Mental Models for the AI EconomyWeb & AI Search
What Is Schema Markup? A Plain-English Guide for Small Businesses
The invisible code that tells Google and AI assistants exactly who you are, what you offer and how you're rated. The five types a small business needs, what schema won't do, and how to check yours.
Short answer: schema markup is a small block of code on your website that tells search engines and AI assistants, in a standard vocabulary, exactly what your page is about — "this is a roofing company in Boca Raton, open these hours, offering these services, rated 4.9 from 212 reviews." Visitors never see it. Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity read it instead of guessing.
Why it matters now
Search used to be about matching words. AI search is about understanding things — businesses, services, places, prices. Schema is how you state those facts in a machine's own language, so the answer an AI gives about you is accurate and confident.
The types a small business actually needs
- LocalBusiness (or a specific type like Plumber, Dentist, LegalService): name, address, phone, hours, service area.
- Service: each service you offer, with a description and, if you publish it, a price.
- FAQPage: your questions and answers — the content answer engines lift most.
- Review / AggregateRating: your reviews, where they genuinely appear on the page.
- Person or Organization: who is behind the business, with links to your profiles elsewhere.
What it looks like
Usually a JSON-LD script in the page's code: a tidy list of labelled facts. You can see the ones on this site by running any page through Google's Rich Results Test or the Schema.org validator.
What schema won't do
- It won't rank a weak page. It clarifies good content; it doesn't replace it.
- It won't guarantee rich results or AI citations — engines decide what to show.
- It must match what's visible. Marking up reviews or prices that aren't on the page breaks Google's guidelines.
How to check yours
Paste your homepage URL into Google's Rich Results Test. If it finds nothing, or only a generic "WebPage", your site is leaving the easiest AI-search signal on the table.
Every build I offer ships with LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ and Review schema written for your business. More terms in the glossary, and the bigger picture in SEO vs AEO vs GEO.
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Performance marketing and search leader who builds — 15+ years in digital growth and product (AT&T/DirecTV, Microsoft, Employbridge, Site Impact), now running his own properties with AI. These essays are field notes from that loop: what AI actually changes about work, product, and the economics underneath. Based in South Florida.
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