Structured Data for AI

Why Structured Data Matters for AI

When an AI reads your webpage, it sees text. Lots of text. It has to infer what that text means:

Is "$99" a price or a random number?
Is "John Smith" an author or just a mention?
Is this page about a product, article, or company?

Structured data removes the guesswork. It explicitly tells AI systems the semantic meaning of your content.

JSON-LD: The Preferred Format

JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is the recommended format for structured data. It's a script tag you add to your page's <head>:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Optimize for AI",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Doe"
  },
  "datePublished": "2025-01-15",
  "description": "A guide to GEO best practices"
}
</script>

Key Schema Types for GEO

Organization

Use on your homepage or about page to identify your company:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Acme Corp",
  "url": "https://acme.com",
  "description": "Enterprise software for logistics",
  "foundingDate": "2018",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://twitter.com/acmecorp",
    "https://linkedin.com/company/acmecorp"
  ]
}

Article / BlogPosting

Use on blog posts and articles. This is essential for citation attribution:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "The Complete Guide to GEO",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Smith",
    "url": "https://acme.com/team/jane"
  },
  "datePublished": "2025-01-15",
  "dateModified": "2025-01-20",
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Acme Corp"
  }
}

FAQPage

Extremely valuable for AI. Makes your FAQs directly extractable:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is GEO?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is..."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How is GEO different from SEO?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "While SEO optimizes for search rankings..."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Product

For product pages. Helps AI understand and compare offerings:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Pro Analytics Dashboard",
  "description": "Real-time business intelligence",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "149",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "priceValidUntil": "2025-12-31"
  },
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.8",
    "reviewCount": "127"
  }
}

HowTo

For tutorials and guides. Makes step-by-step content extractable:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "HowTo",
  "name": "How to Set Up Your Dashboard",
  "step": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Create Account",
      "text": "Sign up at dashboard.acme.com"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Connect Data Source",
      "text": "Click 'Add Connection' and select your data source"
    }
  ]
}

Implementation Best Practices

1. Match Content to Schema

Only use schema types that accurately describe your content. Don't mark a blog post as a Product or a company page as an Article.

2. Include All Recommended Properties

Each schema type has required and recommended properties. Include as many as you can accurately fill. Google's Structured Data documentation lists these.

3. Keep Data Accurate

Structured data must match your visible content. Don't claim a 5-star rating in JSON-LD if your page shows 4 stars.

4. Validate Your Markup

Use Google's Rich Results Test to check for errors in your structured data.

Common Mistakes

Missing author information - Always include author on articles
No dates - datePublished and dateModified help AI assess freshness
Generic descriptions - Be specific, not "A great product for everyone"
Broken JSON - Always validate your JSON-LD syntax

Priority Implementation Order

Organization - On homepage and about page
Article/BlogPosting - On all blog posts
FAQPage - On FAQ sections (high value for AI)
Product - On product pages
HowTo - On tutorials and guides

TL;DR