This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung
GEO / AI
What is structured data, and why does my website need it?
Structured data is invisible, standardised blocks of data in your website's code that tell machines, in clear fields, what a page is about: a business, an article, a person, or an event. Answer engines like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews use this information to correctly categorise your content and cite it as a source. Our check measures whether such content-bearing information is present.
Structured data is your page's data sheet
Think of structured data as a data sheet that hangs invisibly off every page. While the visible text is written for people, the data sheet fills in fixed fields for machines: the company's name, address, an article's author, an event's date. Technically, this format is called JSON-LD, a small block of text in the page code. Visitors never notice it. Machines, on the other hand, read it first, because it's more unambiguous than running text. An example: if the data sheet has the type "LocalBusiness" with a name and location, an answer engine knows for certain that your page describes a local business, and can name you for matching questions.
Content types count, pure navigation types aren't enough
Not every markup type says something about the content. Types like "WebSite", "WebPage", or "BreadcrumbList" only describe that this is a website with pages and breadcrumb navigation. That's correct, but barely helps an answer engine. What's valuable are content types: "Article" for posts, "FAQPage" for question-and-answer sections, "LocalBusiness" or "Organization" for your company, "Person" for contacts, "Event" for dates, "Product" and "Service" for offerings. Our check gives full marks only if at least one such content type is present. If it finds only navigation types, it gives a partial score; if there's no markup at all, it reports a serious shortcoming.
How structured data gets onto your website
You don't need to code for this. Many content management systems and website builders generate structured data automatically or via add-on modules; your agency can set up the matching types quickly. What matters is that the information matches the visible content: the data sheet mustn't claim anything the page doesn't actually say, since contradictory information undermines machines' trust. Start with the company profile on the homepage, then add FAQ markup, and, if you publish articles, the Article type with author and date. Our audit report shows what types were found on your page.
- Ask your agency what structured data your website currently outputs.
- Have the type "LocalBusiness" or "Organization" set up on the homepage, with name, address, and contact details.
- Add the "Article" type with author and date to your posts.
- Also mark up FAQ sections with the "FAQPage" type.
- Cross-check the recorded information against the visible text, so both match.
