Definition
Structured data is page information expressed in a machine-readable format, usually JSON-LD using Schema.org types such as Product, Organization, Article and FAQPage. It tells systems what a page is about and which entity it describes.
It helps understanding; it does not guarantee citation. Google states that AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special schema beyond normal search best practice. Accurate structured data is a hygiene factor, not a lever on its own.
Why it matters
It removes ambiguity about who you are and what the page offers, which is exactly the ambiguity that weakens an entity. The payoff is reliability, not a ranking boost.
How it is applied
Apply the type that matches the page, keep its values identical to the visible content, and validate it. Wrong or inconsistent structured data is worse than none because it hands the engine a second version of the facts.
