# Schema markup for AI search: what to add and what to skip

> Which schema markup helps AI assistants understand your business, with copy-and-paste JSON-LD for organisations, products and FAQs, and what to skip.

By Reece Chown, Agent SEO HQ. Published 11 November 2026. Canonical URL: https://agentseohq.com/articles/schema-markup-for-ai-search

**The short answer:**

Schema markup (structured data, usually written as JSON-LD) states your business facts in a format made for machines. No AI company says it is required, and Google says no special schema is needed for its AI features. It is still worth adding four types: who you are, what you sell, your questions and answers, and breadcrumbs. Keep it accurate and identical to what the page shows.

## What schema markup is

Schema markup is a block of code in a page that describes it in a shared vocabulary from schema.org. Where your page says "Open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5", the markup says so in a form no machine can misread.

The usual format is JSON-LD: a `<script type="application/ld+json">` block in the page's HTML. Visitors never see it. Search engines and other machines do.

## What the AI companies actually say

I would rather give you the real position than a sales pitch, so here it is, platform by platform.

- **Google**: "There's also no special schema.org structured data that you need to add" to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Its guide to generative AI features lists "overfocusing on structured data" among the things you need not do. It does ask that structured data "matches the visible text on the page".
- **Microsoft** is warmer. Its guidance for appearing in Copilot's answers recommends schema, saying it "can label your content as a product, review, FAQ, or event". Its Bing team also names FAQ sections and clear structure as helping AI systems reference content accurately.
- **OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity** have published nothing I can find on how their assistants use schema markup.

So there is no evidence that schema is a magic switch, and one large platform plainly encourages it. My reasons for adding it anyway:

1. **Assistants lean on search engines**, and search engines use structured data to understand pages.
2. **It removes guesswork.** Your legal name, address, price and currency are stated once, clearly.
3. **Writing it exposes mistakes.** On my own sites, adding structured data is how I found three pages describing the wrong product.
4. **It is cheap** and, done properly, cannot hurt.

## The four types worth adding

### 1. Who you are: Organization or LocalBusiness

One block on your home page that states the facts about the business. Use `LocalBusiness`, or a more specific type such as `AccountingService`, `Dentist` or `Restaurant`, if customers visit you or you serve an area. Use `Organization` otherwise.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "AccountingService",
  "@id": "https://harbouraccounts.example/#business",
  "name": "Harbour Accounts",
  "legalName": "Harbour Accounts Ltd",
  "url": "https://harbouraccounts.example/",
  "description": "Accountants in Leeds for small design studios and freelancers.",
  "telephone": "+44 113 496 0000",
  "email": "hello@harbouraccounts.example",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1 Example Street",
    "addressLocality": "Leeds",
    "postalCode": "LS1 1AA",
    "addressCountry": "GB"
  },
  "areaServed": "West Yorkshire",
  "openingHours": "Mo-Fr 09:00-17:00",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/harbour-accounts-example"
  ]
}
```

The `sameAs` list matters more than it looks. It links your website to your other official profiles, which helps a machine decide that all of them are the same business.

### 2. What you sell: Product, Service or SoftwareApplication

State the thing and its price. An assistant asked "how much is..." needs a number it can trust.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Service",
  "name": "Monthly bookkeeping for design studios",
  "provider": { "@id": "https://harbouraccounts.example/#business" },
  "areaServed": "United Kingdom",
  "description": "Bookkeeping, VAT returns and year-end accounts for studios of up to ten people.",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "95.00",
    "priceCurrency": "GBP",
    "description": "Per month, plus VAT"
  }
}
```

For physical or digital products use `Product`. For apps use `SoftwareApplication`, with the operating system and a link to the store. If you do not publish prices, leave the price out. Do not invent one to fill the field.

