Understandable Structure
What it measures (out of 25)
Structured data and clean page structure give AI engines a direct, machine-readable channel to understand what your business is, who runs it, what it does, and how your pages are organized. Unlike the visible text on your pages, which an AI must interpret, JSON-LD schema markup and well-formed HTML structure are explicit declarations. This category evaluates whether your structured data is present, valid, uses the right schema types for your business, and — critically — whether the values in your markup actually match the visible content on the page. It also checks the structural signals (heading hierarchy, Open Graph tags, image alt text) that help AI systems parse your pages reliably.
What we check for
- Whether JSON-LD schema is present in the
<head>of the page (the format AI engines parse most reliably) - Whether the schema type matches the nature of the business — for example, a local service business using
LocalBusinessrather than a genericOrganization - Whether the values declared in your schema (business name, description, address, credentials) are consistent with what the visible page actually says
- Whether structural signals are sound: a clean single-H1 heading hierarchy, Open Graph tags, and descriptive image alt text
Example finding
A pool service company had Organization schema with a business description that read "Leading provider of premium aquatic maintenance solutions" — marketing copy that didn't appear anywhere in the visible page text. The schema-content mismatch was flagged as a low-trust signal, and the site's structured-data score was substantially lower than it would have been with consistent, content-matched markup.
Why this matters
Most sites that have structured data at all still fail basic schema validation when checked against official testing tools. Poorly constructed or mismatched schema can be worse than no schema at all, because it sends conflicting signals to AI engines that are trying to establish a reliable picture of who you are. Getting structure right — schema that's present, valid, correctly typed, and consistent with visible content, on top of clean HTML structure — is one of the more reliable technical steps toward improved AI citation, and it's something that can be fully addressed with a single focused implementation pass.