# Schema.org for AEO: what is verified

German title: Schema.org für AEO: Was belegt ist

> Google requires no special schema.org markup for AI Overviews. Structured data must match visible content; JSON-LD is recommended. Article has no required properties. FAQ rich results are discontinued, HowTo rich results removed. “Mandatory for AEO” is not verified.

## Facts

- **AI Overviews:** no special markup needed
- **Format:** JSON-LD recommended
- **Article:** no required properties
- **FAQPage:** Rich results discontinued

## What Google documents

- For AI Overviews and AI Mode no special schema.org markup is needed.
- JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa are equally fine; JSON-LD is recommended.
- Structured data does not guarantee rich results and must not contain invisible information.
- Article has no required properties; recommended are author, datePublished, dateModified, headline and image. author entries with url or sameAs help tell authors apart.

## Status of individual types

Types and statusType Status
Article Google: no required properties, see above
FAQPage Google rich results discontinued (see the FAQ structure report)
HowTo Rich results removed since August 2023 (secondary source)
Speakable Beta, US and English only
DefinedTermSet / DefinedTerm schema.org: a collection of defined terms (glossary, dictionary); hasDefinedTerm links set and term

## Structure with @graph and @id

Related statements can be linked in one JSON-LD @graph through @id. This makes maintenance easier. That embeddings or knowledge graphs work better as a result is not verified.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://example.com/a#article",
      "headline": "Title", "author": { "@id": "https://example.com/#author" } },
    { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://example.com/#author", "name": "Name" }
  ]
}

## What follows

Schema makes author, date and title machine-readable. That answer engines attribute pages with schema more often or more correctly is not verified.

## Not verified

That nested JSON-LD with stable @id values brings benefits for embeddings or knowledge graphs is not verified; the section on it is a maintainability recommendation.

## Sources

- Google Search Central: AI features and your website (primary source)
- Google Search Central: Intro to structured data (primary source)
- Google Search Central: Article structured data (primary source)
- schema.org: DefinedTermSet (primary source)
- Red Shark Digital: Google HowTo/FAQ rich results update (secondary source)

Checked on: 24 October 2026.

## Questions

### Which schema types are mandatory?

None for AI Overviews. For Article, Google names no required properties.

### Is Microdata enough?

Google lists JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa as equally fine but recommends JSON-LD for easier maintenance.

### Should I keep outputting FAQPage?

It brings nothing for Google rich results anymore. It is permissible if it mirrors the visible content.

### Does schema help with AI answers?

That is not verified. Google says no special markup is needed for them.

## Related

- [FAQ structure: value and status of FAQ markup](https://munichmedia.com/reports/faq-struktur-fuer-aeo.md)
- [Revising an existing blog post: checklist](https://munichmedia.com/reports/aeo-blogbeitrag-anpassen.md)

Canonical HTML: https://munichmedia.com/reports/aeo-schema-org-basis