# Do we need schema markup for AI assistants to understand our site? Canonical: https://fortitudemedia.ai/insights/structured-data-schema-markup-ai Author: David Adams Published: 2026-04-22 Last reviewed: 2026-09-24 Reviewed by: David Adams Pillar: Getting named by AI assistants Summary: Does schema markup help ChatGPT and Google AI understand your firm? The types a B2B firm needs, what changed in 2026 and how to add it without a developer. Keywords: schema markup for ai, does chatgpt read schema, structured data b2b website, organization schema, faq schema 2026, sameas schema, json-ld Short answer: Not strictly, but accurate markup helps. Schema markup is hidden code that states your firm's facts plainly: name, company number, services, people, and who wrote each article and when. Google says its AI features need no special markup and stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026; Microsoft says schema helps its AI systems understand content; OpenAI and Anthropic have not said whether they read it. Add Organization, Person, Article and Service markup, keep it matching the page, and do not treat it as a ranking trick. What changed: Added what Google and Microsoft have said on schema, the end of FAQ rich results, sameAs and Person markup, this site's own JSON-LD, correct type spellings and the ID-Pal fix. Publisher: Fortitude Media Limited When quoting, attribute to Fortitude Media and link to the canonical URL above. --- Your web developer has mentioned "schema" in a quote, your agency says the site "needs structured data for AI", and nobody has explained what either means or whether it will make ChatGPT more likely to name your firm. The useful answer is smaller than the sales pitch. Structured data is a short block of code, invisible to visitors, that tells machines plainly what a page is: this is a company, its name is X, it is based in Leeds, it provides these services, this article was written by this person on this date. Schema markup is the shared vocabulary for writing it, published at [schema.org](https://schema.org) and backed by the major search engines. What is on record is narrower than most agencies claim. Google's [guide to AI features](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) (updated December 2025) says there is "no special schema.org structured data that you need to add" to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Microsoft's Bing team says schema helps "search engines and AI systems understand your content". OpenAI and Anthropic have not said whether they read it. And in an [SE Ranking study of 216,524 pages, reported by Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/new-data-top-factors-influencing-chatgpt-citations/561954/) in November 2025, pages with FAQ schema averaged 3.6 ChatGPT citations against 4.2 for pages without it. So schema is not a ranking trick. It is how you state your facts in a form machines cannot misread, and that is still worth an afternoon. ## Key takeaways - Schema markup is hidden code that states your firm's facts plainly, so search engines and AI assistants do not have to infer them from the prose. - Google says its AI features need no special markup, Microsoft says schema helps its AI systems understand content, and OpenAI and Anthropic have not said whether they read it. - A B2B firm needs Organization, Person, Article and Service markup, spelled exactly as schema.org spells them. - The sameAs list, pointing to your LinkedIn page, Companies House record and other profiles, is how machines join your website to facts about you elsewhere. - Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026 and HowTo rich results in 2023, so FAQ markup no longer earns any display in Google. - Markup must match the visible page, and it must sit in the page's HTML, because the main AI crawlers do not run JavaScript. ## What is schema markup, in plain English? It is information written in a fixed, machine-readable format rather than in sentences, usually in a format called JSON-LD in the page's code. Compare two ways of saying the same thing. In prose: "Founded in 2015, our team of thirty has helped over two hundred manufacturing businesses improve their cash position." In structured data: founding date 2015, number of employees 30, area of expertise manufacturing. The prose is better for a human. The structured version tells a machine at once that these are three separate facts and what each one is. ## Does ChatGPT actually read schema markup? Nobody outside OpenAI knows, because OpenAI has not said. What is on record comes from Google and Microsoft. | Company | What it has said about structured data | When | |---|---|---| | Google (AI Overviews, AI Mode) | No special schema is needed for its AI features; markup should match the visible text; it still helps pages qualify for rich results | December 2025 and July 2026 | | Microsoft (Bing, Copilot) | "Schema is a type of code that helps search engines and AI systems understand your content"; Copilot is powered by Bing's index | October 2025 | | OpenAI (ChatGPT) | Nothing public on schema; a site must allow OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot crawler to appear in ChatGPT search | Not stated | | Anthropic (Claude) | Nothing public on schema | Not stated | Google's [AI optimisation guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide), last updated in July 2026, calls "overfocusing on structured data" a myth, then adds that "it's a good idea to continue using it as part of your overall SEO strategy". Microsoft's statement comes from a [Bing product manager's guide to AI search answers](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/october-2025/optimizing-your-content-for-inclusion-in-ai-search-answers) (October 2025). Two practical points follow. ChatGPT search has drawn on Bing: in a small [Seer Interactive test](https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/87-percent-of-searchgpt-citations-match-bings-top-results) (February 2025), 87% of its citations matched Bing's top results. Markup that helps Bing read you may therefore help ChatGPT indirectly, though that is our inference, not something OpenAI has confirmed. And how the markup reaches the page matters. [Vercel and MERJ found](https://vercel.com/blog/the-rise-of-the-ai-crawler) (December 2024) that GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot fetch pages but do not run JavaScript. Markup injected by a tag manager after the page loads can be read by Googlebot and missed by the AI crawlers, so put it in the HTML the server sends. Our guide to [how AI crawlers read your website](/insights/ai-crawlers-vs-google-spiders) explains what they see. ## Why does structured data help, if nobody requires it? Because it removes doubt about the basic facts, and doubt is what makes an assistant hedge, guess or leave you out. Prose is ambiguous: "an established firm" could mean five years or fifty. Markup states the founding date, the company number and the exact services once, in a standard format. It also makes contradictions visible. If your markup says you serve software companies and the page talks about retail, trust in both falls, which is why Google asks for markup that matches the visible text. [Why ChatGPT describes firms wrongly](/insights/ai-conflicting-information-online) shows what inconsistency costs. When we reviewed [TCC Group](/work/tcc-group), part of what failed was "machine-readable data that declared a name, a logo and nothing else." What markup will not do is get thin content named, raise your Google ranking on its own or fix a site AI crawlers cannot reach. Content, mentions on other sites and clear positioning decide whether you are named; markup makes them easier to read. ## Which schema types does a B2B firm need? Four types do most of the work: Organization, Person, Article and Service. The rest apply only where they describe you. | Type (exact spelling) | Where it goes | What it states | Priority | |---|---|---|---| | Organization | Homepage, referenced from every page | Names, logo, address, company number, sameAs, founders | First | | Person | Each author page, and inside each Article | Name, jobTitle, worksFor, sameAs | First | | Article | Each guide or insight | headline, author, datePublished, dateModified | Second | | Service | Each service page | Name, description, provider, areaServed | Second | | BreadcrumbList | Every page below the homepage | Where the page sits in the site | Third | | SoftwareApplication or Product | Product pages, if you sell software | Name, category, platform | Only if it applies | | A LocalBusiness subtype | Office pages, only if clients visit | Address, opening hours | Only if it applies | | FAQPage | Pages with visible questions and answers | Each question and answer | Optional; no Google display since 7 May 2026 | Spelling matters. Schema.org uses American spellings, so the type is Organization with a z; a hand-typed "Organisation" is not a schema.org type and validators will flag it. SoftwareApplication and BreadcrumbList are single words with two capitals each. ### Organization: the block every firm needs Here is the Organization block on this site's homepage, trimmed (the full version also lists contact details, our three services and all three founders): The @id gives the organisation a permanent address that every other block can point to, so Article and Person blocks say "this organisation" without repeating its details. ### sameAs: how machines join your site to facts elsewhere Schema.org defines [sameAs](https://schema.org/sameAs) as the "URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity". Google's [Organization markup documentation](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/organization) says the markup helps it "disambiguate your organization in search results". List only profiles that are yours and kept current: your LinkedIn company page, your Companies House record, a Wikidata entry if one exists and is accurate, Crunchbase, professional body or regulator listings, and review profiles such as Clutch or G2. If two of them disagree on your name or what you do, fix them first; [why ChatGPT sounds unsure about your