Rich Results

Rich results are enhanced search listings that display additional information drawn from structured data markup. Rather than a standard title, URL, and meta description, a rich result might show star ratings, recipe ingredients, event dates, product prices, or video thumbnails directly in the search results page. They do not affect ranking position but increase the visual prominence of a result and consistently raise click-through rates.

This page sets out which schema types produce rich results in Google Search, what has changed since 2023, and how to target the types most relevant to your site. For implementation detail, see Structured Data and Schema Markup.

How do rich results work?

Rich results are produced when Google reads valid structured data on a page and determines the content qualifies for a visual enhancement. Not all schema types produce rich results: many serve indexing and entity purposes without producing any visible SERP feature.

Google’s eligibility criteria combine two requirements: the markup must be valid against Google’s requirements for that specific type, and it must accurately reflect content visible on the page. Schema describing content the user cannot see is a guidelines violation that has resulted in manual actions.¹

Active rich result types

The following types currently produce visible rich results in Google Search.²

Broadly applicable:

• Article / NewsArticle / BlogPosting: Establishes content type, authorship, and publish date, which Google uses to show better title text, images and dates for the article. Google states there is no markup requirement for Top Stories eligibility.³
• BreadcrumbList: Replaces the URL in search results with a readable breadcrumb path. Applies to any site with hierarchical structure.
• Organization: Enables logo display in knowledge panels and branded search results.
• Profile page: For person or organisation profile pages.
• Review snippet: Star ratings and review excerpts drawn from Review or AggregateRating markup on products, recipes, books, businesses, and similar. A top-level type in Google’s gallery in its own right.
• Carousel: A sequential list or gallery from one site. Not a type on its own: Google lists it as a container that must be combined with Recipe, Course list, Restaurant or Movie markup.
• Image metadata: Creator, credit and licence details shown against an image in Google Images, from ImageObject or IPTC fields.

E-commerce and products:

• Product: Displays price, availability, review ratings, and merchant listing details such as return and shipping policy in search results. The highest-return schema type for e-commerce sites.

Content with strong visual features:

• Recipe: Image carousel with cooking time, ratings, and ingredients. One of the highest click-through rate features available.
• Video: Eligible for video carousels with thumbnail, duration, and upload date.
• Event: Date, location, and ticket availability shown directly in results.
• Software App: Rating and price displayed for software and app pages.
• Movie: Ratings and basic metadata.

Specialist types:

• Job Posting: Salary, location, and application details. Appears in the dedicated jobs search surface.
• LocalBusiness: Hours, ratings, and contact details. Most visible in local pack and knowledge panels.
• Course list: Course details and provider information.
• Dataset: Eligibility for dataset search results.
• Education Q&A: Flashcard-style results for educational content.
• Math solver: Step-by-step walkthroughs for named types of maths problem.
• Q&A: Forum-style question-and-answer pages, distinct from FAQPage, showing top answers directly in results.
• Discussion forum: User-generated content surfaces.
• Vacation rental: Property details and availability.
• Employer aggregate rating: Hiring and workplace ratings.
• Loyalty program: Member benefit details. Documented for merchant listings rather than in the gallery itself.
• Subscription and paywalled content: Signals which content requires a subscription, so Google can label paywalled results appropriately for publishers.
• Speakable: Marks passages of news content for text-to-speech readout on Google Assistant devices; still marked as beta by Google.

What has been deprecated

Several schema types have lost rich result support since 2023. Markup for these types will not cause a penalty but will not produce a visible SERP feature.

Type	Deprecated	Notes
HowTo rich results	September 2023	No documented use remains; harmless to keep where accurate
FAQ rich results	May 20264	No documented use remains; harmless to keep where accurate
Claim Review (Fact check)	June 20255	Google is phasing out display support; ClaimReview markup remains usable in the separate Fact Check Explorer tool only
Sitelinks searchbox	November 2024	SearchAction markup no longer produces a search box in results
Course Info	June 20255	Superseded by Course list
Estimated Salary	June 20255
Learning Video	June 20255
Special Announcement	June 20255
Vehicle Listing	June 20255
Practice problems	January 2026	Deprecation noted November 2025; Search Console, Rich Results Test and search appearance filter support removed from January 20266
Book Actions	Announced June 2025, then kept	On the June 2025 list, but Google removed the deprecation banner in November 2025 because a Search feature still uses the markup6

The most significant changes for editorial and content sites are the FAQ and HowTo deprecations. FAQPage and HowTo schema can stay on pages that genuinely have an FAQ or a procedure: removing it costs effort and leaving it costs nothing. No platform documents reading either type for AI answers, and the one first-party statement on schema and LLMs, Microsoft’s, covers schema in general and names no type, so do not add either expecting an AI benefit. The change is that they no longer produce a visible accordion or step-by-step display in standard Google Search results.

