ARTICLE
Schema Validation: Catching Errors That Block Rich Results
Why valid JSON-LD still fails rich results, and how to use a schema markup validator to catch every blocking error.
Jun 17, 20266 min read
Technical SEOschema-markuprich-resultsstructured-datatechnical-seo
A client's recipe site has JSON-LD on every page. Google's Rich Results Test returns a green checkmark. No rich results appear in search. Three months of troubleshooting later, the agency finds a single required property missing from the Recipe type — one that the Rich Results Test doesn't flag as an error, only as a warning.
Valid JSON-LD and rich-result-eligible JSON-LD are not the same thing. This distinction costs more agencies more time than almost any other technical SEO issue.
What "Valid" Actually Means (and Doesn't)
JSON-LD validation has two independent layers:
- Syntactic validity: Is the JSON parseable? No trailing commas, balanced braces, correct quote types. A JSON linter catches this.
- Schema.org conformance: Are the properties the right types? Does the @type exist? Does the value format match what Schema.org specifies?
But rich results add a third layer Google never fully documents publicly:
- Rich result eligibility: Are all Google-required properties present? These are stricter than Schema.org's "required" list and vary by type, country, and feature rollout.
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