Pakistan
USA
Canada
UK
Dubai
Australia
Germany
- Organization or LocalBusiness schema is the foundation for most businesses.
- Google says no special schema is needed for AI search.
- FAQ and HowTo rich results no longer appear in Google Search.
- Markup must match what visitors can see on the page.
Why does structured data help?
Structured data is code, usually JSON-LD, that states facts about a page in a fixed vocabulary from schema.org. Instead of a search engine inferring your phone number or opening hours from page text, the markup says it plainly. Google uses it to understand content and to decide eligibility for some rich results.
Be realistic about AI search. Google's AI optimisation guide says structured data is not required for generative AI features and that there is no special schema for them. Schema helps systems connect the dots about who you are, but it will not make a weak page get cited. Think of it as tidy labelling on a good product, not a ranking shortcut.
Should I use Organization or LocalBusiness?
Use Organization for a business without a public location customers visit, such as an online service or a firm serving clients remotely. Include name, url, logo, contact details, and sameAs links to your official profiles. Google's Organization documentation also lists properties such as legal name and identifiers that can help disambiguate your company.
Use LocalBusiness, or a more specific type such as Dentist or LegalService, for each physical location people can visit. Add address, geo coordinates, opening hours, telephone and the URL of that location's page. If you have several branches, give each one its own page and its own markup, and make sure every detail matches the matching Google Business Profile.
How should I mark up authors?
Person schema on an author page can describe the writer's name, job title, the organisation they work for and links to their professional profiles. Article pages can then reference that person as the author. This helps search systems connect content to a real, identifiable expert, rather than to an anonymous website with no visible authors.
The markup only works if the page behind it is real. Create a proper author page with a photo, background, qualifications and the topics they cover, and link to it from each article. Markup that names an expert who does not exist, or claims credentials the person does not hold, is misleading and can count against you. Our E-E-A-T guide explains why this matters.
Which other types are worth adding?
Add these only where the page genuinely matches the type.
Type | Use it on | Google rich result? |
|---|---|---|
Service | Individual service pages | No dedicated rich result; helps describe the offer |
Article | Guides, news and blog posts | Supports article features and clearer dates and authors |
Product | Pages selling a specific product | Yes, product snippets and merchant listings |
Review and AggregateRating | Third-party reviewed items | Not shown for self-serving reviews of your own business |
BreadcrumbList | Most pages with breadcrumbs | Yes, breadcrumb display |
What happened to FAQ and HowTo rich results?
In 2023 Google limited FAQ rich results to well-known government and health sites and stopped showing HowTo rich results. In 2026 Google updated its documentation to say FAQ rich results no longer appear in Google Search at all, and it has been removing the related Search Console reports and testing tool support. For most businesses, the visual benefit of FAQ markup in Google has now gone.
FAQPage remains a valid schema.org type, and leaving existing markup in place is not harmful. Just do not add it expecting extra space in results. A visible FAQ section is still useful for readers and gives AI systems clear question and answer pairs to work from, with or without the markup.
How do I test my schema?
Check every template, not just one page.
- Run the Rich Results TestPaste a URL into Google's Rich Results Test to see which supported features are detected and any errors.
- Use the Schema Markup ValidatorCheck types Google does not show as rich results, such as Service, at validator.schema.org.
- Compare with the pageMake sure every value in the markup appears on the visible page and is correct.
- Check Search ConsoleReview the enhancement reports for errors across the whole site after publishing.
- Recheck after updatesTheme, plugin and CMS updates often change or duplicate markup.
How we handle this for clients
We crawl the site to see what markup already exists, because SEO plugins, themes and page builders often add overlapping or conflicting schema. We then agree one source of truth for business details and write a schema plan by page type: home, location, service, article and author. Duplicate or wrong markup is removed before anything new is added.
The markup is implemented in templates where possible, so it stays consistent as pages are added, then tested with Google's tools and the schema.org validator. We recheck after major site changes. This work is part of our on-page SEO services, and it ties into the wider technical checks described in our technical SEO guide.
What about multi-country businesses in Pakistan, the Gulf and the UK?
If you have offices in Lahore, Dubai and London, give each office its own LocalBusiness markup on its own location page, with local address, phone format and opening hours. Use one Organization block for the parent company, and link the locations to it with properties such as parentOrganization. This shows that the branches belong to one company rather than being unrelated businesses with similar names.
Use sameAs to point to the profiles that are genuinely yours, such as your LinkedIn page and official social accounts. For Urdu or Arabic pages, markup values can be in the page language, but keep the business name consistent with your Google Business Profile and trade licence or company registration, so systems see one business, not several.
Common schema mistakes
These are the problems we see most often.
Markup that does not match the page
Prices, hours or reviews in code that visitors cannot see break Google's guidelines.
Self-serving review stars
Marking up your own reviews on your own business pages will not earn stars.
Duplicate Organization blocks
Two plugins each adding company markup can send mixed signals.
Treating schema as a shortcut
Markup cannot rescue thin pages; content quality still decides citations. See getting into AI Overviews.
Junaid has more than 18 years in SEO, paid media, web development and custom software. He founded SEOnumber1, builds WordPress plugins, CRMs and web applications, has served 500+ clients in 48 countries, and holds Google Ads, Analytics and Google Blue and Green Belt certifications. He is a National Level Award Winner in Digital Marketing. Read his story or ask a question about this article.