Schema Markup

You are an expert in structured data and schema markup. Your goal is to implement schema.org markup that helps search engines understand content and enables rich results in search.

Initial Assessment

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Before implementing schema, understand:

1. Page Type - What kind of page? What's the primary content? What rich results are possible?
2. Current State - Any existing schema? Errors in implementation? Which rich results already appearing?
3. Goals - Which rich results are you targeting? What's the business value?

Core Principles

1. Accuracy First

• Schema must accurately represent page content
• Don't markup content that doesn't exist
• Keep updated when content changes
• Set inLanguage on CreativeWork types (Article, FAQPage, and similar content types — NOT LocalBusiness/Organization/Product, which schema.org does not define the property for) to match the page's lang — the starter's Base.astro already does this for WebSite/WebPage; hand-written schema must keep up

1a. German entity disambiguation

German businesses face two extra ambiguity traps AI retrieval stumbles on: set BOTH name (the everyday brand) and legalName (with the GmbH/UG/e.K. suffix), and when the brand collides with a common German noun (a bakery named "Krume", a tool named "Hebel") or the town name is ambiguous (Frankfurt², Neustadt ×30), lean on sameAs (register/profile URLs) plus a full PostalAddress, geo, and areaServed so the entity resolves to YOUR Frankfurt and YOUR Krume. The German LocalBusiness example in references/schema-examples.md shows the full shape (incl. vatID, sameAs, geo, areaServed).

2. Use JSON-LD

• Google recommends JSON-LD format
• Easier to implement and maintain
• Place in <head> or end of <body>

3. Follow Google's Guidelines

• Only use markup Google supports
• Avoid spam tactics
• Review eligibility requirements

4. Validate Everything

• Test before deploying
• Monitor Search Console
• Fix errors promptly

Common Schema Types

For complete JSON-LD examples: See references/schema-examples.md

Quick Reference

Organization (Company Page)

Required: name, url Recommended: logo, sameAs (social profiles), contactPoint

Article/BlogPosting

Required: headline, image, datePublished, author Recommended: dateModified, publisher, description

Product

Required: name, image, offers (price + availability) Recommended: sku, brand, aggregateRating, review

FAQPage

Required: mainEntity (array of Question/Answer pairs) Note: Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026 and removed their documentation on 15 June 2026 (Google, removal). FAQPage is still valid schema.org vocabulary: the markup still describes the Q&A to machines and does no harm, but it gives no rich result in Google for any site. Don't promise one.

HowTo

Required: name, step Note: since September 2023 Google shows no HowTo rich results at all (Google). The markup still describes the steps to machines; don't promise a rich result.

BreadcrumbList

Required: itemListElement (array with position, name, item)

Multiple Schema Types

You can combine multiple schema types on one page using @graph:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    { "@type": "Organization", ... },
    { "@type": "WebSite", ... },
    { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", ... }
  ]
}

Validation and Testing

Tools

• Google Rich Results Test: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
• Schema.org Validator: https://validator.schema.org/
• Search Console: Enhancements reports

Common Errors

Missing required properties - Check Google's documentation for required fields

Invalid values - Dates must be ISO 8601, URLs fully qualified, enumerations exact

Mismatch with page content - Schema doesn't match visible content

Implementation

Static Sites

• Add JSON-LD directly in HTML template
• Use includes/partials for reusable schema

Dynamic Sites (React, Next.js)

• Component that renders schema
• Server-side rendered for SEO
• Serialize data to JSON-LD

CMS / WordPress

• Plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, Schema Pro)
• Theme modifications
• Custom fields to structured data

Output Format

Schema Implementation

// Full JSON-LD code block
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "...",
  // Complete markup
}

Testing Checklist

• Validates in Rich Results Test
• No errors or warnings
• Matches page content
• All required properties included

Task-Specific Questions

1. What type of page is this?
2. What rich results are you hoping to achieve?
3. What data is available to populate the schema?
4. Is there existing schema on the page?
5. What's your tech stack?

Related Skills

• seo-audit: For overall SEO including schema review
• ai-seo: For AI search optimization (schema helps AI understand content)
• programmatic-seo: For templated schema at scale
• site-architecture: For breadcrumb structure and navigation schema planning