Search engines
Structured Data
Also called: Schema markup, Schema.org, JSON-LD
Structured data is machine-readable code added to a page that states the page's facts in a standard format, most commonly JSON-LD following the Schema.org vocabulary. It does not change what a visitor sees. It tells a search engine directly that a string of text is a phone number, a review score, or an author name, instead of leaving the engine to work that out from the layout.
The main documented benefit is eligibility for rich results: the star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, and breadcrumb trails that appear on some Google listings. Google publishes which result types require which markup, and pages without the markup are not eligible for those specific appearances.
Structured data is not a ranking factor in itself, and Google states that no structured data is required for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Its value in AI search is different and still real: it removes ambiguity. A page that says a business is open until 6 and marks that up as closing time gives a machine one unambiguous reading instead of two plausible ones.
The rule that matters most is agreement. Markup must state what the page visibly states. Marking up a review score that appears nowhere on the page is a spam policy violation, not a shortcut.
Why it matters
Structured data is the cheapest way to make sure a machine reads a page's facts the way a human reads them.
Covered in depth in AI Search Visibility for Real Estate Agents.
Related terms
Related reading
Sources
Every claim on this page that could be checked against a primary source is linked below. Where something is not publicly documented by a vendor, the page says so rather than filling the gap with an estimate.
- Intro to how structured data markup works (Google Search Central)
Last reviewed 2026-09-04. All Saige glossary terms.