NZ Business Schema.org Cheat Sheet for 2026

Practical schema.org reference for NZ businesses — which schema types matter for which business type, what to include, what to skip.

18 May 2026 8 min read

TL;DR

Schema markup is the single highest-leverage technical SEO investment for NZ businesses in 2026 — and the one most sites skip because it's invisible. Done right, schema unlocks rich results in Google, makes your business citation-eligible for AI engines, and resolves your brand as a single entity across the web. Here's the practical reference: which schemas matter for which business type, what to populate, and what to skip.

→Specific business types (Plumber, Restaurant, Winery) outrank generic LocalBusiness every time — never use the generic.
→sameAs entity wiring (linking your GBP + social + trade body + directory listings) is the strongest entity-resolution signal for both Google and AI engines.
→FAQPage schema on key pages is the highest-ROI individual schema addition for AI Overview citations.
→AggregateRating + Review schema carry your Google review count into search results as star ratings — high-impact for click-through.
→BreadcrumbList schema on every non-home page is table-stakes — Google uses it for site structure understanding.

The schema priority order for any NZ business

1. Specific business-type schema (Plumber, Restaurant, Dentist, Winery) — not generic LocalBusiness. 2. sameAs entity wiring — link your GBP URL, social profiles, trade body listings, all in the schema sameAs array. 3. FAQPage on key pages where you have FAQ content. 4. BreadcrumbList site-wide. 5. AggregateRating + Review for review-rich pages. Everything else is incremental. Get these five right and you cover 90% of the value.

Service business schema (trades, professionals)

Use the specific business type — Plumber, Electrician, RoofingContractor, Locksmith, HVACBusiness, Dentist, Lawyer, AccountingService. Populate addressLocality with your actual suburb (matters for local-pack), areaServed with the suburbs you actually serve (named, not "Auckland area"), openingHoursSpecification (matters for "open now" queries), and aggregateRating from your GBP reviews. sameAs should include GBP + Facebook + LinkedIn + your trade body listing (Master Plumbers, Master Electricians, etc.).

Hospitality + food schema

Use Restaurant, CafeOrCoffeeShop, BarOrPub, NightClub, Winery, or Bakery — specific over generic. Add Menu schema (or hasMenu pointing to your menu URL) — Google uses this for menu-rich results. servesCuisine should list actual cuisines served. acceptsReservations + openingHoursSpecification + priceRange round out the basic profile. AggregateRating pulls your Google review count into search results as star ratings — high-impact for click-through.

Tourism + accommodation schema

Use LodgingBusiness (with subtypes Hotel, BedAndBreakfast, Resort, Hostel, Campground), TouristAttraction, TouristTrip (for tour packages), or TravelAction. checkinTime + checkoutTime + amenityFeature + petsAllowed populate the lodging profile. For tours: Trip with itinerary entries, partOfTrip if the tour fits into a larger package. Schema for accommodation drives the Google Travel rich results and matters disproportionately for tourism operators.

Ecommerce + product schema

Use Product with brand, manufacturer, sku, gtin where available. Offer with price, priceCurrency, availability, and url. AggregateRating + Review per product (not just store-level). For NZ ecommerce specifically: priceCurrency: 'NZD' explicitly (Google sometimes defaults to USD without it), shippingDetails to handle international shipping clearly. These power Google Shopping eligibility + product rich results in regular search.

Article + content schema

Blog posts and articles use Article schema with headline, author (Person with name + url), datePublished, dateModified, image, publisher. For longer content add wordCount. FAQPage as a separate schema block on the same page if the article includes FAQ content — Google merges them. NewsArticle and BlogPosting are subtypes if either fits more specifically.

What to skip

Generic LocalBusiness when a specific subtype exists. Service schema with no real differentiation from the page content (Google ignores fluff). Person schema for staff you don't actually want indexed individually. Event schema for one-off events more than 90 days in the future (it ages out before it matters). Speakable schema (still experimental, no measurable benefit). Schema.org has hundreds of types most NZ businesses don't need — focus on the five priorities above and skip the long tail.

FAQ

Frequently asked.

How do I add schema to my existing site?

Three options. Easiest: a WordPress plugin like Rank Math or Yoast handles 70% automatically. Better: hand-authored JSON-LD in the page <head> for full control. Best: a structured CMS that emits schema natively. The right approach depends on your tech stack and how much customisation you need.

Will adding schema break my site?

No — schema is invisible to users and Google. Worst case is that wrong schema gets ignored. Best practice: validate every schema block via Google Rich Results Test before deploying, and Search Console flags any active schema errors.

How long until I see the impact of schema?

Rich results (star ratings, FAQ accordions, menu cards) typically appear within 2-4 weeks of Google recrawling. AI Overview citations: 4-8 weeks. Local-pack improvements: 30-90 days. Compound effects on entity recognition: 90+ days.

Can I have too much schema on a page?

In theory no, in practice yes — schema bloat (15+ schema blocks per page) signals automated-generation and Google deprioritises. Stick to the schemas that match the actual page content. A homepage might have 4-6 schema blocks; a blog post 2-3; a service page 3-4.

Keep reading

Apply this to your site.

Free audit, no commitment. We'll show you which of these wins are sitting on the table for your business right now.

Get a Free Audit