Your Google traffic is dropping. You're not sure why. Here's why: AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity don't understand your business the same way Google does—unless you tell them how.
You've probably heard about Google losing search traffic to AI. What you haven't heard is that these AI search engines—ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude—are actively citing local businesses in their answers. But only if those businesses are properly labeled.
Think of schema markup like a name tag at a networking event. It tells the AI search engine exactly what you do, where you are, and why someone should trust you. Without it, you're basically invisible.
The good news? Most local businesses don't have this right yet. So fixing your schema is a huge competitive advantage right now.
Here's the problem: You tell Google you're a plumbing company, but you haven't told AI search engines what type of business you actually are. So when someone asks ChatGPT "who's a good plumber near me?", it doesn't know to cite you.
The fix is called LocalBusiness schema. It's a code snippet that tells AI exactly what you do.
For a plumber, it looks something like this (simplified):
Name: Mike's 24/7 Plumbing
Type: Plumber
City: Denver, CO
Phone: 303-555-0123
Website: mikeaplumber.com
That's it. You're telling the AI, "Hey, I'm a plumber in Denver, and here's how to reach me."
Most local businesses either don't have this at all, or they have it wrong. You'd be shocked how many dental offices have their schema set to "GeneralContractor."
You posted your hours on your website. Great. But the AI can't actually read them.
When someone asks Perplexity "when is the dentist open on Saturday?", the AI needs to find your hours in a format it can understand. If you just wrote "Saturday 9am-5pm" on your site, it'll probably miss it.
The fix: Add OpeningHoursSpecification to your schema. This is a structured way to list your hours that AI search engines can actually parse.
An HVAC company might list: Monday-Friday 7am-6pm, Saturday 8am-4pm, Sunday Closed. The schema version tells the AI exactly which days you're open and when.
This matters because when AI search engines cite you, they're more likely to include your hours. That drives phone calls.
You've got four-star reviews on Google. Awesome. But AI search engines might not be counting them because they don't see them as verified reviews.
Here's why: If your schema doesn't include AggregateRating data, the AI treats your reviews as hearsay. It won't cite you as confidently.
The fix is adding your rating to your schema: "Average Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5, based on 127 reviews."
When an AI search engine sees this, it knows your reviews are real and verified. You become a more trustworthy citation. This is especially powerful for lawyers, doctors, and contractors—businesses where trust matters.
You serve Denver, but also suburbs like Aurora and Littleton. The problem? Your schema probably only mentions Denver.
When someone in Aurora asks ChatGPT for a plumber, it won't cite you because your schema doesn't say you service Aurora. You're missing easy leads.
The fix: Add ServiceArea to your schema. List every city, county, or zip code you serve. Be specific. If you only go within 15 miles of downtown, say that.
This is one of the biggest mistakes we see. Local businesses underestimate their service area in their schema, then wonder why they're not getting cited by AI in neighboring towns.
Your phone number is on your site. Your email is somewhere else. Your address is on Google but not your website.
Here's what happens: The AI gets confused and doesn't cite you. Or worse, it cites you with the wrong phone number.
The fix: Consolidate all your contact info into your schema. Phone, email, address, website. All in one place.
When the schema matches across Google, your website, and your other profiles, the AI trusts you more. It's more likely to cite you. And if it does, the info is correct so people can actually reach you.
Schema markup isn't new. But it used to be a nice-to-have for SEO. Now it's essential for getting cited by AI search engines.
Most of your competitors haven't fixed this yet. That's your window.
You don't need to become a developer. You just need to make sure your business information is structured in a way that AI search engines can understand. When it is, you get cited. When you get cited, you get calls.
Want to know if your schema is set up correctly? Run your free AEO audit at citeddigital.co/audit. We'll tell you exactly what's broken and how to fix it.
FAQPage schema. It produces the largest measurable lift in AI citation rate and takes about 10 minutes per page. 89% of small business sites are missing it entirely.
No. WordPress users can use Yoast or Rank Math to handle most schema automatically. For custom JSON-LD, paste the block into your CMS HTML editor — no coding required.
Paste your URL into Google's Rich Results Test. It parses your JSON-LD, flags errors, and confirms which rich-result types your page is eligible for.
Yes — Google AI Overviews preferentially cite sources with valid Article, FAQPage, and HowTo schema. The same applies to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot.
Schema markup gets indexed by AI engines within 2-4 weeks of being added. AI citation lift typically follows in 4-12 weeks as engines update their citation graphs.
Questions? Contact Connor