What is structured data?
Structured data is a small block of code, usually JSON-LD, that describes a page in a standard vocabulary: this is an article, this is its author, this is a product and its price. Google says it uses it to understand the page, and to make the page eligible for richer results such as review stars or breadcrumbs. Eligible is the word that matters: Google does not guarantee any result feature, and it has retired several since 2023, FAQ results among them. On 4 sites I run, 468 of 478 pages carry it, and 317 of them still carry FAQ markup that Google no longer shows.
What it looks like
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Example Bakery",
"url": "https://example.com/",
"logo": "https://example.com/logo.png"
}
</script>The words come from schema.org, a shared vocabulary that Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Yandex founded. The script sits in the page's HTML and nobody sees it. Search engines read it alongside the page.
The three formats
- JSON-LD, a separate script block like the one above. Google recommends it where your setup allows, because it sits apart from the visible HTML and is easy to maintain.
- Microdata, attributes such as itemscope and itemprop written into the visible HTML.
- RDFa, attributes such as typeof and property, also in the HTML.
Google says all three are equally fine if the markup is valid. Bing says its crawlers do not prefer one over another.
What it does, and what it can't promise
Google's documentation says structured data helps it understand a page and can make it eligible for rich results. It also says, plainly, that it does not guarantee the markup will show up in search results. I found no Google page that calls it a ranking factor. Treat it as a way to be understood and to qualify for a feature, not as a way to move up.
Bing says the same thing in its own words: markup alone doesn't guarantee Bing will use it, and it may support its AI answers without guaranteeing visibility.
The rules
- Mark up only what readers can see. Google's guidelines say not to mark up content that isn't visible on the page.
- It has to be true. No fake reviews, and no ratings or prices that the page doesn't show.
- Breaking these rules can cost a page its rich result eligibility through a manual action. Google says that kind of action does not change how the page ranks in ordinary results.
What Google has retired
Rich result features come and go, and many guides still promise ones that no longer exist. From Google's own changelog:
| When | What changed |
|---|---|
| 8 August 2023 | FAQ results limited to well-known government and health sites |
| 13 September 2023 | How-to results no longer shown, on mobile or desktop |
| 9 September 2025 | Course info, estimated salary, learning video, special announcement and vehicle listing results removed |
| 7 May 2026 | FAQ results no longer shown at all |
Read on developers.google.com/search/updates, 9 November 2026.
Google's gallery lists 25 result features today, including article, breadcrumb, product, recipe, review snippet, event, job posting, organization, software app and video. If a guide promises FAQ dropdowns or how-to steps in Google's results, it is out of date.
What four real sites showed
I read every page in the sitemaps of 4 sites I run on 9 November 2026 and parsed every structured data block.
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Pages | 478 |
| Pages with JSON-LD | 468 |
| JSON-LD blocks | 1,367 |
| Blocks that failed to parse | 0 |
| Pages with Microdata or RDFa | 0 |
| Pages with FAQ markup | 317 |
| Pages with how-to markup | 29 |
Two things stood out.
The basics were in place. Every block parsed. The common types were breadcrumbs, organization, person and article, which are the ones Google's gallery still uses.
Most of the FAQ markup is dead weight in Google. 317 pages carry FAQPage markup, added by our page templates. For sites like ours it could not have produced a result: Google had already limited FAQ results to government and health sites in August 2023. It does no harm, and Bing still reads schema.org, but it earns nothing in Google Search. Before we knew it was retired, our own study of which pages earn clicks had already found FAQ markup more common on the pages that got nothing.
How to test it
- Google's Rich Results Test shows which Google result features your markup qualifies for, and can preview them.
- The Schema Markup Validator, at validator.schema.org, checks any schema.org markup, without Google's feature rules.
They answer different questions. A page can be valid schema.org and still qualify for nothing in Google.
What Check Engine checks
Check Engine reads the structured data on every page it crawls. It reports:
- JSON-LD that fails to parse, and markup holding an unfilled template tag.
- A site with no structured data at all, or with it on only a small share of pages.
- Identity markup that a script adds in the browser rather than serving in the HTML, and no breadcrumb markup.
- Ratings or prices marked up but not shown on the page, which is the kind of markup Google's guidelines rule out.
- Pages with question-and-answer content and no FAQ markup, as a low-priority note that says plainly Google retired FAQ results on 7 May 2026, so the markup no longer buys a result feature.
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Common questions
Is structured data a ranking factor?
Google's documentation doesn't say it is. It says structured data helps Google understand a page and can make it eligible for rich results, without guaranteeing them.
Does FAQ schema still work?
Not in Google Search. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026. The markup does no harm, but it no longer produces an expandable answer.
Which format should I use?
JSON-LD, which Google recommends where your setup allows. Microdata and RDFa work too, and Bing reads all three.
Is schema markup the same as structured data?
In practice, yes. Schema markup usually means structured data written with the schema.org vocabulary, which is what Google and Bing read.