Schema markup for AI search: what to add

Short answer: Add JSON-LD that states who you are (Organization or LocalBusiness, or a specific type such as LegalService, Dentist or Plumber), what you offer (services or products with offers), and the questions you answer (FAQPage, only where the questions are visible on the page). Schema does not force an AI assistant to name you, but it removes ambiguity about your facts, and ambiguity is a common reason a business gets left out.

Why structured data matters for AI answers

Assistants that recommend businesses work from what they can read and confirm. Structured data states your facts in a format machines parse first: business type, name, address, phone, hours, service area, services and the profiles that belong to you. When those facts match your listings and reviews, an engine can corroborate you. When they are missing or contradict your Google Business Profile, it has less reason to.

The baseline: four schema types

1. Organization or LocalBusiness

Every business site should have one, ideally on the homepage. Use the most specific type that fits: LegalService, Attorney, Dentist, Plumber, HVACBusiness, RoofingContractor, MedicalClinic and many more.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LegalService",
  "name": "Rivera Family Law",
  "url": "https://www.example.com",
  "telephone": "+1-305-555-0100",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "100 Example Ave, Suite 200",
    "addressLocality": "Miami",
    "addressRegion": "FL",
    "postalCode": "33131",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "areaServed": ["Miami-Dade County", "Broward County"],
  "openingHours": "Mo-Fr 09:00-18:00",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=YOUR_CID",
    "https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/your-profile",
    "https://www.yelp.com/biz/your-profile"
  ]
}

The sameAs links matter more than they look: they tie your site to the listings an engine already trusts.

2. Service (or Product with Offer)

Describe each core service on its own page, with provider pointing back to your business. Add an offers block with a price or price range where you publish one.

3. FAQPage

If a page has a visible question-and-answer section, mark it up as FAQPage. Keep the markup identical to the visible text. Google shows FAQ rich results for few sites now, but the markup still states clearly which questions the page answers.

4. Article and BreadcrumbList

On blog posts and guides, Article (with datePublished, dateModified and author) tells engines how fresh the content is. BreadcrumbList clarifies where a page sits on your site.

Common mistakes

• Facts that disagree with your listings. A different phone number in schema than on Google Business Profile is worse than no schema.
• Markup for content that is not on the page. Hidden FAQs or invented reviews can cost you rich results and trust.
• Self-serving review markup. Google ignores review stars a business publishes about itself on its own LocalBusiness or Organization markup.
• Set and forget. Hours, addresses and services change. Schema has to change with them.

How to check your schema

Run key pages through Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator. Then check that the facts match your listings exactly. Frontpagely's site-health grade checks for missing or inconsistent schema automatically, and paid plans include a schema generator prefilled from your business details. Start with the free audit.

For the other six inputs AI assistants rely on, read the AI search optimization guide.