Structured data on WordPress

WordPress schema is the structured data a WordPress site prints for search engines and AI answer engines to read: usually a JSON-LD block that says what the page is, who wrote it, what it sells or what it rates. This section covers how that markup gets onto a WordPress site, how to check it, and how to fix it when rich results disappear. Every guide is written for site owners and developers who maintain the markup themselves.

What WordPress outputs by default

A fresh WordPress install prints titles, feed links and other head tags through the wp_head hook, but core has no schema.org generator. Structured data arrives from somewhere else: the theme, WooCommerce, an SEO plugin, a review plugin, or code you add yourself. On most real sites that means several sources at once, and they do not always agree. Knowing which component printed which block is the first step in any fix. Block themes and classic themes are alike here: neither adds schema.org markup unless the theme author wrote it in, and older classic themes are the ones most likely to carry microdata in their templates.

Plugin or hand-written JSON-LD

Most sites start with a plugin, and for many that is the right call. A plugin is the wrong call when you need one specific type on one template, when two plugins fight over the same graph, or when you want markup that changes only when you change it. Adding JSON-LD without a plugin walks through a small mu-plugin, per-post fields and safe encoding with wp_json_encode().

If your markup comes from a review box or a shortcode, review boxes, shortcodes and JSON-LD explains how the visible box and the invisible markup stay in sync, and how to move an old microdata box to JSON-LD without leaving two descriptions of the same review on the page.

Reviews and WooCommerce

Review markup was the reason many WordPress sites installed schema plugins in the first place, and it still comes with its own content rules, from self-serving reviews to fake ones. Shops have a second source to reckon with: WooCommerce prints its own Product markup on product pages. The guide to WooCommerce product and review schema shows what that output contains, which properties are missing for merchant listings, and how to fill the gaps with a filter instead of editing theme templates.

Testing and fixing

Valid markup and visible rich results are different things. Testing structured data with the Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator explains which tool answers which question, how to read errors and warnings, and how to see what a crawler that does not run JavaScript receives.

When the markup tests clean but stars or other enhancements still do not appear, work through why rich snippets stop showing: a checklist of nine causes that runs from syntax errors through policy limits and self-serving reviews to crawl timing and manual actions.

Auditing for AI search

AI answer engines can fetch the same markup Google's rich result systems read, so duplicate graphs, missing authors and broken entity references are worth fixing for both. Auditing your WordPress schema plugin is a short procedure for reading the @graph a plugin prints, spotting theme and plugin duplicates, and deciding whether to keep, configure or drop the plugin. It is also where former users of the old WP Rich Snippets plugin should start.

How to choose a guide

Start from the problem you have. If you are adding markup for the first time, read the hand-written JSON-LD guide even if you plan to use a plugin, because it shows what the plugin should be producing. If something broke, start with testing, then the not-showing checklist. If you run a shop, go straight to the WooCommerce guide. If you are moving away from an old plugin, read the audit first, then choose between configuring another plugin and the hand-written route.

For the schema types themselves, such as Review, Product or LocalBusiness, the type guides live in the schema types section. The wider picture of structured data for WordPress sites, including how markup relates to AI answers and authenticity signals, is on the handbook home.

Each guide states when it was last checked against Google Search Central and the WordPress developer documentation, as of November 2026. Code examples use placeholder values such as example.com; test them on your own pages before you rely on them, and retest after WordPress, theme or plugin updates.