Do I need both Organization and LocalBusiness schema?

No. Use the most specific LocalBusiness subtype that fits (e.g., Dentist, Plumber). Google expects a specific local type for physical or service‑area businesses, not a generic Organization, per its local business structured data guidelines from Google Search Central.

Where should I put JSON‑LD in my HTML?

Place a block in the head or immediately before . Both are fine. Keep one authoritative LocalBusiness object and reference it with @id from Service or other objects.

Can I mark up my star rating from a third‑party widget I embed?

Only if the reviews meet Google’s review snippet rules and are genuinely collected/published in a way that qualifies. Self‑serving or ineligible sources may make the page ineligible, per Google’s guidelines.

How do I know if Google sees my markup?

Test the URL in Google’s Rich Results Test and watch Search Console for enhancements and errors. Google documents how it crawls and renders pages in its crawling overview.

Which SEO schema choices increase local visibility?

March 3, 2026 · 7 min read

A practical, prioritized plan for LocalBusiness, Service, and Review schema—with copy-paste JSON-LD and where to put it on your site.

You don’t need every schema type—just the right ones

Your homepage is thin on details. Service pages don’t make clear what you do in each city. Reviews live on a third‑party site. You’ve heard schema helps but don’t want to break the site.

Here’s the short list that consistently moves the needle for local businesses, with copy‑paste JSON‑LD and where to put it.

Which schema types should a local business use first?

Start with the most specific LocalBusiness subtype that fits you, then add Service on each service page, and Review/AggregateRating only where you publish genuine reviews you control.

LocalBusiness (use the most specific subtype: Dentist, Plumber, Restaurant, etc.). It helps search engines understand your entity and can enable local rich results. See types and properties on Schema.org LocalBusiness. Google’s local business structured data page lists required and recommended properties and technical rules: Google Search Central.
Service on every distinct service page you want to rank for. Describe the offering and link it back to your business via provider.
Review and AggregateRating where you display customer reviews you collected and are allowed to mark up. Google’s documentation covers review snippet eligibility and restrictions: Google Search Central.

That’s the backbone. Anything else is optional until these are correct.

Where should the schema live on a small business site?

Follow these placement rules so crawlers see a clean, consistent picture of your business. The property names below are the canonical ones from Schema.org LocalBusiness, and Google consumes the same types.

Put one authoritative LocalBusiness (or a specific subtype) JSON‑LD block on your homepage. Mirror it on your Contact or About page if those also describe the entity. Don’t create different LocalBusiness objects across the site.
Put a Service object on each service page. One Service per clearly distinct offering.
Put Review/AggregateRating only on pages that actually show those reviews and only if collection/display meets Google’s review rules.
Insert JSON‑LD in a