Schema Markup (Structured Data)
Schema markup is standardized code you add to your web pages that labels your content, this is a business name, this is a price, this is an FAQ, so search engines and AI systems can read it unambiguously.
What it means
Humans read a web page and understand from context that a phrase is a phone number or a set of business hours. Machines need it spelled out. Schema markup (using the vocabulary at schema.org) is the agreed-upon way to spell it out: invisible labels in the page code that say exactly what each piece of content is.
Common types include LocalBusiness (your name, address, hours, area served), FAQPage (question-and-answer content eligible for rich results), Article, Service, and DefinedTerm. Adding them doesn't change what a visitor sees; it changes how confidently a machine can extract and reuse your information.
For AI visibility specifically, structured data is one of the clearest ways to feed a model reliable facts about your business, which makes it more likely to represent you accurately and cite you.
Why it matters for owner-operated businesses
Schema markup is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-visibility investments in getting found: it powers rich results in classic search and gives AI systems clean facts to work from.
It's also frequently missing or wrong on small-business sites, which means it's often a quick, real gain rather than a marginal one.