CTR impact

Rich results tend to produce higher click-through rates than standard organic listings at equivalent positions. The figures Google publishes are its own case studies rather than a controlled comparison: Rotten Tomatoes measured a 25% higher click-through rate on 100,000 pages with structured data than without, and Nestlé an 82% higher rate on pages shown as rich results.⁷ The effect is position-dependent: a rich result at position 4 still sits below positions 1, 2, and 3. Rich results do not move ranking position; they make the existing position more visually competitive against other results on the same page.

The uplift varies by type. Product results with pricing and ratings show stronger CTR gains than breadcrumb-only results, which produce more modest but near-universal improvements.

Targeting rich results by site type

Editorial and publication sites: Article or TechArticle schema, BreadcrumbList on every page, and Person schema for author pages form the baseline. These do not produce visually dramatic features but establish entity clarity and authorship, which benefits both rich results eligibility and AI citation.

E-commerce: Product schema with AggregateRating is the priority. Price and availability shown in results reduce friction between a search and a purchase decision. Merchant listing schema (return policy, shipping details) extends this further.

Recipe and food content: Recipe schema is the highest-impact single schema type for visual display. The image carousel format is distinctive and click-through rates are high relative to other content types.

Instructional content: HowTo schema no longer produces a rich result in standard search and no platform documents reading it for AI answers. Keep it where it already exists and is accurate; there is no documented reason to add it.

Local businesses: LocalBusiness schema combined with a complete Google Business Profile. The primary rich result surface for local content is the map pack, where GBP signals matter more than schema alone.

Video content: VideoObject schema with thumbnailUrl, uploadDate, and duration, on a page whose main content is the video. Google indexes one video per page and only from a watch page, which is the whole of video SEO.

Events: Event schema with startDate, location, and offers. Event results are visually prominent and drive high-intent clicks.

Testing and validation

Two tools are required before deploying schema:

• Google Rich Results Test: validates against Google’s specific requirements for each rich result type, including required properties and image size minimums.
• Schema Markup Validator: validates against the base schema.org specification.

Both should pass. The Rich Results Test is the more important of the two for confirming whether a specific type is eligible for display in Google Search.

After deployment, Search Console > Enhancements shows rich result eligibility and errors per schema type, along with impressions and clicks for each feature. Periodic spot-checks using the Rich Results Test on key URLs catch drift caused by template changes or CMS updates.

Frequently asked questions

Does schema markup improve rankings directly?

No. Google has stated clearly that structured data is not a ranking signal. The indirect effects can influence performance: better CTR from richer listings, clearer entity signals, and improved AI citation eligibility. There is no direct ranking boost.

Should I remove FAQ schema now that FAQ rich results are gone?

No. Keep it on pages with a genuine FAQ section: it is low-cost and may help AI systems identify Q&A content. Remove it only from pages where the FAQ content does not exist.

Can I still add HowTo schema even though it no longer produces rich results?

Only as a harmless leftover. Google removed the rich result in September 2023, and no platform documents reading HowTo for AI answers. Keep it if it is accurate; do not add it expecting anything.

What happens if my schema does not match the page content?

Schema describing content the user cannot see violates Google’s guidelines. This has resulted in manual actions in confirmed cases. The rule: if it is not visible on the page, do not mark it up.

How do I know which rich result types my site is eligible for?

Google’s structured data search gallery lists current rich result types and their requirements. The Rich Results Test confirms eligibility for a specific URL.

Footnotes

1. Structured data general guidelines — Google Search Central ↩

2. Structured data types Google supports — Google Search Central ↩

3. Article (Article, NewsArticle, BlogPosting) structured data — Google Search Central ↩

4. Deprecating the FAQ rich result feature — Google Search Central changelog ↩

5. Simplifying the search results page — Google Search Central Blog, 12 June 2025. Names seven types; Book Actions was on the list, but Google removed its deprecation banner on 5 November 2025 “as there’s still a feature using the markup in Google Search”. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. Search Central documentation updates, 5 November 2025 — Google Search Central ↩ ↩²

7. Understand how structured data works — Google Search Central. Google’s case studies; self-reported by the sites, so directional rather than a benchmark. ↩