A page is written once for people and labelled once for machines. This independent handbook explains how that label works in WordPress, how to check it, and what it does and does not do for rich results and AI answers.
1{2 "@context": "https://schema.org",3 "@type": "Review",14 "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Recipe", "name": "Example Recipe" },5 "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 4, "bestRating": 5 },26 "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Example Author" }37}The result a person may see. The stars come from line 5, if Google chooses to show them.
Example Recipe was reviewed by Example Author, who scored it 4 out of 5.example.com
Structured data is code, usually JSON-LD, that labels what a page is, who wrote it and what it rates, so search engines and AI answer engines can read those facts without guessing. It makes a page eligible for features such as review stars, but it never guarantees that any engine will show or quote it.
How each schema.org type works today, property by property, and what it can still earn.
Exact steps for adding, testing and fixing markup in WordPress and WooCommerce.
What markup does and does not do for AI Overviews, ChatGPT search and Perplexity, with the evidence.
Honest reviews, disclosed AI assistance and provenance labels for images, in markup.
How Review and AggregateRating markup earn stars, and when they never will
Read the guide
Which structured data tool answers which question, and how to read results
Read the guide
What Google says about schema and AI Overviews, and where markup still pays
Read the guide| Cert No. | Guide | Section | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| ST 0001 | Review schema and review snippets | Schema types | |
| ST 0005 | ItemList schema for ranked lists and tables | Schema types | |
| AU 0004 | IPTC digital source type for AI images | Authenticity | |
| ST 0002 | AggregateRating schema for user reviews | Schema types | |
| ST 0003 | Local business schema | Schema types |
This domain once belonged to WP Rich Snippets, a premium WordPress plugin that added review and rating markup to posts and sold 14 add-ons. This site is an independent handbook. It is not the plugin, its developer or its successor, and it offers no downloads, licences or support. If you still run the plugin, the plugin record sets out its public history, maps each add-on to a current guide and lists the steps to move your markup to something you maintain.
Read the plugin recordEach guide answers its question in plain words before any code appears.
Each JSON-LD example is checked in the Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator.
Each claim links to Google Search Central, schema.org, C2PA or IPTC text.
Published and updated dates sit in the label at the top of every guide.
Each guide says plainly what the markup does not do.
Every guide follows the same procedure. The answer comes first, in plain words. Each JSON-LD example is checked in the Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator, and the raw HTML of a page is inspected to confirm the markup is present without JavaScript. Claims link to Google Search Central, schema.org, C2PA or IPTC text, and every guide carries its published and updated dates. Read the full methodology.
Read the methodologyIn Google's own words, structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content (Google Search Central, intro to structured data). Each kind of thing has its own vocabulary on schema.org: a review, a recipe, a local business, a product, a piece of software. The schema types section explains how each type works today, which properties matter and which ones still earn a visible result in search.
Most readers start with review schema and how star snippets work. Reviews and ratings were the job this domain was known for, and they are still where the rules are strictest: Google shows review stars only for certain content types, and never for a business praising itself.
The WordPress section covers the practical side: adding JSON-LD with or without a plugin, turning old review boxes into clean markup, fixing WooCommerce product reviews and auditing what a schema plugin really prints. Each guide gives exact steps and example code you can adapt.
Before changing anything, learn to check the result. The Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator answer different questions, and knowing which one to run, and what its warnings mean, saves a great deal of guesswork.
AI Overviews, ChatGPT search and Perplexity now read many of the same pages that once competed for stars. Google states that there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode and no special schema to add, while still asking site owners to make sure their structured data matches the visible text (Google Search Central, AI features and your website).
The AI answers section separates what is documented from what is guesswork, starting with whether schema markup helps AI Overviews at all. The short version: markup describes a page, and a clear page is what gets quoted.
Markup also carries trust: who wrote a page, when it last changed, whether its reviews are real and whether an image was made with AI. The authenticity section covers honest review markup, disclosing AI assistance, and image provenance labels such as C2PA Content Credentials and the IPTC digital source type.
Every guide in this handbook is dated, cites the primary documentation it relies on and says plainly what markup cannot do. Nothing here promises stars, rankings or citations, because no search engine offers them.