What Is Schema Markup, in Plain English?
Schema markup is a small block of code that sits behind the scenes on your website. It does one simple job: it tells search engines and AI assistants exactly what your business does, where you are, and how to contact you.
Think of it as a business card for machines. Your website already shows customers your phone number, address, and services. Schema markup makes sure Google, Siri, ChatGPT, and every other digital tool can read that same information without guessing.
Plain English for the jargon: "Schema" is just a shared vocabulary — a list of labels and categories that all search engines agree on. "LocalBusiness" means a physical business serving a specific area. "Service" means a specific thing you do for customers. "FAQ" means frequently asked questions. None of this is complicated once you see it laid out.
Why It Matters for Local Businesses
Imagine a customer near Clitheroe searches "plumber near me" on their phone. Google has to decide, in a fraction of a second, which businesses to show. It reads the schema markup on your website and instantly knows: this is a plumbing business, based in Clitheroe, open Monday to Friday, serving a 15-mile radius.
Without schema markup, Google has to figure all that out from your page text alone. It might get it right. It might not. And when Google is not certain, it shows someone else.
That is the core of it. Schema markup reduces uncertainty — and in local search, uncertainty costs you enquiries.
Three Ways Schema Markup Helps Your Business Right Now
1. Rich results in Google search. You have seen these — the search results that show star ratings, opening hours, phone numbers, and FAQ questions directly on the search page. Those are powered by schema markup. They stand out visually and get more clicks than plain text results.
2. Voice search and AI assistants. When someone asks Siri "find a plumber in Clitheroe" or asks ChatGPT "recommend a local web designer in Lancashire," those AI tools read schema markup to find and verify businesses. This is not a future trend — it is happening now, and it is growing fast.
3. Google Business Profile consistency. When your website's schema markup matches your Google Business Profile, Google trusts both sources more. Trust signals like this contribute to your local ranking, even if Google does not publish the exact formula.
The Types of Schema That Matter Most
Not all schema markup is relevant to a local business. Here are the four types that actually move the needle for UK trades and service businesses.
LocalBusiness Schema
This is the foundation. It tells search engines your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, and the geographic area you serve. Without this, even a well-written website is harder for Google to place in local results.
For a plumber in Blackburn, this schema makes it clear: "I am a plumbing business, I am based here, I serve these postcodes, and these are my opening hours." Simple. But without it, Google is left to piece that together from your About page — and it will not always get it right.
Service Schema
If you offer multiple services — say, boiler repairs, bathroom fitting, and emergency call-outs — Service schema lets you list each one separately with its own description. This means Google can match a specific search like "emergency boiler repair Clitheroe" to the exact service page on your site, rather than just showing your homepage.
FAQ Schema
If you have a page that answers common customer questions — "How much does a boiler service cost?", "Do you work weekends?" — FAQ schema tells Google those are questions and answers. Google may display them directly in search results as expandable sections, which takes up more space on the results page and gives customers answers before they even click.
For a local business, that is powerful. A customer who sees your answer to their question in the search results is far more likely to click through and call.
Review Schema
If you have genuine customer reviews on your site — real ones, from real customers — Review schema lets you mark them up so Google can display the star rating in search results. We only recommend this if you have verified, honest reviews. Made-up testimonials marked up with review schema are a fast way to damage trust with both customers and search engines.
A Real Example: How This Works in Practice
Take a heating engineer based in Burnley. They have a website with five pages: Home, Services, About, Reviews, and Contact. The text on each page is clear and well-written. But without schema markup, Google sees those pages and has to work out what the business does, where it is, and which services matter most.
With schema markup added:
- The LocalBusiness schema on every page confirms the business name, Burnley address, phone number, and Monday-to-Friday hours.
- The Service schema on the Services page lists boiler servicing, radiator replacement, and emergency repairs as distinct offerings with clear descriptions.
- The FAQ schema on the boiler servicing page answers the three questions customers ask most often.
- The Review schema on the Reviews page marks up a handful of genuine customer reviews.
The result: Google now has no ambiguity. It knows exactly what this business is, where it operates, and what it offers. The site shows up more reliably for local searches, and when it does appear, it often appears with rich results — star ratings, FAQs, opening hours — that make it stand out on the page.
None of this requires trickery or gaming the system. It is simply giving search engines the information they want, in the format they expect.
Schema and AI: Why 2026 Changes the Game
Until recently, schema markup was mostly about Google rankings. That is still important. But something bigger is happening: people are increasingly using AI tools — ChatGPT, Siri, Google's AI overviews, Bing Copilot — to find and evaluate local businesses.
These AI systems do not browse websites the way a human does. They read structured data. If your site has proper schema markup, an AI assistant can pull your business details, services, and reviews directly and present them accurately. If your site does not, the AI either ignores you or makes assumptions — and AI assumptions about your business are rarely flattering.
This is what we mean when we talk about AI Agent Ready websites. It is not a gimmick. It is building your site so that every tool customers use to find businesses — Google, voice search, AI chatbots — can read it clearly and get the facts right.
A Practical Checklist: Is Your Site Set Up Properly?
Here is a straightforward checklist for any local business owner who wants to check whether their current website is doing the basics right.
- ☐ Is your business name, address, and phone number the same everywhere? Your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook page, and any directory listings should all use the same format. Inconsistency confuses search engines.
- ☐ Does your site have LocalBusiness schema? You can check this by pasting your URL into Google's Rich Results Test tool (it is free). If it says "no structured data detected", your site has no schema at all.
- ☐ Are your services listed separately? A single page that says "we do plumbing, heating, and bathrooms" is less useful to Google than three pages, each with its own service schema, describing each offering in detail.
- ☐ Do you answer customer questions on your site? An FAQ page with proper FAQ schema gives Google ready-made rich results and helps customers find answers without calling you — which sounds counterproductive, but customers who get their questions answered are more confident about booking.
- ☐ Can AI tools read your site? Try asking ChatGPT or Siri a question about your business right now. If the answer is vague or wrong, your site is not communicating clearly to AI — and that will cost you as AI-assisted search grows.
- ☐ Is your site fast and mobile-friendly? Schema markup only helps if your site actually loads and works properly. A slow, broken site with good schema is still a slow, broken site.
We Build This In From Day One
At Fehu, schema markup is not an add-on or an afterthought. Every site we build includes proper LocalBusiness, Service, and FAQ schema as standard — written by hand, checked against Google's Rich Results Test, and kept up to date as your business changes.
We do this because it works. It is not flashy. You cannot see it on the page. But it is one of those things that makes the difference between a website that looks fine and a website that actually earns its keep — bringing in calls, messages, and bookings from customers who found you because your site made it easy for them to do so.