Structured Data for Small Businesses: What Still Works in 2026

Structured data has changed a lot in the last three years. The FAQ dropdowns and HowTo steps that used to make small-business results stand out are gone, and Google has cut several other rich result types too. This guide covers which markup is still worth adding for a typical small business in October 2026, gives JSON-LD you can adapt, and explains how to test it.

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What structured data does

Structured data is machine-readable information about a page, written in the schema.org vocabulary. Google uses it to understand who you are and what a page contains. For certain types it can also show rich results, which are enhanced listings with images, ratings, prices, event dates and so on.

Two things to know first:

• Valid markup doesn't guarantee a rich result. It only makes a page eligible. Google decides whether to show one.
• Markup has to match visible content. Marking up reviews, prices or FAQs that users can't see on the page breaks Google's guidelines and can lead to a manual action.

Google supports JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and recommends JSON-LD where your setup allows it. It sits in a <script> tag and doesn't touch your HTML layout.

What changed: FAQ, HowTo and other retired features

Google said the 2025 removals don't affect ranking. Unsupported markup doesn't hurt you either. Search engines just ignore the parts they don't use. You don't need to strip FAQPage markup in a hurry, but don't spend new effort on it for Google's sake.

The FAQ content is still worth having. Answering real customer questions on a page helps visitors and can still be picked up as a normal snippet. The expandable FAQ rich result is what's gone.

What a small business should still mark up

As of October 2026, Google's search gallery lists features including Article, Breadcrumb, Event, Local business, Organization, Product, Review snippet, Recipe, Video, Job posting and Software app. For most small businesses, four of them matter.

1. Organization (home page or About page)

Organization markup tells Google your official name, logo, contact details and social profiles. It can influence the logo in search results and your knowledge panel, and it helps Google tell you apart from similarly named businesses. Google says no properties are strictly required, so add every one that applies. Put it on the home page or one About page. It doesn't need to be on every page.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Northside Web Studio",
  "url": "https://www.northsideweb.example/",
  "logo": "https://www.northsideweb.example/images/logo-512.png",
  "description": "Web design and maintenance for independent retailers.",
  "email": "hello@northsideweb.example",
  "telephone": "+1-312-555-0147",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1200 N Example Ave, Suite 4",
    "addressLocality": "Chicago",
    "addressRegion": "IL",
    "postalCode": "60622",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.linkedin.com/company/northside-web-studio",
    "https://www.instagram.com/northsideweb"
  ]
}
</script>

Logo requirements: at least 112x112 pixels, crawlable and indexable, in a format Google Images supports, and legible on a white background.

2. LocalBusiness (each location page)

If customers visit you, or you serve a defined area, use LocalBusiness, or better, its most specific subtype: Dentist, Plumber, Restaurant, AutoRepair, HairSalon and so on. Google's required properties are name and address. Recommended ones include telephone, url, geo, openingHoursSpecification and priceRange. Our LocalBusiness schema generator builds the block from a simple form.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Plumber",
  "name": "Acme Plumbing - Lincoln Park",
  "image": "https://www.acmeplumbing.example/images/van.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.acmeplumbing.example/locations/lincoln-park/",
  "telephone": "+1-312-555-0199",
  "priceRange": "$$",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "2450 N Clark St",
    "addressLocality": "Chicago",
    "addressRegion": "IL",
    "postalCode": "60614",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 41.92603,
    "longitude": -87.64062
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"],
      "opens": "07:00",
      "closes": "19:00"
    },
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": "Saturday",
      "opens": "08:00",
      "closes": "14:00"
    }
  ]
}
</script>

Details that trip people up:

• geo coordinates need at least 5 decimal places.
• For a day you're closed, set opens and closes to "00:00", or leave the day out. For 24-hour opening, use "00:00" to "23:59".
• For holiday hours, add a separate entry with validFrom and validThrough (YYYY-MM-DD).
• Keep the name, address and phone identical to your Google Business Profile. Structured data supports your Business Profile. It doesn't replace it.
• Use one block per location, on that location's own page.

About review stars: Google doesn't show review-snippet stars for reviews a business publishes about itself on its own site using LocalBusiness or Organization markup. Adding aggregateRating from your testimonials won't produce stars, and putting it on every page risks a manual action.

