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Bridger Tower

Design Generalist

What is JSON-LD?

Search engines can read your content, but they can't always understand it. A page about "Apple" might be about fruit, a company, or a record label. JSON-LD removes that ambiguity.

What is JSON-LD?

JSON-LD is structured data—a block of code, typically placed in your page's <head>, that describes your content using a standardized vocabulary. It tells machines not just what words appear on your page, but what those words mean.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "What is JSON-LD?",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Bridger Tower"
  }
}
</script>

This snippet tells Google: this page is an article, this is its title, and this person wrote it. No guessing required.

Why It Matters

When search engines understand your content precisely, they can display it more usefully. Rich results—those search listings with star ratings, images, FAQ dropdowns, and prices—are powered by structured data. Pages with rich results tend to get higher click-through rates because they answer questions before the user even clicks.

Common Schema Types

Different content calls for different schemas:

  • Article or BlogPosting for written content
  • Product for items you sell
  • FAQPage for question-and-answer formats
  • Organization for company information
  • Person for individual profiles

Implementation

In Next.js, you can add JSON-LD through a <script> tag in your layout or via next/head. The Schema.org documentation provides templates for every content type. Start with one page, validate it using Google's Rich Results Test, and expand from there.

Structured Data in the Age of AI

The value of structured data extends beyond traditional search. AI systems—ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others—increasingly scrape and synthesize web content to answer questions. When these systems encounter well-structured data, they can extract and attribute information more accurately.

This shift has given rise to two related concepts: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). Both recognize that visibility now means more than ranking on a results page. It means being cited when an AI constructs an answer.

Structured data serves both goals. It helps traditional search engines display your content richly, and it helps AI systems understand and reference your content correctly. When a model answers a question about your product or expertise, clear schema markup increases the likelihood that it draws from your page—and credits you for it.

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