firm](/insights/ai-cross-references-business-sources) explains why assistants check. ### Person: markup for your authors Person markup ties each guide to a real, checkable person, which supports the signals covered in [what E-E-A-T is and why AI cares about it](/insights/eeat-why-ai-cares-more). It needs a name, jobTitle, worksFor and sameAs. This is the author block for David Adams on the guides he writes: The blocks for [Ashley Kenerson](/team/ashley-kenerson) and [Ross Williams](/team/ross-williams) follow the same pattern with their own jobTitle and LinkedIn profile. A founder who is a company director can also add their Companies House officer page to sameAs, which ties the person to the company on a public register. ### Article: use the right date fields Article markup needs a headline, an author, datePublished and dateModified. There is no "last reviewed" field on Article: [lastReviewed](https://schema.org/lastReviewed) belongs to WebPage. Change dateModified only when the content changes; our guide on [how old is too old for AI assistants](/insights/content-freshness-recency-ai) covers why. This guide's own Article block, simplified: ### Service, not ProfessionalService Add one Service block to each service page, with a name, a description, the provider (your Organization's @id) and where it is offered. Avoid ProfessionalService: schema.org's own page says it ["was deprecated due to confusion with Service"](https://schema.org/ProfessionalService). ### Organization or LocalBusiness if clients never visit? Use Organization. Google recommends a LocalBusiness subtype when "your site is about a local business, for example a restaurant or a physical store". A consultancy or software firm whose clients never walk in is not that. If clients do visit your offices, a specific subtype such as LegalService or AccountingService on each office page is accurate, alongside the Organization block. ## Is FAQ schema still worth adding now Google has dropped FAQ rich results? Not for Google. [Search Engine Journal reported](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-drops-faq-rich-results-from-search/574429/) that FAQ rich results stopped appearing on 7 May 2026, and Google removed HowTo rich results in September 2023, as its [Search Central blog](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/08/howto-faq-changes) recorded. FAQPage is still a valid type and existing markup does no harm, so there is no need to strip it out. This site still carries FAQPage and HowTo markup on its guides; it costs nothing to keep, and we do not expect it to earn anything in Google. The SE Ranking figures above suggest FAQ markup does nothing for ChatGPT citations either. What matters is the visible questions and answers, which give readers and assistants a clean passage to quote. ## Can schema markup get my company a Google knowledge panel? Not on its own. Google's [knowledge panel help page](https://support.google.com/knowledgepanel/answer/9163198?hl=en) says panels "are automatically generated, and information that appears in a knowledge panel comes from various sources across the web". Organization markup can shape what a panel shows: Google says some properties affect "which logo is shown in Search results and your knowledge panel". Whether you get one depends on Google recognising your firm as a distinct entity from sources beyond your site, such as registers, press and directories; a consistent sameAs list helps join those up. If a panel appears, claim it so you can suggest corrections. ## What does this look like in practice? The clearest case we have is [ID-Pal](/work/id-pal), an identity verification firm that had bought NorthRow, a UK business verification platform, and folded it into id-pal.com. "The redirect from northrow.com was technically correct, but nothing on either site told Google or the AI engines that NorthRow and ID-Pal were the same company." The fix: "About four hours of structured data work declaring NorthRow part of ID-Pal on both domains. Live in week one, with no copy changes and no risk to the redirect." Industry pages were rebuilt alongside it, so the markup was one part of the work. The case study reports: "AI answers still recommending NorthRow as a rival: six in May, one in September 2026." And "Claude names it for UK fund administrators, on a page rebuilt in August, and links NorthRow to ID-Pal in the same answer." ## How do we add structured data without a developer? Most firms can do a first pass in an afternoon with the tools already in their content system. You need a developer only if your site has no way to add code. ### Step 1: Check what you already have View your homepage's source (not the inspector, which shows the page after scripts run) and search for "ld+json". Paste the address into the Schema Markup Validator at validator.schema.org, which reads every type, and Google's Rich Results Test, which shows the types that can earn a Google result. ### Step 2: Write the Organization block Use a schema generator or copy the structure above. Check every field against the visible site, and spell every type the schema.org way. ### Step 3: