Guide · Structured data
Structured Data and Entities: Schema.org for Google and AI Search
More important than individual rich results today is entity consistency
Structured data are machine-readable statements in JSON-LD format that tell Google and AI search systems who and what is behind a page. In 2026, Google still displays around 20 rich result types – FAQ snippets have been switched off since May 2026. More important than individual snippets today is entity consistency: Organization, Person and Breadcrumb cleanly linked via @id.
What JSON-LD is – in two minutes
JSON-LD is a script block that describes content in a form machines understand unambiguously. Instead of Google having to guess from your body text whether “Jaguar” is an animal or a car, you say it explicitly: “@type”: “Product”, manufacturer, price, rating.
The vocabulary is provided by Schema.org. JSON-LD is the format recommended by Google – Microdata and RDFa still work, but are harder to maintain. Adoption reflects that: 54.8 percent of all websites now use JSON-LD, Microdata only reaches 21.9 percent (W3Techs, as of August 2026).
JSON-LD sits as one block in one place and can be deployed centrally. Your visitors see none of it – crawlers see all of it.
The iron rule: markup = visible content
Everything you mark up must be visible on the page. A price in the markup that isn’t on the page; a rating without visible reviews; questions in FAQPage markup that appear nowhere in the text – all of that violates Google’s structured data policies.
The consequence is real: Google imposes manual actions for structured data spam. Then the entire domain loses its rich results. Rule of thumb: write the visible content first, generate the markup from it – never the other way around.
Which rich results Google still supports in 2026
In 2026, Google still supports around 20 rich result types, documented in the Search Gallery. The most important at a glance:
| Type | Shows | Status 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Price, availability, ratings | active – most important markup for shops |
| Article | Classification for News and Discover | active |
| LocalBusiness | Opening hours, location | active |
| Recipe | Recipe rich result | active, depending on niche |
| Event | Event data | active, depending on niche |
| JobPosting | Job posting | active, depending on niche |
| Review-Snippets | Rating stars | active, depending on niche |
| BreadcrumbList | Path display in the snippet | active |
| FAQPage | Question-answer snippet | switched off since May 2026 |
| HowTo | Step-by-step instructions | discontinued |
| Sitelinks-Searchbox | Search box in the snippet | discontinued |
Discontinued over the years were, among others, HowTo and the sitelinks search box. The most recent cut: in May 2026, Google finally switched off FAQ rich results – after they had only been served for individual government and health sites since 2023 anyway.
Why FAQPage markup stays anyway
Rich results were never the only consumer of structured data. FAQPage markup delivers question-answer pairs machine-readably – exactly the format AI search systems process when assembling answers. A cleanly marked-up answer of 40 to 60 words is a ready-made citation unit for AI Overviews and AI Mode.
On top of that, the entity effect: every valid markup feeds the search engine’s understanding of who you are. My recommendation: keep FAQPage markup – but only for visibly answered questions.
Linking entities: Organization, Person, Breadcrumb via @id
This is where solid markup separates from copy-paste markup. Every entity gets a fixed @id: https://viktorpasztor.de/#organization for the company, #person for the person, one #breadcrumb and #article ID per page.
The effect: instead of every page creating a new, unconnected entity, all articles reference the same person. One entity, a hundred pieces of evidence – instead of a hundred entities with one piece each.
Validating: two tools, two questions
Two tools, two different questions:
- Rich Results Test (Google): is the markup suitable for a Google rich result? Only checks supported types.
- Schema Markup Validator (Schema.org): is the markup syntactically valid – regardless of what Google makes of it?
Use both: an FAQPage block has been invisible in the Rich Results Test since May 2026, but can still be checked in the Schema Markup Validator. After that, keep an eye on the Search Console.
Entity consistency: preparing for AI search
AI search systems assign statements to entities. Consistency means: name, address, service description and profiles match everywhere – in the schema markup, in the legal notice, in the Google Business Profile, on LinkedIn. sameAs references connect the profiles explicitly. Three spellings of the company name are three candidates for a machine instead of one entity.
@id linking in practice
This is what the linking looks like in practice:
“For a B2B software provider, we consolidated the scattered Organization blocks across around 300 pages onto one central @id and linked the authors as Person entities. Four months later, the provider was named as a source in AI Overviews for the first time – before that, it didn’t appear there at all.”
— Viktor Pásztor, SEO freelancer
What was decisive was not a single schema type, but that in the end every page pointed to the same Person and Organization @id – instead of creating dozens of unconnected copies.
Common mistakes when using structured data
Markup without a visible counterpart
The fastest way to a manual action: price, rating or question in the markup, but not visible on the page.
No @id linking
Without a fixed @id, every page creates an isolated duplicate entity instead of referencing the same Person or Organization.
FAQ markup deleted after May 2026
The snippet benefit is gone, the entity benefit for AI search systems isn’t. Deleting was premature here.
Installed once, never maintained
Prices and authors in the markup go stale if nobody keeps them in sync with the visible content.
Frequently asked questions about structured data
Does schema markup bring better rankings?
Not directly – structured data is not a ranking factor. But product snippets with price and rating often measurably increase the click-through rate, frequently in the range of 5–15 %.
Should I still add FAQPage markup in 2026?
Yes, if the questions are visibly answered on the page. The rich results have been gone since May 2026; the value for entity assignment and AI search remains.
How many schema types does a normal website need?
Usually 4 are enough: Organization or Person, Article, BreadcrumbList and, depending on the business, Product or LocalBusiness.
How quickly do markup changes take effect?
After the next crawl of the page – on active websites often within 3 to 14 days.
Viktor Pásztor
Viktor Pásztor is an SEO freelancer in Berlin, has been in digital marketing for over 15 years and manages around 15 client projects in parallel, mostly e-commerce and B2B. He has been working 100 % remotely for more than five years – with WordPress, Shopify, Shopware and TYPO3. More about Viktor Pásztor
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