Schema Markup 101 for Tradespeople: The Technical SEO Fix Most Sites Are Missing

Your website might look great. It might have your phone number, your services, your service area. But if you don't have schema markup, Google and AI search engines are guessing at what it all means.

Schema markup is structured data — code you add to your site that explicitly tells search engines what type of business you are, what you do, where you're located, and more. Think of it as a business card written in a language machines can read perfectly.

Most trade business sites have zero schema. That's the gap we close on every site we work on.

Why Schema Matters More Than Ever

Schema markup has always helped with traditional SEO. But with the rise of AI search, it's become critical.

When ChatGPT or Google's AI Overview answers a local query, it's not just reading your page content — it's parsing structured data. A site with proper schema is dramatically easier for AI systems to understand, trust, and cite than a site without it.

Rich results in Google search — the star ratings, phone numbers, and FAQ dropdowns you see in search results — are all driven by schema. Without it, you're a plain blue link in a sea of rich results.

The Schema Types That Matter for Trade Businesses

LocalBusiness Schema

The foundation. This tells Google your business name, address, phone, hours, service area, and category. Every trade business website needs this on every page. It's also what GBP pulls from when building your business profile in AI search results.

Service Schema

Lists your specific services with descriptions and pricing ranges if applicable. When an AI search engine is building a recommendation for "home inspection services in Monterey," it looks for sites that explicitly list "Home Inspection" as a service type — not just mention the words in a paragraph.

FAQPage Schema

One of the most underused schema types. Add a FAQ section to your site, mark it up with FAQPage schema, and Google may display your answers directly in search results — above organic listings. It also dramatically increases the chance an AI system quotes your content when answering a related question.

Review/AggregateRating Schema

If you have customer reviews on your site, marking them up with Review schema gets you those star ratings in search results. Trust signals that show up before a user even clicks your link.

BreadcrumbList Schema

Helps Google understand your site structure. Particularly useful for trade sites with city pages — it tells Google that your Salinas page is a child of your main services page, not a standalone island.

A Real Example

Here's what LocalBusiness schema looks like for an electrician in Prunedale:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Electrician",
  "name": "Arch Electric",
  "url": "https://archelectric831.com",
  "telephone": "+18313598747",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "addressLocality": "Prunedale",
    "addressRegion": "CA",
    "postalCode": "93907",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "areaServed": [
    "Prunedale", "Salinas", "Monterey", "Marina"
  ],
  "hasCredential": "California Electrical License #945992",
  "priceRange": "$$"
}

This tells Google and AI systems: this is an electrician, here's their exact location, here's where they work, here's their license number. It's unambiguous. That's the point.

Common Mistakes

• Missing schema entirely — the most common issue. We see it on 90%+ of trade sites we audit.
• Wrong business type — using generic "LocalBusiness" when Google has specific types like "Electrician," "Plumber," "HomeInspector." The specific type carries more weight.
• NAP mismatch — your schema says one phone number, your footer says another, your GBP says a third. Inconsistency destroys trust signals.
• No service area listed — the whole point of areaServed is to tell Google exactly where you work. Many implementations leave this blank.