Schema markup for a home service business means using the specific schema.org type for your trade on your homepage (Plumber, Electrician, RoofingContractor, HVACBusiness, and five others are real, named types, not just generic "LocalBusiness"), a separate Service block on every individual service page naming the exact job and area served, and a sameAs link from that markup to your Google Business Profile and other real, verified profiles. That last part is entity SEO: it's not a schema type at all, it's the consistency signal that tells Google and AI answer engines your listing, your site, and your reviews are one real, single business, not three unrelated mentions. Two older habits are worth dropping. Building FAQ schema to win the expandable drop-down in a Google result stopped working for that purpose on May 7, 2026, when Google retired the feature entirely. And marking up your own customer testimonials with Review or AggregateRating schema on your own homepage has not produced a star rating since 2019. Both types are still valid to use; neither earns what most sites still build them for.
By the numbers
- JSON-LD is the format Google actually recommends. Google supports three structured data formats, JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa, but names JSON-LD as its recommended choice because it sits in a script block separate from your visible HTML, which makes it easier to add and maintain without disturbing the page. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- Structured data makes you eligible. It doesn't guarantee anything shows, and it isn't a ranking factor. Google's own general guidelines are explicit: valid markup makes a page eligible for a related search feature, it does not guarantee that feature will appear, and there is no generic ranking boost from adding it. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- FAQ rich results are gone for every site, not just restricted. Google limited the FAQ drop-down feature to "well-known, authoritative government and health websites" in August 2023, then retired it from Google Search entirely on May 7, 2026, adding the retirement notice directly to its own FAQPage documentation. The schema type itself is still valid to use; Google has said more than once that unused structured data doesn't cause problems for Search. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- Rating your own business on your own site has never earned stars, since 2019. Google's review-snippet policy excludes "self-serving" reviews, meaning Review or AggregateRating markup about a business placed on that same business's own site. The star rating still displays for a genuine third-party review platform reviewing someone else. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- Schema.org names eight trade-specific business types, not one generic box. Under its HomeAndConstructionBusiness type, schema.org's own vocabulary lists Electrician, GeneralContractor, HVACBusiness, HousePainter, Locksmith, MovingCompany, Plumber, and RoofingContractor as distinct, named types. SCHEMA.ORG DOCUMENTED
Which schema type actually belongs on which page
Most contractor sites put one LocalBusiness block on the homepage and stop. That's a starting point, not the setup.
| Page | Schema type | What it actually does |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage / about page | LocalBusiness, using your exact trade subtype (Plumber, Electrician, RoofingContractor, HVACBusiness, GeneralContractor, HousePainter, Locksmith, or MovingCompany), not generic LocalBusiness | States precisely what kind of business you are, matched to your Google Business Profile's own category |
| Each individual service page | Service, with your business as the provider and a named areaServed | Names the specific job, "tankless water heater installation," not just "plumbing" in general |
| A genuine FAQ section, if the page has one | FAQPage | Still valid and still read by Google and AI answer tools; no longer produces a drop-down rich result in classic Search as of May 2026 |
| Real customer reviews | Review / AggregateRating, but only on a third-party review platform, never your own homepage | Self-serving markup on your own site has not been eligible for star display since 2019 |
| Site-wide identity | sameAs on your Organization/LocalBusiness block, linking to your Google Business Profile, verified socials, and any real directory or Wikidata listing | The consistency signal that tells Google and AI engines every mention is the same real business, not schema by itself |
The order to actually do this in
- Fix the Organization/LocalBusiness block first. Match the name, address, phone, and hours to your Google Business Profile character-for-character before adding anything else. A wrong or inconsistent detail here undercuts every other schema type built on top of it.
- Swap the generic type for your real trade subtype. "Plumber" or "RoofingContractor" tells Google something a plain "LocalBusiness" box doesn't.
- Add Service markup to every real service page, not just the homepage. One block per service, naming the actual job and the area it's offered in.
- Add
sameAslinks to your Business Profile and any other verified profile. This is the entity-consistency signal, not a schema trick, and it's the layer most sites skip entirely. - Stop building FAQ or review schema to chase a rich result that no longer exists for either type. Keep both only where they describe something genuinely on the page. Neither one needs to be removed, and neither one is worth new effort aimed at a result that won't appear.
Three assumptions worth checking
No. Google's own guidelines state plainly that structured data carries no generic ranking boost; it only makes a page eligible for a small number of specific features, and only when the content genuinely supports it. Adding more types than your pages actually need doesn't move you up a result.
Nothing on your end broke. Google retired the FAQ rich result from Search entirely on May 7, 2026, after already limiting it to government and health sites back in 2023. Your FAQ schema is still valid and still read by Google and AI answer tools; it just no longer produces the expandable drop-down in a classic search result, for any site.
Homepage-only markup misses two things: the per-service detail that Service schema is built for, and the sameAs entity-consistency layer that actually tells Google your listing, your site, and your other profiles are the same business. A single homepage block is a starting point, not the full setup.
Questions we get
Frequently asked questions
What is entity SEO, and how is it different from just adding schema markup?
Schema markup is the code. Entity SEO is whether that code, your Google Business Profile, and any other real listing all describe the same business the same way, name, address, phone, and category matching everywhere. A page can have perfectly valid schema and still fail at entity SEO if those details disagree somewhere else on the web.
Which schema type should my homepage use if I'm a plumber, electrician, or roofer?
Schema.org's own vocabulary names the specific type directly: Plumber, Electrician, or RoofingContractor, each a real subtype under HomeAndConstructionBusiness, alongside GeneralContractor, HVACBusiness, HousePainter, Locksmith, and MovingCompany. Using your exact trade type instead of a generic "LocalBusiness" box tells Google precisely what kind of business you are.
Do I need separate Service schema for every single service page?
Yes, one Service block per real service page, naming the specific job and the area it covers. A single LocalBusiness block on the homepage doesn't tell Google what any one service page individually offers.
Should I remove my FAQ schema now that the rich result is gone?
No. Google has said unused structured data doesn't cause problems for Search, and FAQPage remains a valid type. Keep it if the FAQ is genuine content on the page; it's still read by Google and by AI answer tools, it just won't produce the expandable drop-down in a classic search result anymore.
Can I add star ratings to my own homepage using my own customer testimonials?
No. Google's review-snippet policy has excluded "self-serving" reviews, a business rating itself on its own site, from star display since 2019. Star ratings still work for a genuine third-party review platform reviewing other businesses, which is a different arrangement entirely.
What is sameAs, and which links should actually go in it?
It's a property on your Organization or LocalBusiness schema that points to other verified profiles describing the same business, your Google Business Profile, your real social accounts, any directory or Wikidata listing you actually control. It's the mechanism behind entity consistency: it explicitly tells Google these are all the same entity, rather than leaving it to infer that from matching text alone.
Sources
- Google Search Central, Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search: JSON-LD as Google's recommended format among the three supported.
- Google Search Central, General structured data guidelines: eligibility versus guaranteed display, and no generic ranking boost from structured data.
- Google Search Central, FAQPage structured data: the May 7, 2026 retirement notice, following the August 2023 restriction to government and health sites.
- Google Search Central Blog, Making Review Rich Results More Helpful (2019): the self-serving reviews policy excluding a business's own review markup about itself.
- Schema.org, HomeAndConstructionBusiness: the named trade subtypes (Electrician, GeneralContractor, HVACBusiness, HousePainter, Locksmith, MovingCompany, Plumber, RoofingContractor).
Our own related walkthrough, Structured data for a service business, covers the full format comparison (JSON-LD vs. microdata vs. RDFa) and breadcrumb markup in more depth than repeated here.