--- name: aeo-structured-data slug: aeo-structured-data description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "add schema markup for AI search", "implement structured data for AEO", "set up FAQPage schema", "add HowTo schema", "use structured data for AI engines", "implement schema for ChatGPT", "add JSON-LD for AEO", "structured data for answer engines", or any variation of implementing, designing, or optimizing schema markup and structured data for answer engine optimization. category: general --- # AEO Structured Data Structured data (schema markup) tells AI engines what your content represents. Without it, AI engines guess. With it, they extract accurately. Schema markup is the single fastest AEO win — it takes 30 minutes per page and dramatically improves citation accuracy. For AEO, structured data serves a different purpose than for SEO. In SEO, schema earns rich results (stars, FAQs, breadcrumbs in Google). In AEO, schema makes content extractable — it tells AI crawlers "this is a question-answer pair" or "this is a step-by-step process" so they can lift it cleanly. ## Schema Types by Page Type Every page type has a primary and secondary schema. Apply both. | Page type | Primary schema | Secondary schema | Why | |-----------|---------------|-----------------|-----| | Category definition | `FAQPage` | `Article` + `Organization` | Marks Q&A pairs for extraction + establishes entity | | Comparison (X vs Y) | `FAQPage` | `Article` | Comparison questions are top AI queries | | How-to / tutorial | `HowTo` | `Article` | Enables step-by-step extraction | | Pricing page | `Product` with `offers` | `FAQPage` | Structures pricing data for factual extraction | | Integration page | `SoftwareApplication` | `HowTo` | Marks integration as factual + setup steps | | Blog post / article | `Article` | `FAQPage` (if FAQ section present) | Author + date signals recency | | Product / feature page | `SoftwareApplication` | `FAQPage` | Marks product attributes for extraction | | Glossary page | `DefinedTermSet` | `FAQPage` | Marks definitions for extraction | | Case study | `Article` | `Organization` | Attribution + entity | | All pages (site-wide) | `Organization` | `WebSite` with `SearchAction` | Establishes site-level entity identity | --- ## Schema Implementation Rules ### Required fields (every schema) These fields must be present on every schema implementation. Missing any one reduces extraction quality. | Field | Why it matters for AEO | Example | |-------|----------------------|---------| | `@context` | Validates the schema | `"https://schema.org"` | | `@type` | Tells engines what the content is | `"FAQPage"`, `"HowTo"`, `"Article"` | | `name` or `headline` | The primary identifier | `"How to Set Up Lead Scoring in HubSpot"` | | `datePublished` | Establishes when content was created | `"2026-01-15"` | | `dateModified` | Recency signal — AI engines weight this heavily | `"2026-04-28"` | | `author` | Trust signal — anonymous content ranks lower | `{"@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Kim"}` | **`dateModified` is the single most important AEO schema field.** AI engines heavily weight recency. Update this field every time you edit the page. Never fake it — set it to the actual last-edit date. ### Format: JSON-LD only - Always use JSON-LD format (`