SEO
Which Structured Data Should a Small Business Website Use?
Use Organization to describe a company as a whole and LocalBusiness for a local business or a particular location. Google’s LocalBusiness rich-result guidance requires a business name and physical address. Accurate markup still does not guarantee a rich result.
Before adding structured data to a business website, decide what the page describes: the company as a whole or a particular place where the business operates. Organization is generally relevant to the company itself. A page about a local business or one of its locations may call for LocalBusiness or a more specific subtype.
Google defines LocalBusiness as a subtype of Organization. Choose the markup according to the page and the facts about the business. The type alone does not guarantee a rich result in Google Search, better rankings or inclusion in an AI-generated answer.
Organization or LocalBusiness: where to start
First identify the entity the markup should describe. Organization describes an organisation; LocalBusiness is used for information about a local business. Then check what the specific page says and which details about the business you can verify.
| Business setup | What to check | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| A service business has no customer-facing premises | If the page describes the company as a whole, check whether Organization fits and which verified details about the company appear on the page. | Do not treat the areas served as physical addresses. Do not publish a home address just to try to meet rich-result requirements. |
| A business has one physical location | Check whether a page gives current information about that particular place. For local business markup, review Google’s requirements and choose a suitable subtype. | Do not mark up a general service page as a location page if it does not describe that place. |
| A company has several physical locations | Check whether each location has a page that describes it and whether the details belong to that particular site. Google recommends describing each location as a separate LocalBusiness entity. | Do not copy one location’s address, phone number or opening hours to other locations when those details differ. |
The absence of customer-facing premises does not, by itself, determine which type to use. Start with what the page describes. Google’s requirements for a LocalBusiness rich result include the business name and physical address. Those are requirements for a Google Search feature, not a reason to provide an unsuitable address or substitute a service area for one. Check the circumstances against Google’s LocalBusiness documentation.
Website markup and eligibility for a Google Business Profile are separate questions. If you want to know whether a business without customer-facing premises can have a profile, read our guide to Google Business Profile eligibility for service-area businesses.
Which page should contain the markup?
For information about the company as a whole, Google recommends the home page or a single page about the organisation. You do not need to repeat Organization on every page. If the company has several locations, check the pages that describe each one separately.
Google’s Organization guide has no required set of properties. Include only details that apply to the company and can be verified, such as its name, website URL, logo or contact information. Add an address only when it is relevant to the organisation and represented accurately on the page.
Before adding code, check whether your content management system or a plugin already generates structured data. A new block could duplicate or conflict with existing markup. Google supports JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and recommends JSON-LD; the choice of format does not remove the need to check the content.
Check each property against the page
Compare the proposed values with information a visitor can see on the page:
- Name: Does it match the name the company uses on its website?
- URL: Does it lead to the company website or the correct location page?
- Address and contact details: Are they current and linked to the company or location being described?
- Opening hours: Are they accurate now and shown on the page the markup describes?
- Social profiles: Do they belong to the company if you include them as additional information about it?
- Type: Does it describe the subject of the page, rather than only the industry or area the business serves?
This is a practical review list, not a mandatory set of properties for every company. Google’s general guidelines require structured data to represent page content accurately. Do not mark up details that are hidden from users, misleading or irrelevant to the page. See Google’s general structured data guidelines.
How to check the markup before and after publication
- Check the type and properties against Google’s documentation. Open the
OrganizationorLocalBusinessguide. Correct outdated values and remove unverified details before testing. - Test the code or page URL in the Rich Results Test. Fix any critical technical errors it reports. Passing the test does not confirm that every property fits the page or reflects accurate information.
- After publication, inspect the URL in Google Search Console. Use URL Inspection to check whether Google can access the page. Check that access is not blocked by
robots.txt, anoindexdirective or a login requirement. - Open the published page in a browser. Compare what visitors can see with the markup generated by your CMS or plugin. Check that separate markup blocks do not duplicate or contradict one another.
Passing the Rich Results Test does not guarantee that Google will show a rich result. Google may also need time to recrawl a page after publication. These limitations are set out in its general structured data guidelines.
Common mistakes when choosing a type
- Treating Organization and LocalBusiness as unrelated types: LocalBusiness is a subtype of Organization, but Google sets additional requirements for the relevant Search feature.
- Adding LocalBusiness to every service page: first check whether the page describes a particular business or location.
- Adding an address just to pass a test: a tool recognising a value does not make it accurate. Do not present a service area or private address as a public business location.
- Filling in every available field: Google’s Organization guide lists no required properties. Include only details that apply and can be verified.
- Expecting rankings to improve automatically: Google’s documentation describes structured data in relation to Google Search features; it does not promise better rankings or citations in AI-generated answers.
If you are unsure which type describes the page, whether the details belong to a particular location or whether your CMS is generating duplicate markup, include the check in an SEO audit. Start by checking that the page and its data agree: the aim is to describe the business accurately, not to fill in as many fields as possible.
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