Structured Data & Schema Markup

What is Structured Data?

Structured data (schema markup) is code that helps AI systems and search engines understand your content’s meaning, context, and relationships. It’s one of the most critical factors for AI search visibility.

Why it matters: AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity use structured data to understand what your content is about and determine when to cite it.

Types of Schema Markup for AI Search

1. Organization Schema

Tell AI who you are:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Lantern",
  "url": "https://asklantern.com",
  "logo": "https://asklantern.com/logo.png",
  "description": "AI search analytics platform that tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude",
  "foundingDate": "2024",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://twitter.com/asklantern",
    "https://linkedin.com/company/asklantern",
    "https://github.com/asklantern"
  ],
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "contactType": "Customer Support",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "url": "https://asklantern.com/contact"
  }
}

2. Product Schema

For product pages:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Lantern AI Search Analytics",
  "description": "Track brand mentions across AI platforms with real-time monitoring and attribution",
  "brand": {
    "@type": "Brand",
    "name": "Lantern"
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "99.00",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "priceValidUntil": "2026-12-31",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
    "url": "https://asklantern.com/pricing"
  },
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.8",
    "reviewCount": "127"
  }
}

3. Article Schema

For blog posts and content:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Optimize Your Content for AI Search",
  "description": "Complete guide to making your content discoverable by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI platforms",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Smith",
    "url": "https://asklantern.com/authors/jane-smith"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Lantern",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://asklantern.com/logo.png"
    }
  },
  "datePublished": "2026-01-21",
  "dateModified": "2026-01-21",
  "image": "https://asklantern.com/blog/ai-search-guide.jpg",
  "articleBody": "Full article text here..."
}

4. FAQ Schema

For FAQ pages (highly cited by AI):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is AI search?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "AI search refers to search engines powered by large language models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. Over 1.5 billion people use AI search monthly to find information, products, and services."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How does Lantern track AI search visibility?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Lantern monitors brand mentions across all major AI platforms in real-time, tracking when and how AI systems cite your brand, products, or content."
      }
    }
  ]
}

5. HowTo Schema

For guides and tutorials:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "HowTo",
  "name": "How to Set Up AI Search Tracking",
  "description": "Step-by-step guide to start tracking your brand in AI search",
  "totalTime": "PT15M",
  "step": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Create Account",
      "text": "Sign up for Lantern at asklantern.com",
      "url": "https://asklantern.com/signup"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Configure Monitoring",
      "text": "Add your brand name and select AI platforms to track",
      "url": "https://docs.asklantern.com/quickstart#configure"
    }
  ]
}

6. BreadcrumbList Schema

For navigation context:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Home",
      "item": "https://asklantern.com"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Documentation",
      "item": "https://docs.asklantern.com"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 3,
      "name": "Structured Data",
      "item": "https://docs.asklantern.com/content/structured-data"
    }
  ]
}

Implementation Methods

JSON-LD (Recommended)
Microdata
RDFa

Add to your HTML <head> section:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Lantern",
  "url": "https://asklantern.com"
}
</script>

JSON-LD is the preferred format - it’s easy to implement and doesn’t affect page rendering.

Inline HTML attributes:

<div itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization">
  <span itemprop="name">Lantern</span>
  <span itemprop="description">AI search analytics platform</span>
</div>

Using RDFa attributes:

<div vocab="https://schema.org/" typeof="Organization">
  <span property="name">Lantern</span>
  <span property="description">AI search analytics</span>
</div>

Best Practices

Use multiple schema types

Combine relevant schemas on each page:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Lantern",
      "url": "https://asklantern.com"
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "url": "https://asklantern.com",
      "potentialAction": {
        "@type": "SearchAction",
        "target": "https://asklantern.com/search?q={search_term_string}",
        "query-input": "required name=search_term_string"
      }
    }
  ]
}
</script>

Keep data current

Update dates, prices, and availability regularly:

{
  "@type": "Offer",
  "price": "99.00",
  "priceCurrency": "USD",
  "priceValidUntil": "2026-12-31",
  "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
}

