What is JSON-LD?
JSON-LD is a W3C-standardised format for embedding structured data in a web page as a separate script block, apart from the visible HTML. Google recommends it as the preferred form of Schema.org markup.
JSON-LD stands for JSON for Linked Data. Instead of writing attributes into the visible HTML, as Microdata or RDFa do, JSON-LD places the description as a JSON object inside a script tag. That makes the markup easier to maintain, because layout changes do not break it.
Through the context, usually schema.org, the fields get a fixed meaning. An organisation can state its name, logo, address and, via sameAs, its profiles on other platforms. These links help search engines match a page to a known entity.
One trap is rendering: if JSON-LD is injected by JavaScript, a crawler that only reads raw HTML never sees it. Many AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript. Anyone using markup should therefore deliver it server side.
What it means for your website
You can check JSON-LD with Google’s Rich Results Test or the schema.org validator. It is also worth looking at the raw source without JavaScript: if the block is not there, it does not exist for many crawlers. As with all structured data, a direct effect on AI citations is not proven.
Sources
Terms help you understand. Whether AI crawlers can reach your site is something you measure.
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