Add it to the site's HTML WordPress plugins such as Yoast, Rank Math and Schema Pro need no code; Webflow, HubSpot and most others let you paste code into a page's head. Then view the source again to confirm the block is there. If your system makes this hard, see [how your website platform affects what ChatGPT can read](/insights/cms-choice-affects-ai-visibility). ### Step 4: Add Person, Article and Service markup Give each author page a Person block, add Article markup to your five most important guides, then one Service block per service page and breadcrumbs below the homepage. ### Step 5: Test it and keep it true Run each page through the validator and fix every error, since an invalid block is ignored. Then add a markup check to your quarterly content review: if the markup says two hundred clients and the page now says three hundred, the contradiction costs you. Our [technical checklist for AI crawlers and search](/insights/technical-checklist-ai-ready-website) lists the other checks to run at the same time. ## What to do this month 1. View the source of your homepage, search for "ld+json" and paste what you find into the Schema Markup Validator. 2. Write down the ten facts you want every assistant to get right: name, company number, location, founding date, size, services and key people. 3. Correct the Organization block so it states those facts exactly as the visible page does, with every type spelled the schema.org way. 4. Add a sameAs list with your LinkedIn page, Companies House record and any accurate directory, review or professional body profiles. 5. Add Person markup to each author page and Article markup, with author, datePublished and dateModified, to your five most important guides. ## Frequently asked questions ### What schema should a B2B consultancy put on its homepage? An Organization block with the legal and trading names, logo, description, address, company number, contact point, founders and a sameAs list of your real profiles, plus a WebSite block. Do not use ProfessionalService, which schema.org has deprecated, or LocalBusiness unless clients visit your offices. Services belong on their own pages with a Service block each. ### Which type should we add first? Organization, on the homepage. Then Person for each author and Article for each guide, then Service for each service line. Add SoftwareApplication or Product only if you sell software or a product. FAQPage comes last, if at all, since it no longer earns a Google display. ### Will it improve our Google rankings? Not directly; structured data is not a ranking factor in itself. Google says it helps pages qualify for rich results and helps it tell your organisation apart from others. Think of it as making sure you are read correctly, not as a way to be read first. ### Does markup added by a plugin or tag manager count? Plugin markup that appears in the page source counts. Markup injected by a tag manager after the page loads can be read by Google, which runs JavaScript, but the main AI crawlers do not run it and may never see it. Check the page source to be sure. ### Does every page need structured data? Every page should reference your Organization, and every guide should carry Article markup. Beyond that, add only the types that describe what the page is. Padding a page with types that do not apply makes the site less coherent to the systems reading it. Structured data is never urgent and always worth doing, and once it is in place it makes everything else on the site easier to read. Sites built through [Website That Sells](/website-that-sells) include full structured data on every page; to find out first what AI assistants say about your firm today, [book a free Growth Review](/growth-review). ## Sources - [Google Search Central, AI features and your website (December 2025)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) - [Google Search Central, Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search (July 2026)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide) - [Google Search Central, Organization structured data (accessed September 2026)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/organization) - [Search Engine Journal, Google drops FAQ rich results from Search (May 2026)](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-drops-faq-rich-results-from-search/574429/) - [Microsoft Advertising blog, Optimizing your content for inclusion in AI search answers (October 2025)](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/october-2025/optimizing-your-content-for-inclusion-in-ai-search-answers) - [Search Engine Journal, New data reveals the top 20 factors influencing ChatGPT citations (November 2025)](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/new-data-top-factors-influencing-chatgpt-citations/561954/) - [Seer Interactive, 87% of SearchGPT citations match Bing's top results (February 2025)](https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/87-percent-of-searchgpt-citations-match-bings-top-results) - [Vercel, The rise of the AI crawler (December 2024)](https://vercel.com/blog/the-rise-of-the-ai-crawler)