SEO Market: Schema Markup: Marketers Finally Get the Evidence

Recent studies challenge the long-held belief that schema markup boosts search rankings. A controlled experiment by Evergrow Marketing found no significant ranking improvements on Google, Bing, or Yahoo for local businesses using LocalBusiness schema. Ahrefs analyzed 1,885 pages and found adding JSON-LD produced no meaningful citation lift in AI search features like Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, or ChatGPT. However, schema did improve ChatGPT positioning for local businesses, suggesting it helps AI platforms understand structured facts. Meanwhile, Google has been deprecating many structured data types, including FAQ rich snippets. The article concludes that schema is not a ranking factor but remains essential for generating rich results in products, jobs, recipes, and events, and can benefit local businesses seeking ChatGPT visibility.