Full Transcript
Be the Answer - Emarketed's AEO Show
Episode: AEO Schema That Actually Gets Cited (FAQ, HowTo, Product)
Host: Alex Format: Solo Length: ~10 minutes
[INTRO MUSIC]
Hey, welcome back to Be the Answer, Emarketed's AEO show. I'm Alex, and today we're getting tactical about something that most marketers are either ignoring completely or doing totally wrong - schema markup for AI citations.
Here's why you should care right now: only about 31% of websites are using schema markup strategically. That means if you implement it correctly, you've got a massive competitive advantage while everyone else is still arguing about whether SEO is dead. Pages with proper schema are 36% more likely to show up in AI-generated answers. And pages using three or more schema types have roughly 13% higher likelihood of being cited in AI responses. Those numbers add up fast.
But here's the thing - not all schema markup is created equal when it comes to answer engines. So today I'm going to break down exactly which schema types are moving the needle for AI citations, the mistakes I see constantly that are actually hurting your visibility, and I'll give you a clear checklist you can implement this week.
Let's get into it.
The Four Schema Types That Matter Most for AEO
Alright, let's talk about the four schema types that matter most for AEO. And I'm going to rank these by impact.
Number one - FAQPage schema. This is the heavyweight champion of AI citations. Studies show FAQ pages with proper schema produce 35–50% higher citation rates than those using QAPage markup. And compared to completely unstructured content, you're looking at 40–60% higher citation rates. Why? Because FAQ schema maps directly to how AI systems think. An AI assistant gets asked a question, it needs a definitive answer, and FAQ schema literally packages your content as question-answer pairs. You're making it effortless for the AI to grab your answer and cite you.
Number two - HowTo schema. This is your second most powerful tool. Procedural content with HowTo markup gets 50–70% higher citation rates than the same content without it. Think about what happens when someone asks an AI "how do I set up email authentication" or "how do I install a kitchen faucet." The AI needs step-by-step instructions, and HowTo schema serves those steps on a silver platter. Numbered steps, clear descriptions, even images - it's structured exactly how AI wants to consume it.
Number three - Product schema. This one's huge if you're in ecommerce or SaaS. When AI shopping features and product comparisons are happening inside ChatGPT or Gemini, Product schema combined with Offer schema gives the AI your pricing, features, availability - all the data points it needs to recommend you over a competitor. Without it, the AI is guessing, and guessing usually means it picks whoever has the clearest information.
Number four - Organization schema. Think of this as your identity layer. Organization schema, especially when combined with Author schema and sameAs links to your Wikipedia or social profiles, strengthens your entity authority. It tells AI systems "this is who we are, this is why we're credible." Research shows that without strong entity signals, sites risk up to 60% visibility loss in AI-generated responses. Organization schema is how you build that entity recognition.
The compounding effect. Here's the part most people miss. Using three or more schema types together produces roughly 13% higher citation rates than using just one. So the winning formula isn't picking one - it's layering them strategically. Your service pages get FAQ and Organization. Your tutorial content gets HowTo and Author. Your product pages get Product, Offer, and FAQ. Each layer reinforces the others.
Three Mistakes That Kill Your AI Visibility
Okay, now let's talk about the mistakes that are costing businesses real AI visibility. Because I see these constantly.
Mistake number one - over-markup. This is the most common one. People hear "schema is good" and then slap FAQ schema on every single page of their website. Don't do this. FAQ schema belongs on pages that actually have structured Q&A content - your product pages, service pages, dedicated FAQ pages. When you put it everywhere, you dilute its effectiveness and you're signaling to AI systems that nothing on your site is particularly authoritative about any specific topic.
Mistake number two - mismatch between schema and visible content. This one will get you penalized. If your FAQ schema says "What's the best CRM for small businesses?" and the answer in your markup says "Ours is the best" - but your actual visible page content doesn't contain that Q&A - that's a violation. Every single piece of schema markup must correspond to content that's visible on the page. AI systems cross-reference this, and search engines penalize it. There are no shortcuts here.
Mistake number three - thin answers. I see this all the time with FAQ schema. Someone writes a question like "What is email marketing?" and the answer is "Email marketing is marketing through email." That's useless. Your FAQ answers should be 40–60 words each. Lead with the direct answer, then expand with one or two supporting sentences. Give the AI something substantive to cite.
Two Quick Examples
Let me give you a couple of quick examples so this is concrete.
Example one - a SaaS company selling project management software. On their pricing page, they add Product schema with Offer details, then add three FAQ items like "Does this integrate with Slack?" with a genuine 50-word answer covering the integration. They add Organization schema with sameAs links to their LinkedIn and Crunchbase profiles. Now when someone asks ChatGPT "what project management tools integrate with Slack," that company has structured data covering the product, the specific answer, and the credibility layer. That's a citation-ready page.
Example two - a home improvement site with a guide on installing a ceiling fan. They use HowTo schema with six numbered steps, each step has 2–3 sentences and an image with descriptive alt text. They add Author schema linking to the electrician who wrote it. When someone asks an AI assistant "how do I install a ceiling fan," that structured, expert-attributed content is exactly what gets cited.
Your AEO Schema Checklist
Alright, let's get to the action steps. Here's your checklist - and I'd encourage you to tackle this this week.
Step 1: Audit your existing schema. Run your key pages through Google's Rich Results Test. Find out what you have, what's valid, and what's broken. You might be surprised how many errors are lurking.
Step 2: Map schema types to page types. Create a simple spreadsheet - page URL, page type, recommended schema types. Product pages get Product plus FAQ. How-to guides get HowTo plus Author. About pages get Organization. Be systematic about it.
Step 3: Prioritize your highest-value pages first. Don't try to do everything at once. Start with the 5–10 pages that get the most traffic or answer the most common questions in your industry.
Step 4: Write answers for humans first. Every FAQ answer should be something you'd be proud to show a customer. 40–60 words. Direct answer first, then context. If it reads like garbage, schema won't save it.
Step 5: Validate and monitor quarterly. Schema standards evolve. Google updates its requirements. Set a calendar reminder to re-validate your markup every quarter. It takes 15 minutes and can prevent months of invisible errors.
Step 6: Layer your schema types. Once your individual schema types are solid, start combining them. Add Organization to everything. Add Author to expert content. Get to that three-or-more threshold for the compounding citation boost.
Bonus step - set up your llms.txt file. This is the file you place at your root domain that helps AI systems understand your site's content and structure. Think of it as robots.txt for large language models. It's a simple, high-impact move that most of your competitors haven't made yet.
Try Emarketed's AI Visibility Tools
Now if you're listening to this and thinking "this sounds great but I have no idea where my site actually stands with AI visibility" - that's exactly why we built the Emarketed AI Visibility Score. It evaluates your content across five key categories that AI systems care about and gives you a prioritized list of fixes. Takes about two minutes. And while you're there, check out our llms.txt generator - it creates that file for you automatically based on your site structure.
You can find both tools at emarketed.com. Link in the show notes.
That's the episode. Remember - schema isn't about tricking AI systems. It's about making your expertise impossible to ignore. The businesses that structure their knowledge clearly are the ones that get cited. Be the answer.
I'll catch you in the next one. Take care.