This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
Indexing
Why does Google silently ignore invalid JSON-LD?
Because a data block with a syntax error is simply unreadable to the machine — and in that case Google shows no error, it silently skips the block. The structured data that was supposed to give the page rich results and a clean categorisation then effectively doesn't exist. The most common cause is mundane: a stray comma before a closing bracket. Our check parses every JSON-LD block on your pages and reports invalid ones along with the error location.
One comma switches off the whole markup
JSON-LD is a strict format: a missing quotation mark, a stray comma, or an unclosed bracket invalidates the entire block — not just the affected line. The browser shows none of this; the page looks normal to visitors. That's why errors like this often survive for months: they arise from a manual edit or from an extension assembling the block incorrectly, and nobody notices that rich results have stopped appearing.
What the check exactly measures
The check reads every JSON-LD block on the pages measured and parses it with a strict JSON parser. The report states how many blocks are invalid, the affected types (Organization or Article, say), and the exact parser error message — so the fix targets the right spot. What's checked is the syntax; whether the markup's content is complete and accurate is a separate topic in the GEO audit area.
- Fix the parser error stated in the report — usually a comma before a closing bracket.
- Test with a JSON validator after every manual edit to the markup, before the change goes live.
- Generate JSON-LD automatically from the page data where possible, instead of maintaining blocks by hand.
FAQ
The page works fine, though — how do I even spot the error?
That's exactly the trap: not from the page's appearance at all. The error only becomes visible in testing tools — or from the absence of rich results in search. The audit report states the block, the type, and the error message.
Does an error really discard the whole block?
Yes. JSON has no concept of partial readability: the parser stops at the faulty spot, and the entire block counts as invalid. If several blocks exist on the page, the error-free ones among them stay unaffected.
Is it enough if the markup is green in Google's testing tool?
The Rich Results Test checks the same thing and is a good cross-check. Our check additionally measures regularly and across multiple pages — errors that an extension introduces later stand out this way, with no one needing to test manually.