Local business schema: which JSON-LD actually matters

What structured data does, and what it does not

Structured data is a machine-readable description of what a page is about: this is a business, this is its address, these are its opening hours. On the web it is usually written as JSON-LD, a block of JSON in the page’s HTML using the schema.org vocabulary.

It is not a ranking switch. Google says structured data helps it understand a page and can make it eligible for rich results, but it does not guarantee them. What it does is give supported systems an explicit description of the business. It does not guarantee inclusion in AI answers, and Google lists no special markup for its AI features, but clear, consistent facts across your site and profiles are easier to describe correctly.

The core block: LocalBusiness, accurately

For a business that serves customers in a specific area, the most useful markup is a LocalBusiness entity for each real location, or a more specific subtype. schema.org has many: Plumber, HVACBusiness, Electrician, Dentist, LegalService, AutoRepair and others. Choose the most specific one that is true.

The properties worth getting right:

• name, url, telephone: exactly as shown on the site and in your business profiles.
• address and areaServed. Google requires a physical address for local business rich-result eligibility; areaServed describes where you work but does not replace it. Never invent an address, and do not expose a private one just to satisfy the requirement.
• openingHoursSpecification, kept in sync with reality, including holidays if you list them.
• image and logo, pointing at real, crawlable files.
• sameAs links to your official profiles, which help tie the business to the right entity.

LocalBusiness already inherits the properties of Organization. Give the entity a stable @id and add a separate WebSite block. Referencing that @id from other pages keeps everything pointing at one business instead of creating duplicates.

Supporting types that still earn their place

• BreadcrumbList on every page below the home page. It is simple, it reflects your site structure and Google still uses it in results.
• Service on service pages, describing what is offered, by whom and where. It does not trigger a special result, but it connects pages to the business entity.
• Article or BlogPosting on articles, with a real author, publication and update dates.

What is no longer worth it, and what to avoid

Two common plugin defaults deserve a second look. Google stopped showing HowTo rich results in September 2023, and FAQ rich results, already limited to a few authoritative sites since August 2023, were discontinued in May 2026. FAQ markup will not change how a local business appears in Google. Write FAQs because customers ask those questions, not for the markup.

Review markup needs more care. Reviews of your own business on your own site, including those displayed through third-party widgets, are not eligible for review stars in LocalBusiness or Organization markup. Fabricated or copied reviews create real risk.

Above all, markup must describe what the visitor can see. Hours in JSON-LD that differ from the hours on the page, or a service area larger than the one you actually cover, are the kind of mismatch that gets markup ignored.

Keeping it accurate on WordPress

SEO plugins generate much of this automatically, and the defaults are often fine for WebSite, Organization and breadcrumbs. The weak spot is business details typed once into a settings screen and forgotten. We prefer to output local business markup from the same fields the site displays: if the phone number or hours change on the page, the JSON-LD changes with them.

After any change, test a few templates with Google’s Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator, and check the enhancement reports in Search Console. A short, correct block is better than a long one full of guesses.

If you want a review of your current markup alongside the rest of your technical SEO, see SEO and GEO, or read our note on llms.txt for the AI-search side.