From Wah-Wah to Whoa: Schema and the AI Search Shift

New Why has been building websites for 10+ years, and most of us on the team have been doing it a lot longer than that. Over the years, we’ve gotten acclimated to customers’ eyes glazing over when our tech team’s mumbo jumbo gets a little overly complicated. I imagine the teacher’s voice in Charlie Brown cartoons — wah waah wah wah, whaa whah.

But lately, I’ve had a few customers come to me asking me about one of the nerdliest words of ’em all: Schema! Tech nerds, rejoice! It is our time to shine. Because of AI, this little nugget of techdom is becoming more well known. Why? Why now? Let’s dive in.

So… What Even Is Schema?

Schema (aka “schema markup” or “structured data”) is a way to label the content on your website so that the machines – like Google, ChatGPT, and other AI tools – understand it more clearly.

It’s kinda like writing a note and including helpful cues in the margins:

• “This is a recipe.”
• “This is a person’s bio.”
• “This is a list of FAQs.”

Those notes? That’s basically what Schema markup does.  It tells search engines and AI tools what kind of content is on a webpage, and how to interpret it. It lives in your site’s code, but is invisible to regular visitors.

Used to be a “Nice-to-Have.” Now it’s a “Gotta Have.”

Before AI search took off, schema helped with things like:

• Rich snippets (dates, author names in search results, that sort of thing)
• Local SEO (showing up in map results or business listings)
• Understanding the “type” of content you had (event, article, product, etc.)

It made Google’s life easier, and in return, Google sometimes rewarded you with better visibility.

Why Schema Matters More in an AI-Driven Search World

Now that AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews are answering questions directly, often without sending people to your site (seen your site visits drop? You’re not alone, and this may be in part why!) schema plays an even bigger role.

Here’s why:

1. AI needs clarity, not just content.
   Large language models are smart, but they’re not mind readers. Schema gives them clear signals: “This page is an FAQ about applying for housing assistance” or “This paragraph is the author’s credentials.”
2. Schema builds trust.
   When AI tools pull from content with clear author info, organization names, and links to other reputable sources, that content is more likely to be cited. Schema helps establish that credibility.
3. It can get your content featured.
   Google and other AI platforms pull content chunks into their answers, and schema helps them figure out which chunks to use. Without schema, your page might get skipped entirely, no matter how helpful it is.

Key Types of Schema to Use

Below are some useful kinds of markup you can use on your site:

• Organization / LocalBusiness
  Tells the web who you are, with links to your social accounts, location, and more
• Article / BlogPosting
  Marks up your blog content with author info, publish date, and topic
• FAQPage
  Makes common questions on your site easier to surface (and show up in AI answers)
• Event
  Use these for classes, fundraisers, or webinars
• Person
  If you have authors or experts with bios, give them schema too
• HowTo
  For guides or instructional content

Quick Wins: How to Add Schema Without a Full Site Overhaul

We’re tweaking how we implement schema on our sites, but you don’t necessarily need a web team to take advantage it and improve how you show up for AI.

• Use a plugin.
  If your site is on WordPress, tools like Yoast add schema automatically to many types of pages
• Focus on your top 5 pages.
  You don’t need to mark up every page on your site. Start with your homepage, your about page, your most-visited blog post, and a key service or program page.
• Mark up FAQs.
  If you have a FAQ page, it’s one of the easiest and most valuable types of schema to implement.

Humans don’t read, but the bots sure do.

I’ve long told our customers that whether we like it or not, people don’t read your website – not every word, anyway. Usually, this is a prelude to me introducing our team’s drastic copy cuts to a website. The good news (is it, though?) is that while people don’t read, AI does. It consumes E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.  And schema helps contextualize your content for those brainless ‘bots.