Structured data is a method of organizing information on your website so machines (like search engines or AI crawlers) can understand it. Imagine trying to read a book with no chapters, no table of contents, and no index. You’d have to read the whole thing to find what you’re looking for. That’s what it’s like for AI when it reads raw HTML without schema.

Structured data gives your content a roadmap. It labels key parts of your content—like headlines, reviews, authors, business info, and FAQs—in a machine-readable format. The most common format for structured data today is JSON-LD, a type of JavaScript-based data that lives invisibly in the code of your website.

AI language models like ChatGPT or Gemini don't "see" your website the way a human does. They analyze the underlying HTML structure to understand the text and its hierarchy (headings, lists, paragraphs, etc.). But that alone isn’t enough to determine context or meaning. Schema markup acts like highlighters and post-it notes in a book, pointing out what’s important.

AI learns by reading countless websites and building probabilistic models of how information is typically structured. If your website includes clear schema, it helps the AI immediately recognize and categorize what your page is about.

Let’s say you run a business called Aiolo. You want to make sure AI understands this is a company with a website and logo:

This schema sits in the background of your page and gives AI a precise definition of who you are.