### 3. Your questions and answers: FAQPage

Mark up the questions and answers that are visible on the page.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "Do you work with freelancers?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "Yes. About half our clients are freelance designers and illustrators."
    }
  }]
}
```

One thing changed in 2026. Google used to show FAQ markup as expandable questions in its results. It restricted that to government and health sites in 2023, and reports from May 2026 say it has now stopped showing them altogether. The markup itself remains valid schema.org, and Microsoft still names FAQs as useful for AI answers. So keep it for what it tells machines, not for a visual reward in Google.

The visible questions matter more than the markup. A page that asks a real question in a heading and answers it in the next sentence is easy to quote, with or without JSON-LD.

### 4. Where the page sits: BreadcrumbList

A short block showing the page's place in the site: Home, then Services, then Bookkeeping. It helps a machine understand how your pages relate. Most website platforms and SEO plugins can add it for you.

### Articles and authors

If you publish guides, add `Article` with a headline, dates and an author, and make the author a `Person` linked to a real "about" page. It tells a machine who is behind the advice and when it was written. Every article on this site has it.

## Rules that keep you out of trouble

1. **Mark up only what is on the page.** If the page does not show the price, the markup should not either.
2. **Keep it in step.** Out-of-date markup is worse than none: it is a confident, machine-readable error. The safest approach is to generate the markup from the same data as the page, which is how I do it.
3. **Do not fake reviews.** Marking up ratings you wrote yourself breaks Google's rules and can cost you your rich results.
4. **Use one `@id` per thing** and refer to it, as in the Service example above. It links your blocks into one picture of the business.
5. **Validate.** Paste the page into the Schema Markup Validator at validator.schema.org, and Google's Rich Results Test. One stray comma makes a whole block unreadable.

## What to skip

- **Schema for things that are not there.** Events you are not running, products you do not stock.
- **Every type you can think of.** Ten vague blocks help less than three exact ones.
- **Paying for "AI schema".** There is no special markup for AI. Anyone selling it is selling ordinary schema.org with a new label.
- **Schema instead of content.** Markup describes a page. It cannot make a thin page worth quoting.

## Check what you have now

View your home page's source and search for `application/ld+json`. If nothing is there, you have no structured data. If something is there, read it: is the name right, the address current, the price true?

Or use the [free checker](https://agentseohq.com/check). It finds the JSON-LD on your home page, tests that it parses and lists the types it describes.

**Want to know how AI assistants see your website?** Send me your address and I will check it by hand: what the assistants can read, what they say about you, and what to fix first. It is free, and you get a fixed quote before any paid work. [Get a free Agent SEO check](https://agentseohq.com/contact) or [try the instant checker](https://agentseohq.com/check).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does schema markup help with ChatGPT?

OpenAI has not said how ChatGPT uses schema markup, so there is no confirmed direct effect. It does help search engines understand your pages, and ChatGPT's search relies on search engines. It also makes your facts unambiguous. Treat it as useful groundwork, not a guarantee.

### What schema should a small business add first?

Start with one Organization or LocalBusiness block on the home page giving your name, address, contact details and official profiles. Then add Product or Service with real prices, FAQPage for visible questions and answers, and BreadcrumbList.

### Is FAQ schema still worth adding in 2026?

Yes, with lower expectations. Google no longer shows FAQ rich results, according to reports from May 2026, but the markup remains valid and Microsoft cites FAQs as helping AI systems use your content. The visible question-and-answer text is the important part.

### Is JSON-LD better than microdata?

For most sites, yes. JSON-LD sits in one block separate from your page layout, so it is easier to write, generate and maintain. Google recommends it. Microdata and RDFa express the same vocabulary and still work.

### Can wrong schema markup harm my site?

Markup that does not match the page, or that marks up fake reviews, can lose you rich results in Google. Beyond that, the real harm is spreading wrong facts in a form machines trust. Accuracy matters more than quantity.

## Sources

- Google Search Central, [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) and [Optimizing your website for generative AI features](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide). Checked 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Advertising, [Optimizing your content for inclusion in AI search answers](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/october-2025/optimizing-your-content-for-inclusion-in-ai-search-answers), 8 October 2025.
- Bing Webmaster Blog, [Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools](https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/February-2026/Introducing-AI-Performance-in-Bing-Webmaster-Tools-Public-Preview), 10 February 2026.
- Search Engine Journal, [Google drops FAQ rich results](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-drops-faq-rich-results/574429/), May 2026. I have not confirmed the exact date against Google's own page.
- [schema.org](https://schema.org/), the vocabulary itself.