What is JSON-LD and why does Google prefer it?

JSON-LD (JSON for Linking Data) is a structured-data format that lives in a script tag in your page head, completely separate from the visible HTML. Google explicitly recommends it over Microdata and RDFa because it is easier to maintain, does not force you to interleave markup with content, and works cleanly with any rendering pipeline including React, Next.js, and static site generators. A page can have multiple JSON-LD blocks — one for the Article, one for the BreadcrumbList, one for the Organization — and Google reads them all independently.

Is HowTo schema still worth using in 2026?

HowTo rich results were fully deprecated by Google in September 2023. The markup is still valid JSON-LD and still parsed by schema.org consumers, but it will no longer produce a visible rich result in Google Search. It retains some value as a signal for AI engines and for Bing, which still renders some HowTo results. If you are prioritizing Google SEO, HowTo is not where to spend time in 2026.

Do FAQ rich results still show on Google in 2026?

Only for well-known, authoritative government and health websites. Google restricted FAQPage rich results in August 2023 and the restriction has held through 2026. For every other site, the markup is still valid and still useful — AI engines read the question-answer pairs, Bing renders FAQ results more permissively, and Search Console still tracks impressions — but the SERP rich result itself will not appear on a typical commercial or content site.

What is the difference between the Rich Results Test and the schema.org validator?

The Google Rich Results Test validates your markup against the roughly 30 schema types Google actually renders as rich results in Search. A clean pass here means Google is willing to show a rich result if your page ranks. The schema.org Markup Validator validates against the full schema.org vocabulary (800+ types) and is stricter about schema.org correctness regardless of what Google renders. Use the schema.org validator during implementation to catch structural mistakes; use the Rich Results Test to confirm Google will display the result. Neither tool checks whether your markup matches the visible page content — that policy rule you have to enforce yourself.

Can I put multiple JSON-LD blocks on the same page?

Yes, and this is the standard pattern. A typical article page ships three separate script tags: Article, BreadcrumbList, and Organization. An ecommerce product page might ship Product, BreadcrumbList, Organization, and WebSite. Google reads each block independently, in any order, with no performance cost beyond the bytes. You can alternatively use the @graph pattern to wrap multiple entities in one block that cross-reference each other via @id — both approaches are valid; the graph pattern is slightly tidier for pages with many related entities.

What happens if my JSON-LD does not match the visible content on the page?

Your markup is in violation of Google's structured data policies. Validators will not catch this — both the Rich Results Test and the schema.org validator pass markup that is syntactically correct regardless of whether it reflects the visible page. But human reviewers can flag pages for content-mismatch, and when they do, the entire site can lose rich-result eligibility for months. Common causes are CMS-driven prices and inventory that update asynchronously from the structured data, aggregate ratings imported from widgets that do not actually render, and FAQ questions in the markup that never appear as visible accordions. Drive the structured data from the same source as the visible HTML and they stay in sync automatically.

How to Write JSON-LD Schema Markup in 2026

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