By Mehdi HassanWhat is JSON-LD?
JSON-LD stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. It's a way of writing facts about a page as labelled data that machines can read without guessing. Instead of a crawler inferring that a name in your footer is your company, JSON-LD states it: this is an Organization, this is its name, its logo and its social profiles.
It's one of three formats for schema markup, alongside Microdata and RDFa. Google's structured data documentation recommends JSON-LD where possible, and it's the format we use on every build. You'll find the related terms in our SEO and AEO glossary.
How is JSON-LD different from schema markup and Microdata?
JSON-LD is a format, schema markup is the general practice, and Microdata is an older format that mixes the same data into your HTML tags. The table shows where each fits.
Term | What it is | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
Schema.org | The shared vocabulary of types and properties | schema.org |
JSON-LD | A format for writing that vocabulary | A script block in the page |
Microdata | An older format using HTML attributes | Inside your visible markup |
Rich result | An enhanced search listing some markup can earn | Google's results |
Because JSON-LD is separate from the layout, a redesign doesn't break it. With Microdata, moving a component can silently drop the markup, which is a common issue we check when we handle migrating metadata and schema between platforms.
What does a JSON-LD example look like?
A JSON-LD block is a short list of labelled facts inside a script tag of type application/ld+json. The Organization example below is the one most startups should add first, usually on the homepage.
Copy-paste Organization example (replace the placeholder values)
Place this inside a script tag with type="application/ld+json" in the page head:
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "Example Analytics", "url": "https://www.example.com", "logo": "https://www.example.com/logo.png", "sameAs": ["https://www.linkedin.com/company/example-analytics", "https://x.com/exampleanalytics"] }
The sameAs list matters most for entity understanding: it ties your site to your official profiles, so search engines and AI systems can connect them as one company. Test the result with Google's Rich Results Test or the Schema Markup Validator before you ship.
On a typical B2B site, we pair this with Article markup and a named author on blog posts, BreadcrumbList on every page, and DefinedTerm on glossary entries like this one.
Does JSON-LD help with AI search?
JSON-LD helps search engines understand your entities clearly, but there's no evidence it gets you cited more by AI engines. Ahrefs' controlled 2026 schema test found no lift: AI Overview appearances fell 4.6%, while AI Mode and ChatGPT stayed flat.
So ship it for hygiene and rich-result eligibility, and put the real effort into the visible copy. The evidence is summed up in does schema markup help AI citations, and the wider build checklist is in how to build an AI-search-ready website.
