How to find entities in competitor schema
Competitors’ structured data shows which entities they explicitly declare: their Organization or LocalBusiness details, authors, sameAs profiles, services, and about or mentions properties. Extract it with Google’s Rich Results Test, the Schema Markup Validator or your browser’s view-source, then compare types, properties and entity links with your own markup.
How do you extract competitor schema?
- Schema Markup Validator (validator.schema.org): paste a URL to see all schema.org data, including types Google does not use for rich results.[1]
- Rich Results Test: shows which Google rich result types are detected and any errors.[2][3]
- View source: search for
application/ld+jsonto read the raw JSON-LD.
All three are Officially documented tools. JSON-LD added by JavaScript may only appear in the rendered view.[4]
What should you record?
| Look at | Why |
|---|---|
@type | How they classify themselves (for example a specific LocalBusiness subtype) |
@id | Whether they build a connected entity graph |
sameAs | Which profiles and databases they link as identity references |
author, founder, employee | Which people they connect to the brand |
about, mentions | Topic entities they declare, sometimes with Wikidata or Wikipedia links |
areaServed, knowsAbout | Service areas and claimed expertise |
How do you use what you find?
- Choose the most specific type that is true for you (see LocalBusiness).
- Spot profile types you lack, such as industry directories or Wikidata.
- Find topic entities worth covering in content (related entities).
Only mark up what is true and visible on your own pages; Google’s guidelines prohibit misleading or irrelevant markup.[5] Officially documented Competitors’ markup can be wrong, so check claims against Google’s documentation.[6]
Frequently asked questions
Is it OK to copy a competitor's schema?
Copy the structure, never the facts. Your markup must describe your own visible content accurately.
Why does the Rich Results Test show less than the validator?
The Rich Results Test only reports types Google supports for rich results; the Schema Markup Validator shows all schema.org data.
See also
References
Pages accessed September 29, 2026 unless a date is given. See all sources and our editorial policy.
- ^ "Schema Markup Validator". Schema.org.
- ^ "Rich Results Test". Google Search.
- ^ "Rich Results Test (help)". Search Console Help.
- ^ "Generate structured data with JavaScript". Google Search Central.
- ^ "General structured data guidelines". Google Search Central.
- ^ "Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search". Google Search Central.