LocalBusiness Schema: What It Actually Does and How to Add It

Local business schema markup gets described as a switch that turns on rich results for a local business. It is not a switch. It is a way of stating facts about your business, as structured data markup, such as your name, address, phone number and opening hours, in a format Google can read directly. Google may then use those facts in some places. It does not promise it will.

This post explains what LocalBusiness schema markup does according to Google’s own documentation, what it does not do, which type to choose, what a clean example looks like, and how to add and test it. We re-read Google’s Local Business structured data page, last updated on 8 September 2026, on 11 October 2026. Where something is our own advice, we say so. For which schema types matter for AI search in general, see our post on schema markup for AI visibility.

Quick summary, if you’re short on time:

• Google says that when people search for businesses, results may show a prominent knowledge panel, and for a type of business search they may see a carousel of related businesses.
• With Local Business structured data you can tell Google about business hours, departments and reviews, if your site captures reviews about other businesses.
• The required properties are the basics: @context, @type, name and address. Google says to include as many address properties as possible.
• Google’s review rules say Local business markup for ratings is only for sites that capture reviews about other local businesses. Don’t mark up reviews of your own business.
• Test with the Rich Results Test, then check the live page with the URL Inspection tool. Google says it may take several days after publishing for Google to find and crawl a page.

Jump to a section:

• What Google says LocalBusiness markup does
• What it doesn’t do
• Which type should you use?
• A clean example
• How to add and test it
• Common mistakes
• What we found on our own site
• A prompt to draft your markup
• Questions about LocalBusiness schema

What Google says LocalBusiness markup does

In short, local business schema helps local businesses show up with accurate details in local search.

Google’s documentation on Local Business structured data describes the purpose in one passage. When users search for businesses on Google Search or Maps, results may display a prominent knowledge panel with details about a business that matched the query. When users search for a type of business, such as “best NYC restaurants”, they may see a carousel of businesses related to the query. With the markup you can tell Google about business hours, different departments within a business, reviews (if your site captures reviews about other businesses), and more.

The page adds that if you want to help users make a reservation or place an order directly in Search results, you can use the Maps Booking API, which is a separate system.

Three practical points from the page:

• Required properties. Google says you must include the required properties for your content to be eligible for display as a rich result. Its summary lists @context, @type, name and address.
• Address detail. Google says to include as many address properties as possible, and that the more properties you provide, the higher the quality of the result for users.
• Where to put it. You can add LocalBusiness data to any page, though Google says it may make more sense on a page that contains information about your business.

What it doesn’t do

The markup makes your business a clearer candidate for these features. It does not guarantee a knowledge panel, a carousel place or any particular result. Google’s own page says the actual appearance in search results might be different from the example.

It also does not replace your Google Business Profile. Our view, and it is a judgment and not a Google statement, is that your profile is where you manage how you appear on Search and Maps directly, and the markup on your website is a supporting statement about the same business. If the two disagree, fix the disagreement. Our post on how to rank on Google Maps covers the profile side.

One more limit matters a lot for small businesses: reviews. Google’s review snippet guidelines say Local business ratings are supported only for sites that capture reviews about other local businesses, and point to its guidelines about self-serving reviews. So do not wrap the reviews of your own business, shown on your own site, in review markup and expect stars in search results.

Which type should you use?

For local businesses, the type you choose is part of the structure of your markup, and it tells local search which kind of business you are.

LocalBusiness is the parent type, and schema.org has more specific types beneath it. Use the most specific type that honestly fits, and use LocalBusiness only if nothing more specific does. Types we checked on schema.org on 11 October 2026:

A subtype carries the properties of its parent, so choosing a more specific one does not lose anything.

