Glossary
What Is JSON-LD (A Structured Data Format)
JSON-LD is a structured data format embedded in a page as JSON; it lowers comprehension cost, not a citation promise.
- Author
- Xingge
- Published
- 2026-11-09
- Updated
- 2026-11-09
- Level
- L2 Reproducible
- Version
- 1.0
Term details
- Name
- What Is JSON-LD (A Structured Data Format)
- Type
- Glossary
- ID
- json-ld-en
What Is JSON-LD (A Structured Data Format)
JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is a structured data format embedded in a page as JSON, and the recommended usage by schema.org. Structured data only lowers comprehension cost; it is not a promise of citation.
Definition
This site's working definition: JSON-LD is a script block that describes page entities and page relationships with key-value structures, usually organized with @graph and covering the site, organization, author, page, and breadcrumbs.
This site writes only two fields for an entity, the identifier and the name; the remaining fields are maintained on the entity home page, so the same subject does not carry conflicting descriptions across sites.
Boundaries: what it is easily confused with
| Easily confused concept | Key difference |
|---|---|
| Microdata | Microdata lives in HTML attributes; JSON-LD is a separate block |
| Schema standard | schema.org is a vocabulary convention, not a search engine rule |
| Page body text | Structured data is a supplementary description and does not replace body text |
Common misconceptions
- Assuming that adding JSON-LD earns citations. It only affects comprehension cost.
- Letting structured data contradict body text. Conflicts between fields and body text are read as untrustworthy.
- Repeating complete entity fields on every page. Scattered field maintenance easily produces conflicts.
Basis and verification
This definition is this site's working definition, marked L2. Required fields and examples for each page type are on the machine-readable layer method page in the method index.
Review cycle: 180 days.
Related sections: glossary index, method index, metric index, editorial policy.