Free schema markup validator
Your structured data decides whether you get stars, prices, and images in the results or a plain blue link. One missing property and Google quietly drops the rich result. No error, no warning — the listing just stays plain while a competitor's stands out. Paste a URL and see every JSON-LD and microdata block, validated against what Google actually requires. No signup.
Showing the first 60 blocks.
Markup that's valid today silently breaks on the next redeploy — a template change drops a property and the rich result vanishes for months. LinkGuard monitors the pages your backlinks live on and flags when their crawl and indexing signals change.
What this tool checks
It fetches the URL, pulls out every <script type="application/ld+json">
block and every microdata itemscope, and runs two passes — one on the JSON
itself, one on what Google needs:
- Does it parse? A single trailing comma or unescaped quote makes a JSON-LD block invalid, and Google ignores the whole thing silently. This is the most common bug we see, and the one no rendered page will ever show you.
- @context and @type. Both have to be present, or the block describes nothing a search engine can use.
- For the common rich-result types (Article, Product, Breadcrumb, Organization, LocalBusiness, Recipe, Event, Video, Review, Software app, Course, Q&A, Movie), it checks the properties Google requires (missing one = no rich result, flagged as an error) and the ones it recommends (flagged as a warning, worth adding).
- It tells you which rich result each block can earn. It also flags the part most validators skip: when that rich result has been retired. FAQ and HowTo markup still validates everywhere, but Google stopped showing those results; you'll see that called out instead of a misleading green check.
What it doesn't do: validate the entire schema.org vocabulary property-by-property, or render the page the way Googlebot does. For the authoritative eligibility verdict, run the URL through Google's Rich Results Test after you've cleaned up what this finds — the two are meant to be used together.
How to use it
- Paste the page itself — the product, article, or recipe URL, not the homepage. Structured data is per-page.
- Read the errors before the warnings. A red "missing required property" means no rich result, full stop. Yellow warnings are improvements, worth doing, but they won't block the result on their own.
- If a block is flagged deprecated, don't waste time "fixing" it — Google retired that rich result. Either repurpose the data or drop the markup.
- Cleaned everything up? Confirm in Google's Rich Results Test, which renders the live page.
Why structured data is worth the effort
A rich result doesn't move you up the rankings. That's the myth worth killing first. What it does is change how your existing position looks. Stars, a price, an image, a recipe time: the listing takes up more space and pulls more clicks from the same rank. That click-through lift is the entire return on structured data, and it's real, but it only exists if the markup is valid and the type still earns a result.
The silent failure mode
Structured data fails quietly. There's no 404, no console error — a property goes missing in a template refactor, the JSON breaks on an unescaped character, and the rich result just stops showing. You don't notice until you happen to look at the SERP, or until traffic dips and you go hunting. That's why the "does it parse" check matters more than it sounds: invalid JSON-LD is invisible on the rendered page and silently ignored by Google.
Eligible is not the same as shown
Even perfect markup is only a ticket to the lottery. Google decides whether to show a rich result per query, weighing the page's quality and your site's reputation, and matching the markup against the visible content. If you mark up a price that isn't on the page, that's a mismatch, and it can cost you the result or worse. Validate the structure here, but keep the markup honest to what the user actually sees.
Types Google has walked back
The rich-result catalog isn't static. HowTo results were removed in September 2023. FAQ results were narrowed to government and health sites in 2023 and then dropped for everyone in 2026. Plenty of sites still ship FAQ and HowTo markup and assume it's doing something — it isn't, for a normal site. This tool flags those so you're not maintaining dead weight.
Frequently asked questions
What is schema markup?
Schema markup (structured data) is code you add to a page that describes what the page is about in a vocabulary search engines understand: this is a Product with this price, this is an Article by this author, this is a Recipe that takes 40 minutes. Google reads it to decide whether the page qualifies for a rich result, the enhanced listing with stars, prices, images, or FAQs. The recommended format is JSON-LD, a script block in the page; the older formats are microdata and RDFa, written as attributes on your HTML.
What does this tool check?
It fetches the page, extracts every JSON-LD script block and microdata item, and checks each one: does the JSON actually parse, is @context and @type present, and does the type carry the properties Google requires for its rich result plus the ones it recommends. It tells you which rich result each block can earn and flags the types Google has retired. It doesn't validate the full schema.org vocabulary, and Google's Rich Results Test is the authoritative eligibility check. This tool is the fast first pass that complements it.
JSON-LD, microdata, or RDFa: which should I use?
Use JSON-LD. Google explicitly recommends it, it sits in one script block instead of being scattered across your HTML as attributes, and it's far easier to maintain and debug. Microdata and RDFa still work and Google still reads them, but there's no reason to start a new implementation with either. This tool reads JSON-LD in full and reports microdata items it finds; if you're on microdata, migrating to JSON-LD is usually the cleaner long-term move.
My markup is valid but the page has no rich result. Why?
Valid markup makes a page eligible for a rich result; it doesn't guarantee one. Google decides per query and per site, weighing content quality, site reputation, and whether the markup matches the visible content. Two common surprises: the rich result for your type may have been deprecated (FAQ and HowTo no longer show for ordinary sites), or Google judged the page not authoritative enough. Eligible is the ceiling, not the promise.
Does schema markup improve my rankings?
Not directly. Structured data is not a ranking factor in the sense of moving you up the results. What it does is make you eligible for rich results, which can lift click-through rate from the position you already hold, and that extra CTR is the real win. Anyone promising that schema markup itself raises rankings is overselling it. Add it for the rich result and the clarity it gives crawlers, not for a ranking boost that isn't there.
What happened to FAQ and HowTo rich results?
Google wound both down. HowTo rich results were removed entirely in September 2023. FAQ rich results were restricted to government and health sites in August 2023 and then stopped appearing for everyone in 2026. The markup still parses and still validates, so most validators happily call it valid, but it no longer earns a rich result for a normal site. This tool flags both as deprecated so you don't keep maintaining markup that buys you nothing in Search.
Is this the same as Google's Rich Results Test?
No, and they're best used together. Google's Rich Results Test renders the page the way Googlebot does and is the authoritative word on eligibility, but it checks one URL at a time and does not tell you a type has been deprecated. This tool is the fast first pass: it extracts every block, shows you the missing required and recommended properties in plain language, and is honest about which types still produce a rich result. Use this to find and fix problems, then confirm in Google's tool.
Last updated: 2026-05-28