Schema markup is structured data, usually JSON-LD, that tells search engines and AI assistants exactly who you are, where you are and what you offer. A local business should add LocalBusiness or Organization, Service, BreadcrumbList and Article where relevant. FAQ and HowTo no longer earn rich results for most sites, but still help machines read a page. Test it with Google's tools.
Schema markup sounds technical, and most guides bury the useful part under a list of every type that exists. A local business needs four or five of them, in one small block of code per page. What follows is what we add on our own site and on client sites, and what we have stopped expecting.
What is schema markup, and why does it matter?
Schema markup is a vocabulary from schema.org used to label the things on a page: a business, its address, a service, an article, a question and answer. It is usually written as JSON-LD, a block of code in the page that visitors do not see. Search engines and AI assistants read it to understand the page without guessing.
It does not raise a ranking by itself. It removes ambiguity. That helps a business appear correctly in Google's knowledge features, and helps AI systems attach the right facts to the right name. It sits inside the wider picture in SEO vs AEO vs GEO.
Which schema types does a local business need?
| Type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| LocalBusiness, or a more specific subtype | Name, address, phone, hours, area served, geo coordinates |
| Organization | Brand-level details, logo, founders, social profiles |
| Service | Each service page, with the provider linked to the organisation |
| BreadcrumbList | The path from the homepage to the page |
| Article | Blog posts, with author and dates |
| Person | The founder or author, for credibility |
On our own site, the homepage carries the organisation and business details and a link to the founder, service pages use Service, and every blog post carries Article, BreadcrumbList and FAQPage.
Is FAQ schema still worth adding?
The rich results have shrunk. In 2023 Google restricted FAQ rich results to well-known government and health sites and removed HowTo rich results, so most business sites will not see expandable FAQs in Google any more. FAQPage markup still helps because it labels question-and-answer pairs clearly for search engines and AI assistants. Treat it as good structure, not as a way to occupy more space in the results. The visible FAQ text on the page and the schema must match.
What does a LocalBusiness example look like?
Replace every value with your own. Keep the details identical to your Google Business Profile.
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "Your Business Name",
"url": "https://www.example.com/",
"telephone": "+91XXXXXXXXXX",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "Street and building",
"addressLocality": "Rajkot",
"addressRegion": "Gujarat",
"postalCode": "360006",
"addressCountry": "IN"
},
"geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 22.3039, "longitude": 70.8022 },
"openingHours": "Mo-Sa 10:00-19:00",
"areaServed": "Rajkot, Saurashtra",
"sameAs": ["https://www.instagram.com/yourpage/"]
}
Choose the most specific subtype that fits, such as a restaurant, a dentist or a store, instead of the generic LocalBusiness.
How do you add and test it?
- Place the JSON-LD inside a
script type="application/ld+json"tag in the page head or body. - Make sure every fact matches what is visible on the page and in your Google Business Profile.
- Test with Google's Rich Results Test and the schema.org validator.
- Check Google Search Console for structured data errors after publishing.
WordPress users can use an SEO plugin to generate most of it. For hand-built sites, one small block per page is enough.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Marking up content that is not on the page, such as fake reviews or ratings.
- Using different name, address or phone details across schema, the site and Google Business Profile.
- Copying an example without changing the values.
- Adding markup for types that do not fit, hoping for a ranking boost.
A verified Google Business Profile and real reviews do far more for local visibility than any markup. See how to rank on Google Maps in Rajkot, and for a small extra, the llms.txt guide.
Which page should get which schema?
- Homepage. Organization or LocalBusiness with address, phone, logo and social profiles, and a link to the founder if there is one.
- Contact page. The same business details, with opening hours and area served.
- Service pages. Service, with the provider pointing back to the organisation.
- Blog posts. Article with author and dates, BreadcrumbList and FAQPage when the page has a visible FAQ.
- Every inner page. BreadcrumbList so the path is machine-readable.
Keep the details on all of them identical. If the phone number in the schema differs from the one on the page, search engines have to guess which is right.
Key Takeaways
- Schema markup labels the things on a page so search engines and AI assistants do not have to guess. It does not raise a ranking by itself.
- A local business needs LocalBusiness or Organization, Service, BreadcrumbList and Article, plus Person for a founder.
- Google restricted FAQ rich results in 2023 and removed HowTo. FAQPage still helps machines read the page.
- Make schema match the visible page and your Google Business Profile exactly.
- Test with Google's Rich Results Test and watch Search Console for errors.
Before You Ask
What schema markup does a local business need?
LocalBusiness, or a more specific subtype such as a restaurant or dentist, with name, address, phone, hours, area served and coordinates. Add Organization for brand-level details, Service for each service page, BreadcrumbList for navigation, Article for blog posts and Person for a founder. Keep every value identical to the visible page and your Google Business Profile, and test the markup with Google's Rich Results Test.
Is FAQ schema still relevant?
Its visible reward has shrunk. In 2023 Google restricted FAQ rich results to well-known government and health sites and removed HowTo rich results, so most business sites will not get expandable FAQs in the results. FAQPage markup still labels question-and-answer pairs clearly for search engines and AI assistants, so it helps as structure. The schema text must match the FAQ text visible on the page.
Does schema markup improve Google rankings?
Not directly. Schema does not act as a ranking factor by itself. It removes ambiguity about who you are, where you are and what you offer, which helps search engines and AI assistants attach the right facts to your business and can make you eligible for some rich features. A complete Google Business Profile, quality content, reviews and links matter far more for local visibility.
*Statements about Google's 2023 changes to FAQ and HowTo rich results reflect Google's public announcements at the time. The JSON-LD example is a template to adapt, and every value must be replaced with your own verified details.
Related: AEO & GEO agency in Rajkot