Structured data and AI search

For AI features

Google says there is “no special schema.org structured data that you need to add” to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Among SEO practices that remain worthwhile, it lists making sure structured data matches the visible text on the page.

Officially documented · Google Search Central

Formats

Google supports JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and says all three are “equally fine” when valid. It recommends JSON-LD where possible as the easiest to implement and maintain at scale.

Officially documented · Google Search Central

Guidelines that apply to all markup

“Don’t mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page.” Markup must describe the same thing the page shows. If the JSON-LD describes a performer, the HTML body must describe that performer.

Officially documented · Google Search Central

A structured data manual action makes a page lose eligibility for rich results; Google states it “doesn’t affect how the page ranks in Google web search”. Google also does not guarantee that correctly marked-up structured data will appear in results.

Officially documented · Google Search Central

FAQ rich results are gone

Google deprecated the FAQ rich result in May 2026; it “will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026”. Google removed its documentation on June 15, 2026. FAQPage markup no longer produces a rich result in Google Search.

Officially documented · Google Search Central

Microsoft: feeds, markup and the page must agree

Microsoft’s guide for retailers on Copilot shopping describes three kinds of data: crawled web data, product feeds, and what AI agents read on the live site. Structured data is not a fourth source. The guide asks for prices and stock to match across the product feed, on-site schema and what shoppers see.

Copilot breaks a shopping query down using crawled web data and product feeds. In Microsoft’s example, a product makes the top three recommendations because feeds show a competitive price and in-stock status. The guide adds that “traditional SEO remains essential because AI systems perform real-time web searches frequently throughout the shopping journey”.

Officially documented · Microsoft Advertising

The guide’s technical foundations start with deploying Product, Offer, AggregateRating, Review, Brand, ItemList and FAQ schema types. Price and inventory should sync in real time between product feeds and on-site schema. Values should stay consistent across feed, on-site schema and user-facing displays. Finally: “Ensure rendered DOM contains the same facts consumers see — never serve different HTML to bots.”

Officially documented · Microsoft Advertising

On agents: “Without your live site working properly, the sale fails even if your feed and crawled data were perfect.” On claims, the guide warns against exaggerated or unverifiable wording, saying AI systems penalize low-trust language.

Officially documented · Microsoft Advertising

This is a marketing guide from Microsoft’s ad business, not ranking documentation. It describes Copilot’s shopping features, not AI answers in general. Its advice agrees with Google’s guidelines above: markup must describe what is visibly on the page.

What is not established

• That adding structured data increases citations in AI answers on Google or other platforms. See the open research design in Does structured data change AI search citations?.

How this wiki uses it

Each entry outputs Article (or CollectionPage for hubs) and BreadcrumbList JSON-LD describing what is visibly on the page. It includes no rich-result types the page does not actually contain. See Article structured data for why Article rather than a subtype.