Match visible content

Schema should reflect what’s actually on the page:

{
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "Same headline as your H1 tag",
  "articleBody": "Should match your actual article content"
}

Include relationships

Connect entities with proper relationships:

{
  "@type": "Article",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Smith"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Lantern"
  }
}

Essential Schema Properties

Name

Always include a clear, descriptive name

Description

Add concise descriptions (150-200 characters)

URL

Include canonical URLs for all entities

Images

High-quality images with alt text

Dates

Published, modified, and validity dates

Author

Author information for content

Ratings

Aggregate ratings when available

Contact

Contact points and support info

Testing Your Schema

Google Rich Results Test

Use Google’s Rich Results Test to validate

Schema.org Validator

Test at validator.schema.org

Check with AI

Ask ChatGPT or Claude to read your page and confirm it understands the structure

Monitor in Lantern

Track how AI platforms interpret and cite your structured data

Common Schema Types for AI Search

Schema Type	Use Case	AI Citation Impact
Organization	Company info	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High
Product	Product pages	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High
Article	Blog posts	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High
FAQPage	FAQ sections	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High
HowTo	Guides	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High
Review	Customer reviews	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High
WebSite	Homepage	⭐⭐⭐ Medium
BreadcrumbList	Navigation	⭐⭐⭐ Medium
LocalBusiness	Local companies	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High
SoftwareApplication	Software products	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High

Complete Page Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Lantern - AI Search Analytics Platform</title>
  
  <!-- Multiple Schema Types -->
  <script type="application/ld+json">
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
      {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "@id": "https://asklantern.com/#organization",
        "name": "Lantern",
        "url": "https://asklantern.com",
        "logo": "https://asklantern.com/logo.png",
        "sameAs": [
          "https://twitter.com/asklantern",
          "https://linkedin.com/company/asklantern"
        ]
      },
      {
        "@type": "WebSite",
        "@id": "https://asklantern.com/#website",
        "url": "https://asklantern.com",
        "name": "Lantern",
        "publisher": {
          "@id": "https://asklantern.com/#organization"
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "WebPage",
        "@id": "https://asklantern.com/#webpage",
        "url": "https://asklantern.com",
        "name": "AI Search Analytics Platform",
        "isPartOf": {
          "@id": "https://asklantern.com/#website"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
  </script>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Your content here -->
</body>
</html>

Avoid spam: Don’t add schema for content that doesn’t exist on the page. AI platforms and search engines penalize misleading markup.

Next Steps

Optimize Meta Tags

Learn how to write effective meta tags for AI search

Getting started

Technical Optimization

Content Structure

GEO Strategy

Structured Data & Schema Markup

What is Structured Data?

Types of Schema Markup for AI Search

1. Organization Schema

2. Product Schema

3. Article Schema

4. FAQ Schema

5. HowTo Schema

6. BreadcrumbList Schema

Implementation Methods

Best Practices

Essential Schema Properties

Name

Description

URL

Images

Dates

Author

Ratings

Contact

Testing Your Schema

Common Schema Types for AI Search

Complete Page Example

Next Steps

Optimize Meta Tags

Getting started

Technical Optimization

Content Structure

GEO Strategy

​What is Structured Data?

​Types of Schema Markup for AI Search

​1. Organization Schema

​2. Product Schema

​3. Article Schema

​4. FAQ Schema

​5. HowTo Schema

​6. BreadcrumbList Schema

​Implementation Methods

​Best Practices

​Essential Schema Properties

Name

Description

URL

Images

Dates

Author

Ratings

Contact

​Testing Your Schema

​Common Schema Types for AI Search

​Complete Page Example

​Next Steps

Optimize Meta Tags

What is Structured Data?

Types of Schema Markup for AI Search

1. Organization Schema

2. Product Schema

3. Article Schema

4. FAQ Schema

5. HowTo Schema

6. BreadcrumbList Schema

Implementation Methods

Best Practices

Essential Schema Properties

Testing Your Schema

Common Schema Types for AI Search

Complete Page Example

Next Steps