3. Article / BlogPosting (blog posts and news)

Article markup helps Google pick the right headline, image and dates for your posts. No properties are required. The recommended ones are headline, image, datePublished, dateModified and author with a name and url.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BlogPosting",
  "headline": "How Much Does a Boiler Service Cost in 2026?",
  "image": [
    "https://www.acmeplumbing.example/images/boiler-16x9.jpg",
    "https://www.acmeplumbing.example/images/boiler-4x3.jpg",
    "https://www.acmeplumbing.example/images/boiler-1x1.jpg"
  ],
  "datePublished": "2026-09-02T09:00:00-05:00",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-06T14:30:00-05:00",
  "author": [{
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Dana Ruiz",
    "url": "https://www.acmeplumbing.example/team/dana-ruiz/"
  }]
}
</script>

Include a time zone in your dates, or Google assumes Googlebot's. Google recommends images of at least 50,000 pixels (width times height) in 16x9, 4x3 and 1x1 ratios. Only change dateModified for real content updates.

4. Breadcrumb (sites with categories)

BreadcrumbList can replace the raw URL in your result with a readable trail, like Home > Services > Boiler Repair. Most SEO plugins output it automatically when breadcrumbs are turned on.

Others worth checking

• Product (with offers, price, availability) if you sell online. Merchant listings and product snippets still exist.
• Event for workshops, classes and gigs with dates.
• Video if you host your own videos.

Implementation tips

• Let a plugin handle the basics. On WordPress, Yoast SEO and Rank Math output Organization, WebSite, BreadcrumbList and Article markup. Fill in their settings properly, especially the business name, logo and type, before adding custom code.
• Avoid duplicate entities. A theme, an SEO plugin and a reviews plugin can each output their own Organization block. Choose one source.
• Output it server-side when you can. Google can read JSON-LD that JavaScript injects, but server-rendered markup is more reliable.
• Keep it accurate. Out-of-date opening hours in markup are worse than none.

Testing and monitoring

1. Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results). Shows which Google-supported features a page is eligible for and flags errors and warnings.
2. Schema Markup Validator (validator.schema.org). Checks general schema.org validity, including types Google doesn't use for rich results.
3. Search Console enhancement reports. After launch, these reports show valid and invalid items for each feature and catch template problems that break markup across many pages.

Warnings about missing recommended properties won't stop eligibility. Errors on required properties will.

Frequently asked questions

Should I remove my FAQPage and HowTo markup?

There's no urgency. Google ignores structured data it no longer uses, and unused markup doesn't hurt rankings. Remove it next time you edit those templates to keep your code tidy, but keep the visible FAQ content if it helps customers.

Will structured data improve my rankings?

Not directly. It helps Google understand your pages and can make them eligible for rich results, which can improve click-through. Google has said the 2025 removal of several features didn't affect how pages rank.

Can I add review stars to my own business pages?

Not in a way Google will show. Self-serving reviews marked up with LocalBusiness or Organization aren't eligible for review snippets. Collect reviews on your Google Business Profile instead, where they show in Maps and local results.

Do I need both Organization and LocalBusiness?

A single-location business can use one LocalBusiness subtype block on the home page, since LocalBusiness is a kind of Organization. Multi-location businesses usually put Organization on the home page and a LocalBusiness block on each location page.

What to do next

Run your home page and one location or blog page through the Rich Results Test, and fix any duplicate Organization blocks or errors in required properties. Check that the name, address, phone and hours match your Google Business Profile exactly. Then run a free audit to check the on-page basics alongside your markup. Our SEO audit checklist and title tag guide cover the rest of what shapes your listing.

Related reading

• FAQ Schema in 2026: Is It Still Worth Adding?: Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in May 2026. What changed since 2023, whether FAQ schema is still worth adding, and how FAQs fit into AI search.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Introduction to structured data markup
• Google Search Central: Structured data markup that Google Search supports (search gallery)
• Google Search Central: Local business structured data
• Google Search Central: Organization structured data
• Google Search Central: Article structured data
• Google Search Central Blog: Simplifying the search results page (June 2025)