Schema Markup Guide for Small Business: Which Types to Add, How, and What Changed

Schema markup for a small business is structured data, usually written in JSON-LD, that tells search engines exactly what your pages describe: your organization, your physical location and hours, your products and prices, your articles. Most small businesses need four types: Organization, LocalBusiness (with the most specific subtype), BreadcrumbList and Article, plus Product markup for online stores. It doesn't directly raise rankings, but it can make pages eligible for rich results and removes ambiguity about who you are.

Google has also retired several rich result types, most notably FAQ rich results in May 2026, so older guides may tell you to add markup that no longer shows anything.

Key takeaways

• Use JSON-LD, Google's recommended format.
• Start with Organization (homepage), LocalBusiness (location pages), BreadcrumbList, Article and, for stores, Product.
• Use the most specific LocalBusiness subtype (Dentist, Plumber, Restaurant), and list multiple types as an array if needed.
• Markup must describe visible content; fake or hidden information can trigger a manual action.
• FAQ rich results stopped appearing in Google Search on May 7, 2026; several other features have been retired.
• Structured data isn't required for AI Overviews and there's no special AI schema.

What schema markup is and what it does

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary for describing things on the web: businesses, people, products, events and more. Structured data uses that vocabulary in a machine-readable format embedded in your page.

What it can do:

• Make pages eligible for rich results (for example product price and availability, breadcrumbs, event details)
• Help Google connect your site to your business identity (logo, name, contact details)
• Reduce ambiguity in names, addresses, prices and dates

What it can't do:

• Guarantee rich results. Google says markup enables a feature to be present but doesn't guarantee it will be shown.
• Rank a weak page. Google's generative AI guide says structured data isn't required for AI search and there's no special schema.org markup for it, though it remains useful for rich results.

The schema types that matter for small businesses

What Google has retired (don't chase these)

• FAQ rich results: Google announced in May 2026 that the feature would no longer appear in Search starting May 7, 2026, and removed the documentation in June 2026.
• Other phased-out features: Google's documentation updates list announced retirements including book actions, course info, estimated salary, ClaimReview, learning video, special announcement and vehicle listing (announced June 2025), and practice problems and dataset results later.

Markup for retired features usually doesn't cause harm, but it won't produce a rich result. Spend the effort elsewhere.

LocalBusiness markup, step by step

Google's local business documentation lists only two required properties: name and address (a PostalAddress). It recommends many more, and the more accurate detail you provide, the better.

Rules from Google's guidance:

1. Use the most specific subtype. Schema.org's LocalBusiness has subtypes such as Dentist, MedicalBusiness, LegalService, FoodEstablishment, HomeAndConstructionBusiness, Store and ProfessionalService, many with further subtypes (Plumber, Electrician, Restaurant).
2. Multiple services? Use an array of types, for example ["Electrician", "Plumber"]. Google says additionalType isn't supported for this.
3. One LocalBusiness per location. Each branch gets its own page and markup.
4. Follow Organization fields too, since LocalBusiness is a subtype of Organization.
5. Don't self-review. aggregateRating is recommended only for sites that capture reviews about other businesses.

Example for a dental clinic (replace every value with your real details):

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Dentist",
  "name": "Example Dental Care",
  "url": "https://www.example.com/",
  "telephone": "+1-555-010-0000",
  "image": "https://www.example.com/images/clinic-front.jpg",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Main Street, Suite 4",
    "addressLocality": "Springfield",
    "addressRegion": "IL",
    "postalCode": "62701",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 39.7817,
    "longitude": -89.6501
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [{
    "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
    "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"],
    "opens": "09:00",
    "closes": "17:00"
  }]
}
</script>

Keep the name, address and phone identical to your Google Business Profile and signage. See the Google Business Profile optimization checklist.

Organization markup

Google says Organization markup has no required properties; add the ones that apply. Useful ones:

• name, url, logo
• sameAs links to your official profiles
• Contact details and address
• Identifiers where relevant (for example a VAT or registration number)
• Store policies such as a merchant return policy

Put it on the homepage or About page, not on every page.

