Schema Markup for AI: The AEO Guide
Schema markup (structured data) is machine-readable code — usually JSON-LD — that tells engines exactly what your content is: a business, a product, an FAQ, a how-to. For AEO it’s one of the highest-leverage, lowest-effort moves, because it lets AI extract clean, unambiguous facts about you.
The schema types that matter most for AEO
| Schema type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Organization | Every business — name, logo, URL, social profiles, contact |
| LocalBusiness (and subtypes) | Any business with a location or service area — NAP, hours, geo, price range |
| FAQPage | Question-and-answer content the AI can lift directly |
| Product + Offer + Review | E-commerce PDPs — price, availability, ratings |
| Service | Service businesses — what you offer, area served |
| HowTo | Step-by-step instructional content |
| Article | Blog posts and guides — author, dates, publisher |
| BreadcrumbList | Site structure and page hierarchy |
A minimal LocalBusiness example
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "Acme Plumbing",
"telephone": "+1-555-123-4567",
"url": "https://acmeplumbing.com",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Main St",
"addressLocality": "St. George",
"addressRegion": "UT",
"postalCode": "84770"
},
"areaServed": "Washington County, UT",
"openingHours": "Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00",
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.9",
"reviewCount": "212"
}
}
Getting it right
- Use JSON-LD in a
<script type="application/ld+json">tag — it’s Google’s preferred format and the easiest to maintain. - Only mark up what’s visible on the page — don’t fabricate facts.
- Keep it consistent with your Google Business Profile and other listings.
- Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test and Schema.org validator.
- Layer types — e.g. Organization site-wide plus FAQPage on FAQ pages.
Schema won’t save weak content, but it makes strong content unmistakable to an AI. Pair it with the rest of the AEO checklist.