Sauce · Fundamentals
Structured data for a service business: what still works, and what stopped.
Quick answer
Structured data is code that labels what a page is about, so Google can read it cleanly. For a service business, breadcrumb and organization markup are the reliable wins. FAQ markup no longer shows the drop-downs for most sites, but it still helps Google and AI answers understand the page. Review stars on your own business page have not been eligible since 2019. Add the markup that matches what a visitor sees, test it, and do not expect every type to become a rich result.
Is your trade still open in your city?We take one client per trade, per city. The call starts with that check, not a pitch.
Book a free assessmentMost advice about schema is a few years out of date. It tells you to add FAQ code for the drop-downs and review code for the stars. Both of those rules changed.
Structured data still matters. It just does a quieter job now: it helps Google and AI answers understand your page for certain, instead of guessing. Here is what each type does for a local service site in 2026.
The types that matter, one at a time
Four types, honestly rated
BreadcrumbList. Still works. It tells Google the path to the page, like Home › Services › Drain Cleaning. Google shows that path in the result instead of a raw URL. It is one of the few rich results a normal service site can still count on. Match it to a real breadcrumb a visitor can see.
Organization or LocalBusiness. Still works, quietly. It states your name, logo, address, phone, hours, and links to your profiles. It does not create a flashy result, but it feeds Google's understanding of who you are, and it lines up with your Google Business Profile. Keep every field identical to the profile.
FAQPage. The drop-downs are gone for most sites. Since 2023, Google only shows FAQ rich results for big government and health sites. For a plumber or a clinic, the markup no longer adds the drop-down questions to your result. It still helps Google and AI tools read your Q&A section, so keep it if the FAQ is real and on the page.
Service markup adds context. Review stars do not show. Service code labels what you offer and where. It helps Google read the page. It does not add a badge. Rating stars have not shown on your own business page since 2019, because Google does not count reviews you collect about yourself. Stars still work for product pages and third-party review sites.
The format to use
There are three ways to write structured data. Google recommends one.
- JSON-LD. A block of code in a
<script>tag in the head. It sits apart from your visible HTML, so it is easy to add, read, and update without touching the layout. - One JSON-LD block per page is fine. You can put several types inside it.
- Every fact in it must also be visible somewhere on the page.
- Microdata. Attributes sprinkled through your HTML tags. It works, but it tangles the markup with the content and is harder to maintain.
- RDFa. Similar problem, less common, no upside for a service site.
- Hand-writing any of it without a test step. Small syntax errors make the whole block invalid.
Structured data does not lift your ranking. It makes Google certain about facts it would otherwise have to guess, and that helps in AI answers and the panel.
Where local sites get it wrong
Go deeper
Which part are you working on?
Each of these goes deeper on one piece.
What can show in a Google result
The full set of visual elements, and which ones structured data unlocks.
See the parts › Piece 02One wrong address and the AI skips you
Why your schema, your profile, and directories all have to say the same thing.
See the check › Piece 03The meta tags Google actually reads
The head-tag basics that sit alongside your structured data.
See the list ›Set it up in five steps
Add LocalBusiness and BreadcrumbList first
Start with the two that still earn results. Put your real name, address, phone, hours, and service area in the LocalBusiness block. Build the breadcrumb to match a visible path on the page.
Match every field to your Google profile
Open the Google Business Profile next to the code. Make the name, phone, and address read exactly the same, character for character.
Add FAQ markup only if the FAQ is real
If the page has a genuine question section a visitor can read, mark it up. Do not expect drop-downs. Do expect it to help AI answers quote you.
Run the Rich Results Test
Paste the URL into Google's Rich Results Test. Fix every error and warning. Confirm the types you added are detected.
Re-test after any site change
Any theme update, plugin change, or rebuild can break the JSON-LD. Add the test to your release checklist.
See where you actually show up first.Before you pay us a dollar, we run a free 49-point geo-grid scan of your service area. You keep the results either way.
Get the free scanWhat this does not mean
It does not mean structured data is a waste. Breadcrumbs still show, and clean organization data still helps Google and AI tools trust your facts.
It does not mean FAQ markup is banned. It is fine to keep. It just will not add the drop-downs to your result the way it did before 2023.
It does not mean you should skip reviews. It means the stars come from the Google profile and third-party sites, not from code on your own page. Getting more real reviews is still one of the highest-value things a local business can do.
Paste one service page into the Rich Results Test. If it finds nothing, or throws errors, that is the starting point.
What structured data should a service business use?
LocalBusiness or Organization for your core facts, and BreadcrumbList for the path shown in results. FAQPage is worth adding if the FAQ is genuine, though it no longer shows drop-downs for most sites. Service markup adds context but no visible badge.
Why don't my FAQ drop-downs show in Google anymore?
In 2023, Google limited FAQ rich results to well-known government and health websites. For other sites, the markup is still read by Google and AI answer tools, but the expandable questions no longer appear in the result.
Can I get review stars on my search result with schema?
Not for reviews of your own business that you collect and host. Google removed eligibility for that in 2019. Star ratings still work for product pages and for third-party review platforms.
Which format does Google recommend for structured data?
JSON-LD, placed in a script tag in the page head. It keeps the code separate from your visible HTML, which makes it easier to add and maintain than microdata or RDFa.
Does structured data improve rankings?
Not directly. It helps Google understand a page with certainty and makes it eligible for richer results and AI answer citations, which can raise clicks from the position you already hold.
Sources
- Google Search Central, “Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search”, developers.google.com: what structured data does, and the JSON-LD recommendation.
- Google Search Central, “Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results”: FAQ rich results limited to authoritative government and health sites.
- Google Search Central, “Review snippet (Review, AggregateRating) structured data”: self-serving reviews on a LocalBusiness page are not eligible for star display.
- Google Search Central, “Breadcrumb (BreadcrumbList) structured data”: how the breadcrumb path replaces the URL in a result.
Next step
Find out whether your trade is still open in your city
One client per trade, per city. The call starts with that check, not a pitch.