A clean example

This is a made-up business, with made-up details, written in JSON-LD, which is the format Google’s page uses. Replace every value with your real details, and keep it identical to what your page and your Google Business Profile show.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Dentist",
  "name": "Example Dental Clinic",
  "url": "https://www.example.com/",
  "telephone": "+91 80 1234 5678",
  "image": "https://www.example.com/images/clinic-front.jpg",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "12 Example Road, Indiranagar",
    "addressLocality": "Bengaluru",
    "addressRegion": "Karnataka",
    "postalCode": "560038",
    "addressCountry": "IN"
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"],
      "opens": "09:30",
      "closes": "19:00"
    }
  ]
}
</script>

Google’s own example is a restaurant and also shows geographic coordinates, a price range and a menu link. You only need to add what is true and visible on your page.

How to add and test it

1. Collect your facts. Use the exact name, address, phone number and hours shown on your Google Business Profile and on the page.
2. Add the markup. Google says that if you use a CMS, it may be easier to use a plugin that is integrated into your CMS. Put it on the page that describes your business, such as the contact or about page.
3. Validate it. Google says to validate your code with the Rich Results Test and fix any critical errors. You can also run the same block through the Schema Markup Validator at validator.schema.org, which checks it against the schema.org vocabulary. It also suggests fixing non-critical issues, though that is not necessary to be eligible.
4. Check the live page. Deploy a few pages and use the URL Inspection tool to see how Google sees the page, and make sure it is not blocked by robots.txt, a noindex tag or a login.
5. Submit your sitemap and wait. Google says to allow time for re-crawling and re-indexing, and that it may take several days after publishing for Google to find and crawl a page.

Our post on free SEO tools for a website audit lists the Rich Results Test and the other free testing tools.

Common mistakes

• Details that differ from the page or your profile. An old phone number or a different business name in the markup leaves Google with conflicting information.
• Wrapping your own reviews in review markup. As above, Google limits this to sites that capture reviews about other local businesses.
• Marking up things that are not on the page. The markup should describe what a visitor can actually see.
• Two sources writing the same markup. A theme and a plugin can each output a business block, with different details. View the page source and count the blocks.
• The wrong type. A generic type is safe, but a clearly wrong one, such as a restaurant type for a clinic, is not.
• Treating it as a one-time job. When your hours or phone number change, update the markup as well.

What we found on our own site

We looked at the structured data on the homepage of our local copy of zunelo.in on 11 October 2026. It declares an Organization, a WebSite, a WebPage, a FAQPage, an ImageObject and a Place with our city, Bengaluru. It does not declare a LocalBusiness type. That is a choice we are still making, because the right type depends on how a business describes where and how it serves customers. We mention it because many sites we check have more or less markup than their owners think, so it is worth reading your own page source before you add anything.

A prompt to draft your markup

An AI tool can turn your business facts into valid JSON-LD quickly. It cannot know your real details and it can invent properties, so give it exact facts and always validate the result.

Act as a careful structured data specialist. Write LocalBusiness JSON-LD for my business, using only the facts I give you.

My facts, exactly as they appear on my website and Google Business Profile:
– Business name: [name]
– Type of business, in plain words: [for example dental clinic, architect, taxi service]
– Website address: [URL]
– Phone number: [with country code]
– Street address, city, state, postal code, country: [details]
– Opening hours by day: [list, or say by appointment]
– Image of the business or logo, if I have a web address for one: [URL]

Please do the following:
1. Suggest the most specific schema.org type that honestly fits, and say why.
2. Write one JSON-LD block with the required and recommended properties I have facts for.
3. List any property you left out because I did not give you the fact.
4. Tell me what to check before publishing.

Rules:
– Use only my facts. Do not invent ratings, reviews, prices, coordinates or social profiles.
– Do not add review or aggregateRating markup for my own business.
– Write in plain, simple English.

Paste the result into the Rich Results Test, fix any errors it reports, and compare every value with your Google Business Profile before you publish.

Questions about LocalBusiness schema

Where this matters

LocalBusiness schema is a small, accurate statement about your business, not a ranking trick. Choose the most specific type, include only facts that are true and visible, keep them in step with your Google Business Profile, and test before you publish.

If you would like help getting your local markup and profile in line, see our local SEO service, or send us your website address and we will tell you what we see.