---
title: "Structured data for AI crawlers"
slug: "structured-data-for-ai-crawlers"
category: "seo"
tags: ["seo", "structured-data", "schema-org", "ai-search", "geo"]
status: "stable"
last_updated: 2026-06-07
summary: "Which JSON-LD schemas help AI crawlers parse and cite a page, how entity grounding with sameAs works, and why markup the prose does not back earns nothing."
description: "Structured data for AI crawlers: TechArticle, BreadcrumbList, and DefinedTerm JSON-LD with sameAs entity grounding so crawlers parse and cite pages correctly."
aliases: ["JSON-LD for AI search", "schema markup for LLMs", "structured data for generative engines", "entity markup for AI"]
related: ["[[seo/structured-data]]", "[[seo/schema-markup-deep]]", "[[seo/llm-seo-best-practices]]", "[[seo/discoverable-by-ai-assistants]]", "[[seo/ai-search-optimization]]", "[[cheatsheets/ai-crawlers]]", "[[howto/add-jsonld-to-static-site]]", "[[glossary/structured-output]]"]
---

## Overview

Structured data for AI crawlers is JSON-LD that tells a model what a page is and which real-world entities it covers, so the crawler parses it as data rather than guessing from prose. The schemas that pull weight are `TechArticle` (or `Article`), `BreadcrumbList`, and `DefinedTerm`, each grounded with `sameAs`. Markup is a parsing aid, not a ranking trick: a crawler trusts it only when the visible content backs it. This page sits under [[seo/llm-seo-best-practices]]; for the full schema catalog see [[seo/structured-data]] and [[seo/schema-markup-deep]].

## Ship Article or TechArticle on every content page

Give each reference page an `Article` or `TechArticle` block with `headline`, `description`, `datePublished`, `dateModified`, `author`, and `publisher`. This lets a crawler attribute the claim, date it, and resolve the author entity. Date fields matter most for fast-moving topics, where a model should prefer the fresher source.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "TechArticle",
  "headline": "Structured data for AI crawlers",
  "description": "Which JSON-LD schemas help AI crawlers parse and cite a page.",
  "datePublished": "2026-06-07",
  "dateModified": "2026-06-07",
  "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jordan Reyes", "sameAs": ["https://example.com/authors/jordan-reyes"] },
  "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "LLM Best Practices" }
}
```

## Ground entities with sameAs

A crawler disambiguates "Astro" the framework from "Astro" the product by following `sameAs` to a Wikipedia or Wikidata URL. Mark the primary entity with `DefinedTerm` or an `about` array of `Thing` objects, each carrying `sameAs`. Entity grounding is what maps your page to the correct concept in the model's world. See [[seo/llm-seo-best-practices]].

## Use BreadcrumbList for position

Emit `BreadcrumbList` so the crawler reads the page's place in the site hierarchy. It reinforces the topical cluster the page belongs to and gives the engine a clean trail back to the pillar.

## Reserve FAQPage for genuine Q&A

Use `FAQPage` only where the visible page is actually questions and answers. Google removed FAQ rich results for most sites, but the markup still helps a crawler segment question-answer pairs. On a page that is not Q&A, FAQ markup is noise the classifier discounts. See [[seo/schema-markup-deep]].

## Validate, then trust nothing unbacked

Validate every block with the schema.org validator and the Google Rich Results Test. The hard rule: markup the prose does not support earns nothing and can erode trust. Keep JSON-LD and visible content in sync. See [[howto/add-jsonld-to-static-site]] and the crawler reference in [[cheatsheets/ai-crawlers]].

## Pitfalls

- Hand-maintaining JSON-LD per page; generate it from frontmatter so it cannot drift from the content.
- Stuffing keywords into `keywords` or inventing entities with no `sameAs`. Unresolvable entities are ignored.
- Confusing schema markup with [[glossary/structured-output]] from an LLM; one describes a web page, the other constrains a model response.

## Related

- [[seo/structured-data]]
- [[seo/schema-markup-deep]]
- [[seo/llm-seo-best-practices]]
- [[seo/discoverable-by-ai-assistants]]
- [[seo/ai-search-optimization]]
- [[howto/add-jsonld-to-static-site]]
- [[cheatsheets/ai-crawlers]]