Product markup for online stores

Google offers two classes of product markup:

• Product snippets for pages where people can't buy directly (such as review pages)
• Merchant listings for pages where customers can buy from you, with options for sizing, shipping and returns

Merchant listings require name, image and offers (an Offer, because the merchant must be the seller). Google recommends multiple high-resolution images and nesting return policy and loyalty program markup under Organization. Shopify themes output basic Product markup; check what's missing. More in product page best practices that convert.

The rules that keep markup safe

From Google's general structured data guidelines:

• Mark up only visible content. If JSON-LD describes something, the page must show it.
• No misleading or irrelevant markup, including fake reviews.
• Keep it current. Time-sensitive content that's no longer relevant won't get a rich result.
• Don't block marked-up pages with robots.txt or noindex.
• Consequence: a structured data manual action removes rich result eligibility for affected pages; Google says it doesn't affect web ranking. Check the Manual Actions report in Search Console.

How to add and test schema markup

1. Check what already exists. Run key pages through Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator (validator.schema.org). Themes and plugins often add markup already, and duplicates cause confusion.
2. Choose the implementation: your CMS or SEO plugin settings, theme code, or a JSON-LD script in the page template.
3. Write markup from real page data. Templates should pull values from the page (price, hours, author) rather than hardcoding them.
4. Test before publishing in the Rich Results Test, then deploy to a few pages.
5. Inspect live pages with Search Console's URL Inspection to see what Google renders.
6. Monitor Search Console's rich result reports for errors and warnings.

From experience: On Next.js and Shopify builds, the most common structured data bug isn't missing markup. It's two systems emitting conflicting markup: a theme outputs one Product block, an app outputs another with a different price. Audit first, then consolidate to one source of truth generated from the same data that renders the page.

Common schema mistakes small businesses make

• Copy-pasted examples left unchanged. Sample addresses, phone numbers or coordinates from tutorials end up live. Always replace every value.
• Markup that disagrees with the page. Opening hours in JSON-LD that differ from the hours shown on the page or your Business Profile send mixed signals.
• Sitewide LocalBusiness on every URL for a multi-location business, instead of one block per location page.
• Self-serving star ratings added to the homepage, which Google's review guidelines don't support.
• Stale prices and availability on product pages where markup is hardcoded rather than generated from live data.
• Chasing retired features such as FAQ rich results instead of fixing basics like Organization and Product markup.

Schema markup and AI search

Google is explicit: there's no special schema for AI Overviews or AI Mode, and you don't need new AI text files or markup. What does help AI features is that your structured data matches your visible text and that your Business Profile and Merchant Center data are current. Read how to rank in Google AI Overviews and the generative engine optimization guide for the wider picture.

Schema markup checklist

• [ ] Existing markup audited with the Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator
• [ ] Organization markup on homepage with name, url, logo and sameAs
• [ ] LocalBusiness markup on each location page using the most specific subtype
• [ ] Name, address and phone identical to Google Business Profile
• [ ] BreadcrumbList on pages that show breadcrumbs
• [ ] Article markup with author and dates on blog posts
• [ ] Product markup with Offer, shipping and return details on product pages
• [ ] No self-serving review markup
• [ ] No markup for content that isn't visible
• [ ] FAQ and other retired rich result types deprioritized
• [ ] Rich result reports in Search Console checked monthly

Next steps

• Test your homepage, a location page and a key product or service page in the Rich Results Test today.
• Remove duplicate or conflicting markup from themes, plugins and apps.
• Add LocalBusiness markup with your exact subtype and Business Profile details.
• Set a monthly reminder to check Search Console's rich result reports.
• If you'd like structured data planned as part of a wider AI search strategy, see AI SEO consulting.

Sources

• Google Search Central, General structured data guidelines: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/sd-policies
• Google Search Central, Local business structured data: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business
• Google Search Central, Organization structured data: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/organization
• Google Search Central, Introduction to Product structured data: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/product
• Google Search Central, Latest documentation updates: https://developers.google.com/search/updates
• Schema.org, LocalBusiness: https://schema.org/LocalBusiness

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