The most useful schema is the most specific one for your kind of business, filled in with facts that match the page. A plumber, a restaurant, a law firm, and a software company need different types and different properties, and using the generic type leaves most of the value on the table. The bottom line: pick the specific type from the table below, fill in the properties listed, and do not expect the markup alone to change how often AI systems cite you.
Why the type matters more than the volume of markup
Schema.org contains hundreds of types arranged in a hierarchy, and a specific subtype carries properties a generic one does not. A Restaurant can state its cuisine, menu, and whether it accepts reservations. A LegalService can state its service area. A generic Organization can state none of that. Google's Knowledge Graph, announced in May 2012 with 500 million objects and 3.5 billion facts, was built on the same idea: machines work better with specific, typed facts about an entity than with text they have to interpret. Microsoft's Fabrice Canel said in March 2025 that schema helps Microsoft's language models understand content for Copilot.
Which type and which properties, by business
| Business | Schema.org type | Properties worth filling in |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber, HVAC, roofing, and other home services | Plumber, HVACBusiness, RoofingContractor | areaServed, telephone, openingHoursSpecification, priceRange, sameAs, image |
| Restaurant | Restaurant | servesCuisine, menu, openingHoursSpecification, acceptsReservations, address, telephone |
| Law firm | LegalService | areaServed, address, telephone, openingHoursSpecification, sameAs |
| Dentist or medical practice | Dentist, Physician, MedicalClinic | medicalSpecialty, address, telephone, openingHoursSpecification |
| Real estate | RealEstateAgent | areaServed, address, telephone, sameAs |
| Software company | Organization plus SoftwareApplication | applicationCategory, operatingSystem, offers, sameAs |
| Online store | Product with Offer | sku, brand, offers.price, offers.availability |
Every business should also carry a sameAs list linking to its profiles on other sites, such as its Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, and any directory or Wikidata entry. That is how a machine confirms that the business on your site and the business on those profiles are the same entity.
The rule that matters most: match the visible page
Google's guidance says structured data should reflect the text visitors can read. Do not mark up ratings, prices, or services the page does not show. Do not add hours to the markup that differ from the hours on the page. A mismatch is worse than no markup, because it gives a machine two versions of the truth.
What the evidence says about results
Be careful about promises. Google states that no special schema.org markup is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A December 2024 Search/Atlas study found no correlation between schema coverage and citation rates, and an Ahrefs controlled test of 1,885 pages found no meaningful citation lift, although those pages were already heavily cited. The realistic benefit is accuracy: fewer wrong or missing facts about your business in the systems that read your markup.
How our scan uses this
After the scan, our report recommends schema by business type. A plumber is pointed toward service area, service, and FAQ markup, and a restaurant toward menu and opening hours. The check itself passes a page that has JSON-LD with a business entity type plus at least one supporting type, and it fails if there is no JSON-LD, the JSON cannot be parsed, or no business entity is present.
A short checklist
- Choose the most specific type from the table.
- Fill in the listed properties using facts that are visible on the page.
- Add a sameAs list of your real profiles.
- Validate at validator.schema.org.
- Confirm the block appears in the raw HTML source.
Questions people ask
What is the best schema type for a local business?
The most specific subtype available, such as Plumber, Dentist, Restaurant, or LegalService, with address, phone, hours, service area, and sameAs links filled in from facts visible on the page.
What does sameAs do?
It lists your profiles on other sites, such as your Google Business Profile and LinkedIn page, so a machine can confirm they describe the same business.
Does more schema mean better AI visibility?
No. Accuracy matters more than volume. Google says no special schema is needed for AI Overviews, and studies have found no correlation between schema coverage and citation rates.
Can I use the same markup on every page?
Business identity markup belongs on the homepage or contact page. Other pages need markup that describes their own content, such as Article for blog posts.