What the checker reads
The checker looks for script tags whose type is application/ld+json. It parses each block, including every node in @graph, and reports the @type. A URL fetch downloads the HTML and stops at 1.5 MB. Pasted HTML or raw JSON-LD is checked in the browser. Nothing is stored.
Microdata and RDFa are not read. JavaScript is not executed, so JSON-LD that a tag manager injects after load is invisible here. Google can render JavaScript. This page cannot. If the two disagree, the rendered HTML is the one that matters, and the Rich Results Test is where Google shows its read.
Invalid JSON is reported per block and is not scored. A block with no @context is flagged. Google's JSON-LD examples set @context to https://schema.org. Empty strings, nulls, and empty arrays are listed. URL properties whose values are not absolute http or https URLs are listed too. Google's examples for those properties are absolute, and image URLs have to be crawlable.
The property lists come from Google's docs
Each known type is scored only against the required and recommended properties on its current Google Search Central page. A missing recommended property is not an error. Google often says to add the properties that apply. A missing required property is the gap that can keep a page out of that feature.
Article, NewsArticle, and BlogPosting share one list, and Google says that list has no required properties. BreadcrumbList needs itemListElement and, on each ListItem, position, name, and item. item can be omitted on the last crumb. WebSite is scored as the site name feature: name and url are required, alternateName is optional, and the markup belongs on the home page. The sitelinks search box was removed. Organization has no required properties.
SoftwareApplication, WebApplication, and MobileApplication need name, offers.price, and either aggregateRating or review. A free app uses a price of 0. LocalBusiness, including subtypes such as Restaurant and ProfessionalService, needs name and address. Event needs name, startDate, and a Place with an address. VideoObject needs name, thumbnailUrl, and uploadDate. Recipe needs name and image. JobPosting needs title, description, datePosted, hiringOrganization, and a job location or an applicant location.
Product snippets and merchant listings
Product is scored twice because Google publishes two lists. A product snippet requires name and one of review, aggregateRating, or offers. Once an Offer is present, its price is required. priceCurrency and availability are recommended for the snippet. A price of 0 is allowed.
A merchant listing requires name, image, and an Offer. The offer price has to be greater than zero, and priceCurrency is required. availability stays recommended. An AggregateOffer can satisfy a product snippet and does not satisfy a merchant listing, because Google says the merchant has to be the seller. image is the property that is required for the merchant listing and absent from the product-snippet required list.
FAQ and HowTo are retired
Google removed How-to rich results on September 13, 2023, on mobile and desktop, and then removed the How-to documentation. FAQ rich results stopped on May 7, 2026, and Google removed that documentation in June 2026. This checker still reports the @type. It does not apply a required-property list, because Google no longer publishes one.
Leaving the markup in place is fine. Google has said structured data it does not use has no visible effect in Search. Recipe instructions can still use HowToStep. That property is part of the recipe documentation, which is a different feature from the removed How-to rich result.
Eligible is not the same as shown
Valid structured data can make a page eligible for a rich result. Google does not guarantee that the feature will appear, and the markup is not a ranking boost. Content policies, page quality, and whether Google chooses the feature all sit outside a property checklist. The Rich Results Test is Google's own verdict for the types it still supports. Site names are not supported there.
A pass on this page means the documented properties were found in the JSON-LD that was submitted. It does not mean the page will earn a rich result, a higher ranking, or a citation in an assistant.
Google's structured data gallery lists the features it documents, and the Rich Results Test is the official check. The llms.txt checker validates a site's llms.txt file. The AI crawler checker reads robots.txt for GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and the other named crawlers. The free tools index lists the other tools on this site. Pricing lists Launch and Studio. The why page covers what happens when distribution stops after launch day.