Glossary · Glossary

Structured Data

Structured data is machine-readable markup that describes page entities, properties, and relationships for search systems.

Structured data is machine-readable markup that describes entities, properties, and relationships on a page. It gives search systems a more explicit way to understand what the visible content represents.

Common formats include JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa. In modern SEO workflows, JSON-LD is often the easiest format to keep separate from visible HTML while still describing the page accurately.

Why it matters

Structured data can reduce ambiguity. It can state that a page is an article, that a navigation trail is a breadcrumb, or that an organization has a specific name and URL.

That clarity can support search appearance and eligibility for some rich results. It can also help editors think carefully about entity clarity: what page, organization, author, item, or relationship is actually being described?

How it differs

Structured data is the broader machine-readable data layer. Schema markup is a common way to express that data with Schema.org vocabulary.

A rich result is a possible search appearance outcome. Structured data can help with eligibility for supported result types, but eligibility is not the same thing as display.

Example

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "What Is AI Search Visibility?",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Geolyze"
  }
}
</script>

This markup should describe content that is actually visible or truthful on the page. It should not be used to add hidden claims that the page does not support.

How teams use it

Teams add structured data when a page has a clear type, stable metadata, and visible facts that can be described consistently. A practical review asks:

1. Does the markup match the page users can see?
2. Is the vocabulary supported for the intended use?
3. Is the structured data valid JSON-LD or valid HTML markup?
4. Does it complement, rather than replace, clear page content?

Common misunderstanding

Structured data is not a ranking shortcut and not a hidden content channel. If the visible page is thin, misleading, or unsupported, markup will not turn it into a strong source.