What is schema markup?

Schema markup is structured code added to a web page, invisible to visitors, that explicitly labels information for search engines and AI tools: this is a business name, this is an address, this is a review score. It removes the need for a machine to guess from the visible page content.

Which schema types matter most for a trade business?

LocalBusiness schema confirms your name, address, phone number, service area and hours. Service schema describes what you actually offer. FAQPage schema surfaces question-and-answer content directly. Review or AggregateRating schema can display star ratings in search results. These four cover most of what's useful for a trade business.

Does schema markup guarantee better rankings or AI mentions?

No. Schema removes ambiguity and makes it easier for search engines and AI tools to understand your page correctly, but it doesn't replace genuine content quality, reviews or authority. Think of it as clearing away confusion, not as a ranking shortcut.

Can I add schema markup myself?

Yes, using Google's structured data markup helper or a plugin if you're on WordPress. The bigger risk is getting the structure wrong or letting it drift out of date as your business changes. Test it in Google's Rich Results Test after adding it, and check back whenever your services or details change.

Schema Markup for Trades: What Actually Helps Google and AI Understand You

Removing the guesswork

Google and AI tools are good at reading a page, but they still have to interpret it. Is that phone number for the office or a mobile? Is this a review, or just a testimonial someone wrote themselves? Schema markup answers those questions directly instead of leaving them to be inferred.

For a trade business, this matters more than it sounds like it should. Getting your basic details unambiguously correct is part of what makes you a credible, easily-cited answer rather than one AI tools and search engines have to guess about.

The four schema types worth your time

There’s a long list of schema types out there. Most trade businesses only need four.

LocalBusiness schema. This confirms your business name, address, phone number, service area and opening hours in a structured format. It’s the foundation, and it should match your Google Business Profile and every other listing exactly. Inconsistency here is one of the most common things that quietly undermines entity clarity elsewhere.

Service schema. This describes what you actually do, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, and can be attached to individual service pages so each one is clearly labelled rather than left as plain text a machine has to interpret.

FAQPage schema. This wraps your frequently asked questions in a format search engines and AI tools can lift directly, which is exactly the structure I cover in building service pages for AI Overviews. A well-marked-up FAQ section is some of the easiest content on your site to get quoted.

Review or AggregateRating schema. This can surface star ratings directly in search results, which builds trust before someone even clicks through. It needs to reflect genuine reviews, not manufactured ones, both because that’s the right thing to do and because search engines actively check for it.

What schema markup doesn’t do

It’s worth being blunt about the limits. Schema markup doesn’t make thin content rank, doesn’t fix a slow website, and doesn’t manufacture trust that isn’t backed by real reviews and real work. It removes ambiguity around information that’s already true and already there. If the underlying content and credibility isn’t solid, schema won’t paper over that gap.

A simple way to check what you’ve got

Google’s Rich Results Test lets you paste in a URL and see exactly what structured data it can find and read. Run your key pages through it:

Your homepage, checking LocalBusiness details are present and correct.
Each core service page, checking for Service schema.
Any page with an FAQ section, checking FAQPage schema is detected.

If a page comes back with nothing, that’s a page where you’re leaving an easy win on the table.

Getting it right without overcomplicating it

You don’t need every schema type that exists. Trying to mark up things that aren’t genuinely true about your business, fake ratings, invented attributes, is more likely to hurt than help. Stick to the four types above, keep them accurate, and update them when your details change: a new service area, updated hours, a rebrand.

This kind of technical groundwork is part of what I set up as standard in every website build and check during an SEO audit, alongside the broader entity and content work that makes up Answer Engine Optimisation and Generative Engine Optimisation.

If your site’s schema is missing, outdated, or was never set up properly, get in touch and I’ll sort it as part of getting your foundations right for both search and AI.