Markup states who you are. It does not prove it.
Person and Organization schema let a page declare an identity in a form that machines read. This page lists the properties that matter for identity, what Google documents about them, and the rules that keep the markup honest.
Entity schema is structured data that describes a person or an organization, as opposed to a product, a recipe or an event: names, roles, relationships, identifiers and links to the same entity elsewhere. It is written with the schema.org vocabulary, usually in JSON-LD. Its function is to state an identity without ambiguity. It has to match what the page shows, and it earns no place in search results or AI answers by itself.
What structured data is, in Google's words
Google defines structured data as "a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content". It supports three formats, JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and recommends "using a format that's easiest for you to implement and maintain (in most cases, that's JSON-LD)" (Google Search Central, introduction to structured data).
The same page makes a distinction that is often missed: "Most Search structured data uses schema.org vocabulary, but you should rely on the Google Search Central documentation as definitive for Google Search behavior, rather than the schema.org documentation." Schema.org says what a property means. Google's documentation says what Google does with it. The two are not the same list.
The properties that identify a person
Definitions are quoted from schema.org, Person.
| Property | Schema.org definition | Use for identity |
|---|---|---|
name |
The name of the item | The reference spelling |
alternateName |
"An alias for the item." | Other spellings and transliterations |
jobTitle |
"The job title of the person (for example, Financial Manager)." | The current title, as shown on the page |
worksFor |
"Organizations that the person works for." | The link to the organization's own entity |
affiliation |
"An organization that this person is affiliated with. For example, a school/university, a club, or a team." | Roles that are not employment |
alumniOf |
"An organization that the person is an alumni of." | Education, when the page states it |
hasCredential |
"A credential awarded to the Person or Organization." | Qualifications with a named awarding body |
knowsAbout |
"Of a Person, and less typically of an Organization, to indicate a topic that is known about - suggesting possible expertise but not implying it." | Fields of work; a statement, not a proof |
sameAs |
"URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity." | Official profiles and reference pages |
identifier |
"The identifier property represents any kind of identifier for any kind of Thing" | A registry or research identifier, where one exists |
The properties that identify an organization
Definitions are quoted from schema.org, Organization.
| Property | Schema.org definition | Use for identity |
|---|---|---|
legalName |
"The official name of the organization, e.g. the registered company name." | The registered name, when it differs from the common one |
alternateName |
"An alias for the item." | Trading names and former names |
foundingDate |
"The date that this organization was founded." | One date, the same everywhere |
founder |
"A person or organization who founded this organization." | The link to the founder's entity |
parentOrganization |
"The larger organization that this organization is a subOrganization of, if any." | Group structure |
subOrganization |
"A relationship between two organizations where the first includes the second, e.g., as a subsidiary." | Subsidiaries and brands |
leiCode |
"An organization identifier that uniquely identifies a legal entity as defined in ISO 17442." | An identifier issued by a registry |
sameAs |
"URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity." | Official profiles and reference pages |
For Google specifically, its documentation on organization markup states that there are no required properties and recommends adding as many as are relevant, among them legalName, alternateName and identifiers such as leiCode, duns, taxID and vatID (Google Search Central, organization structured data). How these serve disambiguation is covered in entity optimization.
The rules the markup must follow
Google's structured data policies set limits that apply to entity markup as to any other (Google Search Central, structured data policies).
- It must match the page "Your structured data must be a true representation of the page content."
- It must be visible "Don't mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page."
- It must not mislead "Don't use structured data to deceive or mislead users. Don't impersonate any person or organization, or misrepresent your ownership, affiliation, or primary purpose."
- It guarantees nothing "Google does not guarantee that your structured data will show up in search results, even if your page is marked up correctly".
A practical rule follows: write the page first, then the markup, and show on the page the profile links and identifiers that the markup declares. A title, an award or an affiliation that appears only in the markup is a claim the page does not make.
Quality matters more than quantity. Google's introduction states that "it is more important to supply fewer but complete and accurate recommended properties rather than trying to provide every possible recommended property with less complete, badly-formed, or inaccurate data".
Where the markup goes
One page per entity. Google recommends placing organization information on the home page or on a single page that describes the organization. For a person, the same logic applies: one page is the reference, and its markup describes that person as the main subject.
Links between entities. A person's worksFor and an organization's founder point to each other's reference pages. Stated on each side with the same names, the relationship is declared consistently from both ends.
Profile pages on community sites are a separate case. Google documents ProfilePage markup as "designed for any site where creators (either people or organizations) share first-hand perspectives", with sameAs defined there as the "URL to other external profiles or home pages for the profile, if applicable" (Google Search Central, profile page). Check the use cases Google lists before applying it to a personal site.
What it does not do
It does not create a knowledge panel: see knowledge graph strategy. It is not a condition for Google's AI features: Google states that no special schema.org structured data is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode (Google Search Central, AI features). And the sources cited here do not describe how AI assistants other than Google's use it. The safe assumption is that visible text and independent sources carry the description, and that markup can reduce ambiguity about whom the text concerns.
Where it sits in the work
Entity schema is one tool of the third layer of The Authority Architecture System, Entity Foundation. The page it describes also has to be written so that an answer can be extracted from it, which is the subject of answer engine optimization. Whether the entity is then identified correctly is checked with the method in AI search intelligence, and, for a brand in a category, compared through AI share of voice. The place of this layer beneath the three acronyms is shown in SEO, AEO and GEO compared. The wider subject is AI visibility; related analyses are collected in Insights.
Frequently asked questions
What is entity schema?
Structured data that describes a person or an organization: names, roles, relationships, identifiers and links to the same entity on other sites. It uses the schema.org types Person and Organization.
Which format should be used?
Google supports JSON-LD, Microdata and RDFa, and recommends the format that is easiest to implement and maintain, which it says is JSON-LD in most cases.
Which properties are required for Organization markup?
Google's documentation states that there are no required properties for organization structured data and recommends adding as many relevant ones as apply to the organization.
Can I mark up a credential or an award that is not shown on the page?
No. Google's policies state that structured data must be a true representation of the page content, and that content not visible to readers must not be marked up.
Does Person schema make an AI assistant describe me correctly?
It guarantees nothing. It states an identity in a form machines read, which can reduce ambiguity. The description itself depends on the visible text and on what other sources say.
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