Schema markup (structured data)
Schema markup is hidden code on a page that states plainly what the page is about, in a format search engines read directly.
It tells Google that a string of numbers is a phone number, that a name is a business, that a block of text is a review.
The common types for a service business are LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage and BreadcrumbList.
Done properly it makes a page eligible for rich results, the enhanced listings Google shows for some kinds of page, and Google decides when to show them.
It doesn't raise rankings by itself, and it does remove the guesswork about what the page is.
Google's guidelines ask that it describes only what's visible on the page, so I mark up what the page genuinely shows.
I stick to the standard schema.org types Google documents, and Google's own guide says there's no special markup to add for AI search.
What this means for you
Cheap to add during a build and fiddly to retrofit. Its real value now is being unambiguous about who you are to systems reading the page without a human in the loop.
This one sits under Web design.
Want to know how this looks on your account?
I'll look at what you've got and tell you where it stands, in the same plain terms.
Get in touch