Structured data is code on a page, usually in JSON-LD format, that labels facts the page already states, such as the business name, address, phone number, hours, or the author of an article. Google says it uses structured data to understand page content and recommends JSON-LD where a site allows it. Most business sites benefit from a small, accurate set, but it does not replace clear text and it does not promise any special display in search.
Structured data gets sold both as a secret weapon and as a waste of time. Google's documentation describes something more modest: a standard way to describe what is on a page, with firm rules about accuracy and a list of search features that changes over time.
This page is for owners and marketing leads planning a build. It explains what the documentation says, and it is not a technical implementation guide. For how markup fits into a build, see Hudson South's website build service.
What structured data is
Google defines it as "a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content." Most of the structured data Google Search uses relies on the schema.org vocabulary, a shared set of types and properties. Schema.org explains the reason it exists in one line: "search engines have a limited understanding of what is being discussed on those pages." Markup adds labels so that a string of digits is understood as a phone number and a street address as the business's location.
Google supports three formats, JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and says it generally recommends JSON-LD if the site's setup allows it. JSON-LD sits in a block of its own rather than being woven through the page text, which makes it easier to maintain. In practice it lists properties and values: the type of thing described, its name, address, phone number and hours. Visitors never see it, which is exactly why it has to agree with what they do see. Markup is a label, not a claim. It should describe what a visitor can already read on the page, never add something the page does not say.
The rules that matter most
Google's general guidelines are short and strict. "Your structured data must be a true representation of the page content." "Don't mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page." Put the markup on the page it describes, unless a specific feature's documentation says otherwise. Markup that breaks these rules can lead to a manual action, which removes a page's eligibility for rich results. Plugins that generate markup automatically deserve a check here, since they can describe a business in ways the visible page never does.
Schema.org gives the same advice in different words: more markup is better, except for hidden text. Google's page on AI features adds one more reason for care, listing "Making sure your structured data matches the visible text on the page" among the practices that still apply. If the visible page says one thing and the markup says another, the business has published two versions of the same fact.
What structured data does not do
Markup makes a page eligible for some search features; it does not earn them. Google's general guidelines state plainly that it does not promise structured data will show up in search results. The features themselves also change. Google's documentation updates log records that the FAQ rich result "will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026," and that its documentation was removed in June 2026. Earlier in 2026, the practice problem type was retired the same way. Markup also does not make a page more relevant than its text: if a page fails to answer the question a buyer asked, labeling its address precisely will not change that.
That history is a good argument for marking up facts rather than chasing features. A business name, address, phone number and opening hours stay useful whatever display Google offers this year. Google's documentation points to its Rich Results Test as the tool for validating markup before and after launch.
Where a small business usually starts
Two types cover most of what a small business needs, and both describe facts that should already be on the site.
| Type | Where it goes | What it describes | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | The home page, or one page that describes the organization | Name, website, logo, profiles elsewhere, address, phone | Google lists no required properties; fill in what is useful and true |
| LocalBusiness | Each physical location's page | Name and address (required), phone, URL, opening hours, coordinates | Use the most specific subtype that fits; one block per real location |
Google's local business documentation says the markup can tell it about business hours, departments and reviews, and asks site owners to use the most specific LocalBusiness subtype possible. Markup needs an owner, just like the visible page. A plain question exposes the gap: "When our hours change, which places do we update, and is the markup one of them?" If nobody knows, the markup will drift out of date while the visible page gets corrected.
Beyond those two, add markup when a page clearly is a kind of thing that has its own entry in Google's structured data documentation and carries the facts that entry asks for. Skip markup for anything the page does not state, and resist adding types just because a plugin offers them.
A fictional example, and where the facts come from
Here is a fictional example. A chiropractic clinic in Texas opened a second location last year. Its site still carries one LocalBusiness block, generated by a plugin, with the old address and hours that no longer match the contact page. The fix is one block per location page, each with that office's address, phone number and hours, in the most specific subtype that fits, with the organization-level markup on the home page.
The fix takes an afternoon; keeping it right takes a habit. Structured data is only as accurate as the record behind it, and the person building it should not have to invent what the clinic knows about its own hours or services. Hudson South runs every build in the same order. Authority Asset gathers approved business knowledge and evidence. Hudson Twenty-One records how the business communicates across 21 dimensions, so the pages sound like the people who answer the phone. Market Intelligence researches the questions buyers ask and how the market answers them. AEO Creation turns those inputs into answer-first pages. Every Hudson South build includes JSON-LD structured data as a practice. For the other build choices that affect how assistants read a site, see what makes a website easy for AI assistants to read and quote.
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- Intro to How Structured Data Markup Works. Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-17.
- Getting Started. schema.org. Read 2026-10-17.
- General Structured Data Guidelines. Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-17.
- AI Features and Your Website. Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-17.
- Latest Google Search Documentation Updates. Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-17.
- Organization Schema Markup. Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-17.
- Local Business (LocalBusiness) Structured Data. Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-17.