explicit rather than leaving it to be inferred from the prose.
What turns on it
It determines eligibility for specific result features and it is parsed by systems that build answers, which read markup more reliably than they read text.
How it gets implemented
Implemented per template with the right type, required and recommended properties populated, entities connected by identifier references, and validation enforced before publication.
The common misunderstanding
It is not a ranking factor. It makes eligibility possible and meaning explicit; it does not make a weak page strong, and markup that does not match the visible page is a policy violation.
Worth knowing because it comes up in almost every conversation about this.
Where this comes up in the work
It is part of Content and Editorial, and more specifically of Content briefs and specifications. Across the rest of the work it shows up in:
- Agentic Commerce, since naming the products the way an agent asks for them is only as good as this is
- App Store Optimization, in which it is the first thing checked before working out which keyword the icon is actually competing on
- Marketplace Marketing, which cannot be done properly without it
- Content and Editorial, where getting it wrong shows up in finding the page that gets traffic and convinces nobody
What to check
Two questions that establish whether this is actually in order on a given site:
- Whether it was reviewed since the last platform change
- Whether the thing being reported is the thing you think is being reported
More in Technical SEO
Common questions
What is the evidence for structured data mattering?
By measuring it rather than by argument. Implemented per template with the right type, required and recommended properties populated, entities connected by identifier references, and validation enforced before publication.
What is structured data often confused with?
It is not a ranking factor. It makes eligibility possible and meaning explicit; it does not make a weak page strong, and markup that does not match the visible page is a policy violation.
Does structured data affect rankings directly?
Not on its own, and claims that it does are usually overselling. It determines eligibility for specific result features and it is parsed by systems that build answers, which read markup more reliably than they read text.
How is structured data audited?
Implemented per template with the right type, required and recommended properties populated, entities connected by identifier references, and validation enforced before publication. Lifecycle and Email for Nonprofit and NGO is the reference page for this. Local SEO for Nonprofit and NGO is the one with the examples.
Who owns structured data in a business?
It needs one named owner rather than a shared responsibility. The natural home is AI Automation and Workflows, since finding the report somebody rebuilds manually every Monday is where the consequence lands. People arriving here usually end up on Brand and Creative in Austin, and often on Content and Editorial in Austin after that.
How much work is structured data?
Less than people expect to check and sometimes more than they expect to fix. Implemented per template with the right type, required and recommended properties populated, entities connected by identifier references, and validation enforced before publication. There is a fuller account in Zero-click visibility. App creative and screenshot testing is the part that tends to get skipped.
Find out whether this is worth doing at all
Tell us what you have already tried. Knowing what failed narrows this down faster than anything else.