Schema Markup Decoded: The Hidden Language That Gets You Cited by AI

The Definition

Schema markup (also called structured data) is a standardized vocabulary of tags you add to your HTML. These tags explicitly define what things are: this is a business, this is a product, this is an FAQ, this person wrote this article.

How It Works

<!-- Without schema: AI guesses what this is -->
<div>
  <h1>Acme Corp</h1>
  <p>123 Main St, San Francisco</p>
  <p>
contact@acme.com
</p>
</div>

<!-- With schema: AI knows exactly what this is -->
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Acme Corp",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Main St",
    "addressLocality": "San Francisco"
  },
  "email": "
contact@acme.com
"
}
</script>

The Three Formats

Always use JSON-LD. It's cleaner, easier to maintain, and preferred by search engines.

The Disambiguation Problem

Words are ambiguous. "Apple" could mean:

• The fruit
• Apple Inc.
• Apple Records
• A specific product like Apple Watch

Schema removes ambiguity:

{
  "@type": "Corporation",
  "name": "Apple Inc.",
  "sameAs": "
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312
"
}

Now AI knows exactly which Apple you mean.

Schema as AI Instructions

Think of schema as metadata that tells AI:

• What this content is (article, product, FAQ)
• Who created it (author, organization)
• When it was published/updated
• Where this entity is located
• How things relate to each other

The Citation Connection

AI systems prefer citing structured sources because:

1. Confidence - Schema confirms what content represents
2. Accuracy - Explicit data reduces interpretation errors
3. Attribution - Clear authorship supports E-E-A-T
4. Freshness - dateModified shows recency

Entity Types (What You Are)

Content Types (What You Publish)

Commercial Types (What You Sell)

Connecting Types (Relationships)

The Foundation Stack

Every website should implement these:

1. Organization Schema (Homepage)

{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
",
  "name": "Your Company Name",
  "url": "
https://yoursite.com
",
  "logo": {
    "@type": "ImageObject",
    "url": "
https://yoursite.com/logo.png
",
    "width": 600,
    "height": 60
  },
  "description": "What your company does in 1-2 sentences",
  "foundingDate": "2020",
  "sameAs": [
    "
https://linkedin.com/company/yourcompany
",
    "
https://twitter.com/yourcompany
",
    "
https://github.com/yourcompany
"
  ],
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "contactType": "customer service",
    "email": "
hello@yoursite.com
"
  }
}

2. WebSite Schema (Homepage)

{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#website
",
  "url": "
https://yoursite.com
",
  "name": "Your Company Name",
  "description": "Site description",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
"
  }
}

3. WebPage Schema (Every Page)

{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "WebPage",
  "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/about/#webpage
",
  "url": "
https://yoursite.com/about/
",
  "name": "About Us",
  "description": "Page description",
  "isPartOf": {
    "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#website
"
  },
  "about": {
    "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
"
  }
}

Content Page Schema

Blog Post / Article

{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "Article Title Here",
  "description": "Article description",
  "image": "
https://yoursite.com/images/article-image.jpg
",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Author Name",
    "url": "
https://yoursite.com/team/author-name/
"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
"
  },
  "datePublished": "2026-01-10",
  "dateModified": "2026-01-10"
}

FAQ Page

{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is your refund policy?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee..."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How long does shipping take?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Standard shipping takes 5-7 business days..."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Method 1: Page-Level Custom Code

1. Open the page in the Webflow Designer
2. Go to Page Settings (gear icon)
3. Scroll to Custom Code section
4. Paste JSON-LD in "Inside tag"

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  ...
}
</script>

Method 2: Site-Wide Custom Code

1. Go to Project Settings
2. Navigate to Custom Code tab
3. Add schema in "Head Code" section
4. Use for Organization and WebSite schema

Method 3: Embed Component

For CMS-driven pages:

1. Add an Embed element to your template
2. Insert schema with CMS field references
3. Use Webflow's field syntax

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@type": "BlogPosting",
  "headline": "{{wf {"path":"name","type":"PlainText"} }}",
  "datePublished": "{{wf {"path":"published-date","type":"Date"} }}"
}
</script>

Method 4: Using Finsweet Attributes

Finsweet's schema attributes can automate some schema:

<article fs-schema="BlogPosting">
  <h1 fs-schema-field="headline">Title</h1>
  <time fs-schema-field="datePublished">Date</time>
</article>

Nested Entity Graph

Connect multiple entities:

{
  "@context": "
https://schema.org
",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
",
      "name": "Your Company"
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#website
",
      "publisher": {"@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
"}
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/about/#webpage
",
      "isPartOf": {"@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#website
"}
    }
  ]
}

Service + Offer Pattern

{
  "@type": "Service",
  "name": "Website Development",
  "provider": {
    "@id": "
https://yoursite.com/#organization
"
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "5000",
    "priceCurrency": "USD"
  },
  "areaServed": {
    "@type": "Country",
    "name": "United States"
  }
}

SaaS Product Schema

{
  "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
  "name": "Your SaaS Product",
  "applicationCategory": "BusinessApplication",
  "operatingSystem": "Web browser",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "AggregateOffer",
    "lowPrice": "29",
    "highPrice": "299",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "offerCount": "3"
  },
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.8",
    "reviewCount": "150"
  }
}

Testing Tools

Validation Checklist

• No syntax errors (valid JSON)
• Required properties present
• URLs are absolute, not relative
• Images are accessible
• Dates in ISO 8601 format
• @id references are consistent
• No duplicate @type declarations

Monitoring in Search Console

1. Go to Google Search Console
2. Navigate to Enhancements
3. Check each schema type for errors
4. Fix issues promptly

Mistake 1: Invalid JSON

// ❌ Wrong - trailing comma
{
  "name": "Company",
  "url": "
https://site.com
",  // <- trailing comma
}

// ✅ Correct
{
  "name": "Company",
  "url": "
https://site.com
"
}

Mistake 2: Relative URLs

// ❌ Wrong
"url": "/about",
"image": "images/logo.png"

// ✅ Correct
"url": "
https://yoursite.com/about
",
"image": "
https://yoursite.com/images/logo.png
"

Mistake 3: Missing Required Properties

Each schema type has required properties. Check schema.org documentation.

Mistake 4: Schema That Doesn't Match Content

Schema must accurately represent visible page content. Don't add Review schema without visible reviews.

Mistake 5: Overmarking

Don't add schema for things that don't exist or aren't relevant.

SaaS Company

Priority schema:
1. Organization
2. SoftwareApplication
3. FAQPage (pricing, features)
4. Article (blog posts)
5. HowTo (tutorials)

Agency/Consultancy

Priority schema:
1. Organization
2. Service (each service)
3. FAQPage
4. Article/Case studies
5. Person (team members)

E-commerce

Priority schema:
1. Organization
2. Product (each product)
3. Offer (pricing)
4. Review (customer reviews)
5. BreadcrumbList (navigation)

Local Business

Priority schema:
1. LocalBusiness (with hours, location)
2. Service
3. FAQPage
4. Review
5. Event (if applicable)

Official Documentation

• Schema.org - Complete vocabulary
• Google Structured Data Docs
• Google Rich Results Test

Implementation Guides

• Yoast Schema Guide
• Ahrefs Schema Markup Guide

Webflow Specific

• Webflow Custom Code
• Finsweet Attributes