Structured data is the part of AI visibility that's easiest to ship and hardest to get wrong, and somehow 80% of the local-business sites we audit don't have it. So let's fix that, together, in 20 minutes.
This post assumes you have access to your site's HTML — or know someone who does. If you're on WordPress, there's a plugin that'll inject this for you. If you're on Webflow or Shopify, paste it into the custom-head section of your homepage.
What schema actually does
JSON-LD is a tiny block of JSON that sits in your page's <head> and tells AI (and Google) exactly what your business is. Not "figure it out from our homepage copy" — literally: here's our name, here's our address, here's our phone number, here are the services we offer, here's our price range.
When ChatGPT or Perplexity crawl your page, they read the schema first. If it's there and it's clean, they're much more willing to name you in an answer, because they can defend that answer to themselves. No schema = your page becomes a coin flip.
The models don't just use schema to find you. They use it to be confident enough to name you.
The universal LocalBusiness block
This goes on every local business homepage. Customize the bits in green. Everything else stays as-is.
That's the floor. Ship just this and you'll move the needle. Now let's add the trade-specific variants.
HVAC / Plumbing / Electrical — Service schema
Swap "@type": "LocalBusiness" for one of the more specific types, and add a hasOfferCatalog block listing your services. Use HVACBusiness, Plumber, or Electrician.
Dental — MedicalBusiness + DentistService
Dental clinics get their own schema type that signals "regulated healthcare provider" to AI — which matters because ChatGPT is more cautious about health recommendations.
Legal — LegalService + practiceArea
Use Attorney or LegalService, plus an array of knowsAbout for your practice areas. This is the signal that ends up in "best personal injury lawyer in [city]" answers.
Real estate — RealEstateAgent
Agents and brokerages both benefit. The key fields here are areaServed (neighbourhood-level, not just city) and knowsAbout (buyer, seller, investor specialties).
Bonus: FAQ schema
If your homepage has a FAQ section (it should), wrap it in FAQPage schema. This is the thing that gets you lifted verbatim into AI answers — the "according to [your business]" quotes ChatGPT loves.
After you ship, paste your URL into Google's Schema Markup Validator to catch typos. AI models are less picky than Google, but there's no excuse for broken JSON when a free tool tells you exactly what's wrong.
What not to do
- Don't stuff categories. If you're an HVAC company, don't claim HVACBusiness + Plumber + Electrician. Pick the one that's true and ship it.
- Don't invent reviews. Embedding an aggregateRating you didn't earn is the fastest way to get your schema ignored entirely. And it shows up in reverse-lookup audits.
- Don't set it and forget it. When your hours change, your phone changes, or you add a location — update the schema the same day. AI models re-crawl in 24–72 hours.
Ship this week
Put 20 minutes on the calendar. Grab the universal block above, customize it for your trade, validate it, paste it into your homepage <head>. You're already ahead of 80% of your local competitors.
If this is too deep in the weeds and you'd rather someone do it — along with nine other things that get you cited in 90 days — that's what we do. Founding spots at $997/mo.