If your rich results are not showing up, broken JSON-LD is a likely cause. To validate JSON-LD structured data, paste your markup into a checker that confirms the syntax is correct and that the required schema.org fields are present. Here is how to do that in your browser, and what the checker actually looks at.
What JSON-LD validation checks
JSON-LD is the format Google recommends for structured data. A validator inspects the markup you paste and looks at three things:
- Syntax: is it valid JSON? A missing comma or stray bracket breaks the whole block.
- Core fields: does it have a
@context(usuallyhttps://schema.org) and a@type? - Per-type properties: does the chosen
@typeinclude the properties that type needs?
For example, an Article needs a headline, a Product needs a name and an offer, and a FAQPage needs a list of questions and answers. The JSON-LD / Schema Validator checks both the required and recommended properties for common schema types, so you can see what is missing before you ship.
Not the same as JSON Schema
This trips people up. JSON Schema is a generic spec for describing the shape of any JSON document. Validating against JSON Schema only tells you the structure matches a contract you defined. Validating JSON-LD for SEO is different: it checks your markup against schema.org vocabulary and the field expectations search engines have for each type. You want the second one when the goal is rich results.
Validate your markup in three steps
- Open the JSON-LD / Schema Validator and paste your structured data block.
- Read the report: it flags any JSON syntax errors first, then confirms
@contextand@type, then lists missing required or recommended properties. - Fix what it flags, paste again, and confirm the block comes back clean.
Everything runs in your browser. The markup you paste never leaves your device, which matters when you are testing pages that are not live yet.
Then check with Google
A clean syntax and schema check is the fast first pass, but it is not the final word. Google decides whether your page is actually eligible for rich results, so once your markup validates here, run the same block through the Google Rich Results Test. The two together cover both correctness and eligibility.
Related tools
- Article Schema Generator: build valid Article markup from scratch, then validate it.
- FAQ Schema Generator: create a FAQPage block with question and answer pairs ready to check.
- Product Schema Generator: generate Product markup with name, price, and offer fields filled in.
Paste your block, fix what the report flags, and confirm with Google before you publish.