Schema Markup for Small Businesses: The Only Types You Need

By the Oski Marketing team · Updated 5 October 2026 · 6 min read

Most small businesses need only two types of schema markup: LocalBusiness (using the most specific subtype, such as Plumber or Restaurant) on the homepage or contact page, and Organization details if you have no public premises. Skip self-review stars, which Google won't show, and treat FAQ markup as optional. Then test it with Google's free Rich Results Test.

What is schema markup and why does it matter for a small business?

Schema markup (also called structured data) is a small block of code that describes your business in a format machines can read: name, address, phone, hours, what kind of business you are. Customers never see it. Google, Bing and AI assistants read it alongside your page.

It matters more now because AI search tools pull facts from many sources and need to be sure they have the right business. A clean, accurate block of structured data that matches your Business Profile and your contact page is one more consistent signal. Google is clear about the limit, though: its general structured data guidelines say that correct markup still doesn't guarantee any special display in results.

Which schema types does a local business actually need?

You need far fewer than most plugins suggest. Here is the short list.

How do I set up LocalBusiness schema?

Use the most specific subtype you can. Google's LocalBusiness documentation says to "use the most specific LocalBusiness sub-type possible", so a heating engineer uses HVACBusiness or Plumber, a café uses CafeOrCoffeeShop, and an estate agent uses RealEstateAgent. The only required properties are the business name and address. Google recommends adding:

• telephone with country and area code.
• url that is a working link to that location's page.
• openingHoursSpecification for your customer-facing hours.
• geo coordinates, with at least five decimal places.
• priceRange, kept short.

Here is a cut-down example for a fictional plumber in Croydon. Replace every value with your own, and make sure each one matches what is written on the page.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Plumber",
  "name": "Example Plumbing and Heating",
  "url": "https://www.example.co.uk/",
  "telephone": "+44 20 0000 0000",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1 Example Road",
    "addressLocality": "Croydon",
    "postalCode": "CR0 0AA",
    "addressCountry": "GB"
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [{
    "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
    "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"],
    "opens": "08:00",
    "closes": "18:00"
  }],
  "areaServed": ["Croydon", "Sutton", "Purley"],
  "sameAs": ["https://www.facebook.com/example"]
}
</script>

If you are a service-area business that hides its address on Google, think twice before putting your home address into markup. The general guidelines say markup should describe content that is visible on the page, so only include what you are happy to show publicly.

When should I use Organization schema instead?

Use Organization markup when you have no premises customers visit, or alongside LocalBusiness to describe the company as a whole. Google's Organization guidance recommends placing it on your homepage or About page rather than every page. It has no required properties; the useful ones are name, url, logo (at least 112 by 112 pixels), telephone, address and sameAs, which lists your official social and review profiles.

That sameAs list is quietly useful. It tells search engines and AI tools which Facebook page, Instagram account and directory listings are really yours, which helps when several businesses share a similar name.

Can I add star ratings or FAQ markup?

You can add them, but for most small businesses they won't produce anything in Google. Two rules matter here.

First, review stars. Google's review snippet rules say that if a business controls the reviews about itself, its pages using LocalBusiness or Organization markup are ineligible for star snippets. That includes reviews embedded on your own site from a third-party widget. Some plugins can add this markup automatically, so check yours.

Second, FAQs. Google's FAQPage documentation says the FAQ rich result is "only shown for well-known, authoritative government and health websites". Write a visible FAQ section anyway, because customers and AI tools read it. The markup itself is optional.

Never mark up anything a visitor can't see, and never invent ratings. Google's guidelines say pages that break structured data rules can get a manual action that removes them from rich results.

How do I test my schema markup?

Testing takes five minutes with two free tools:

1. Paste your page address into Google's Rich Results Test. It shows which structured data Google found and any errors or warnings.
2. Paste the same address into the Schema Markup Validator, which checks the markup against the full schema.org vocabulary, including types Google doesn't use for rich results.
3. Compare the name, address, phone and hours in the results against your Business Profile and your contact page. They should match exactly.
4. After any website change, run the test again. Theme updates and plugin changes are the usual reason markup quietly breaks.

Schema is one line on our wider AI search visibility checklist, and it belongs on any website launch checklist too.

What to do this week

1. Run your homepage and contact page through the Rich Results Test and save a screenshot of what it finds.
2. If nothing is found, look up the most specific subtype for your trade on the schema.org LocalBusiness page.
3. Check that the phone number, address and hours in any existing markup match your Google Business Profile exactly.
4. Remove any self-serving review or rating markup that a plugin has added to your own pages.
5. Make a note to re-test after your next website update.

Oski Marketing adds and tests structured data as part of our website builds, but everything above is something you can do yourself with free tools.