In 2025 the future of SEO can feel a bit uncertain at times. Some teams stick to the basics of fast pages, clear formatting, steady publishing, and hope for the best. Others still think of SEO as a black box, especially when they see agencies recommending buying cheap backlinks or hiding their process. Add the fact that even SEOs will contradict each other on what is a best practice, confusion is understandable.

AI search, one of the biggest shakeups to SEO in recent years, is prominent and taking traffic from organic listings. Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) currently appears for 86.8% of all searches according to a study byAuthoritas. Yet those same AI tools are also sending new visitors back to websites jumping by about 1200% year over year for us retail sites. That’s a shift. 

In an environment where machines summarize pages before humans see them, clarity wins. That is why we believe schema should be standard in your SEO strategy. 

What Schema Markup Actually Is

Schema (structured data) is a short JSON-LD snippet that tells crawlers exactly what your page represents. Instead of guessing, the crawler reads statements such as "@type": "Article" or "@type": "Product". Google’s own documentation lists JSON-LD as the preferred format.

Schema examples

Important note: Since August 2023 Google shows FAQ rich results only for well-known government and health sites, and How-To rich results no longer appear on mobile or desktop. For most brands these two types now have little or no visible impact  Google for DevelopersSearch Engine Land.

The effects from adding schema can be noticeable over time. After we rolled out our site-wide schema on Webflow, we noticed webinar pages and videos increasing organic impressions for terms we had not been shown on before.

What Schema Will and Won’t Do

While schema does help discoverability, it will not make your existing content rank higher by itself. Remember:

• It is not a ranking lever. Google’s John Mueller confirmed again in April 2025 that structured data will not make a site rank higher on its own Search Engine Journal.
• It can lift click-through rates. Rich elements such as stars, thumbnails, or event dates make a snippet more attractive even if you are not in the top position.
• It gives AI tools cleaner context. A concise machine-readable summary increases the odds that a model cites or links back correctly, but there is no guarantee. 

That said, schema can help with discoverability. While its not a ranking factor that opens you up to more searches due to a better understanding of your content that was not available previously. For example, if you had a video showcasing how you train your employees on safely operating a forklift in your warehouse:

Without schema: You may currently rank #7 for “warehouse safety demo” but not at all for “forklift training video.”

With schema: You could still be at #7 for “warehouse safety demo,” however now #3 for “forklift training video” because schema helped Google recognize what the video covered.

Schema and AI

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Bing Copilot, and Google’s SGE all cite sources more often than they did a year ago. Their context windows are tight, so pages that declare meaning up front have an edge. Schema acts as page-level cliff notes.

If you have experimented with LLMS.txt (an experimental but promising file for llms we covered recently) you can think of schema as a companion layer. LLMS.txt says “Here are the pages that matter most,” while the schema outlines  what each of those pages actually is.

Where to Start

1. Pick your first pages. Home, about, one core service page, and a recent blog post are enough.
2. Generate clean code. Our free Schema Generator automatically creates in JSON-LD for you based on your inputs
3. Embed it.
   
   • Webflow: Custom embed or the Page Settings → Custom Code area.
   • WordPress: Drop the snippet into your SEO plugin like AIOSEO, Rank Math, or Yoast.
   • Wix / Squarespace: Advanced SEO → Structured Data.
4. Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test. Fix warnings before publishing.
5. Watch Search Console. Check the Search Appearance report two to four weeks later for new impressions or clicks tied to the markup you added.
   
   

Quick Q&A

Can schema markup help improve my rankings on Google?

• Schema won't directly improve your rank positions, but it can help your content become more clickable and visible, potentially boosting your overall traffic and visibility.

How quickly will I see results from adding schema markup?

• Results can vary, but typically you might see changes within two to four weeks, as Google recrawls and processes the new markup.

Does schema markup require ongoing maintenance?

• Yes, you'll want to update your schema whenever important details change, such as event dates, product prices, or company contact information.

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Schema will not replace good content or quality links on its own, but it does set your site up to be better understood by non-human readers. It specifically helps with three things well:

1. Clearly outlines page intent for both search crawlers and AI systems.
2. Improves click-through rates and discoverability by enabling rich elements
3. Enables you to remain competitive with other sites if you don’t have it implemented yet.
   
   

Implementing schema doesn't have to be complicated. Even dedicating an hour to adding structured data to your key pages can significantly clarify your site's content for both search engines and AI systems. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, schema helps ensure your site stays clear, visible, and ready for whatever comes next.

Have thoughts, questions, or want a second set of eyes on your markup? Reach out any time.