TL;DR: Test structured data with two free tools that do different jobs. Google’s Rich Results Test tells you whether a page is eligible for the rich results Google supports, and the Schema Markup Validator checks any schema.org markup, whether Google uses it or not. Once the page is live, monitor it in Google Search Console’s rich result reports, fix critical issues before non-critical ones, and re-test whenever your templates, plugins or business details change. Passing a test makes a page eligible for a rich result. It doesn’t guarantee one, and it won’t improve your rankings.
Structured data (often called schema markup) is code that describes your page to search engines. Visitors never see it, which is why it can break quietly: a plugin update, a template change or an empty field in your CMS can leave it invalid while the page itself looks fine. When that happens, the page can lose the rich result it was showing, often without anyone noticing.
Testing tells you it works when you add it. Monitoring tells you when it stops.
What a Passing Test Does and Doesn’t Mean
Structured data does two things. It gives Google clues about what’s on the page and, when it’s valid and includes the required properties, it makes the page eligible for rich results, such as review stars, product details or event dates shown in search results.
Eligible isn’t the same as guaranteed. Even when the Rich Results Test says your markup is correct, a rich result may not appear because Google tailors results to the person searching, using things like search history, location and device type.
It won’t lift your rankings either. Google’s John Mueller put it plainly: “Structured data won’t make your site rank better.” He added that it’s used for displaying the search features in Google’s search gallery.
We cover this in more depth in Is Structured Data a Google Ranking Factor?
So the point of testing is not to chase a ranking boost. It’s to make sure the markup you’ve added is readable, accurate and still doing the job you added it for.
Which Tools to Use
| Tool | What It Checks | When To Use It |
| Rich Results Test | Which Google rich results a page is eligible for, and any issues stopping them | Before and after publishing any page with structured data |
| Schema Markup Validator | Whether any schema.org markup is valid, with no Google-specific checks | For types Google doesn’t show as rich results, and for a full list of what’s on the page |
| URL Inspection tool in Search Console | What Google found on its last crawl, and a live test of the current page | After publishing, to confirm Google can see the markup |
| Rich result reports in Search Console | Valid and invalid items across the whole site over time | Ongoing monitoring |
The two testing tools are easy to confuse, so it’s worth knowing what each one covers.
That means a page can pass one and show nothing in the other. Service markup, for example, is valid schema.org vocabulary, but it isn’t one of Google’s rich result types, so the Rich Results Test won’t list it. That isn’t an error. Use the validator to confirm it’s correct.
How to Test Structured Data
- Test the code before it goes live. Paste your markup into the Rich Results Test (and the Schema Markup Validator if you’re using types Google doesn’t support). This catches syntax errors and missing required properties before anyone sees the page.
- Test the live URL after publishing. A pasted snippet only checks what you pasted. Testing the URL checks the page as it’s served, including markup your theme or plugins add. That’s where you’ll spot a second copy of the same item that you didn’t know was there.
- Check the markup matches the page. Markup should only describe content visitors can see. If your markup lists a price, rating or opening hours, they need to match what’s on the page. Markup that breaks Google’s structured data policies can lead to a manual action, which means the page loses eligibility for rich results.
- Confirm Google has found it. Once the page is indexed, use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. It shows the structured data Google saw on its last crawl, and a live test shows the current version. If the live test shows the markup but the indexed version doesn’t, Google simply hasn’t recrawled the page yet. You can use Request indexing to ask it to.
- Test one page from each template. On most sites, structured data comes from templates: every product page, blog post or location page uses the same pattern. For most businesses, we recommend testing one representative page per template rather than every URL, then re-testing that sample after any template change.
If you haven’t added structured data yet, our guide on how to add schema to your website covers the options, from plugins to hand-written JSON-LD.
Critical Issues vs Non-Critical Issues: What to Fix First
Search Console splits problems into two kinds, critical and non-critical, and they matter very differently.
- Critical issues make an item invalid, which stops it from appearing as a rich result. Fix these first.
- Non-critical issues appear under “Improve item appearance” in Search Console. They don’t stop the item from being eligible. They normally point to recommended properties you haven’t included. Recommended properties can give the rich result more detail, so they’re worth adding where the information is genuinely there, but don’t invent details to clear a warning.
Here are the common problems, what they usually mean and where to start with each:
| What You See | What It Usually Means | What To Do |
| The tool can’t read the markup, or Search Console shows an Unparsable structured data report | A syntax error, such as a missing comma, bracket or quotation mark, so Google can’t tell what type of markup you meant | Fix the code and re-test the live URL |
| An invalid item with a missing required property | A required field is empty, often because a CMS or product field was left blank | Fill in the field at source so every page using the template is fixed |
| The same item listed twice on one page | Often a theme and a plugin both adding markup | Keep one source. Two copies can drift apart, for example showing different prices, and conflicting markup is harder to trust. |
| Valid in the Schema Markup Validator but nothing in the Rich Results Test | The type isn’t one Google shows as a rich result | Nothing to fix for Google, provided the markup is valid |
| Valid in the Rich Results Test, but no rich result in search | Eligibility, not a guarantee | Check the markup matches visible content, then give it time |
How to Monitor Structured Data in Search Console
Testing checks a page at one moment. Search Console shows you what Google finds across the whole site, over time, so it’s where you’ll notice problems you didn’t cause on purpose.
You’ll find the rich result reports under Enhancements in Search Console’s menu, with product snippets and merchant listings under Shopping. Each report has a chart of valid and invalid items over time, and tables of issues and affected pages.
A few things are worth knowing before you rely on them:
- A report only appears when Google finds valid markup for a supported type. If you use a type Google doesn’t show as a rich result, there won’t be a report for it. The Unparsable structured data report only appears if Google has found broken markup.
- The reports show a sample. They aren’t a list of every item Google has detected, so use them to spot patterns, not to audit page by page.
- Changes take time to show. The reports reflect what Google finds when it crawls, not the moment you publish a fix.
When you’ve fixed an issue, test a live URL in the URL Inspection tool to confirm the fix, then click Validate fix on the issue in the report. Google checks a few of the affected pages first, and validation typically takes up to about two weeks, sometimes much longer.
For most sites, we recommend a quick look at these reports once a month, and straight away after any change to your site’s templates or plugins. What you’re watching for is a change: a jump in invalid items, or valid items falling away.
“The structured data problems we see most often come from migrations, redesigns and CMS moves. On the front end, the site looks fine, so nobody notices until Search Console flags it. Sometimes it’s an ‘Unparsable structured data’ error, and sometimes the Product markup is still there but stripped back to the basics, with offers, review and aggregateRating gone. That’s why we keep an internal checklist, in Google Sheets and Docs templates, that we share with the client’s technical team and developers whenever a site change is planned. It makes sure nothing gets lost along the way.”
— Dariusz Baczyk, Team Lead & Technical SEO Account ManagerWhen to Re-Test Structured Data
Re-test after anything that could change the markup or the content it describes:
- You add, edit or remove structured data
- Your theme, templates or an SEO plugin are updated
- Your CMS is updated, or you move to a new one
- You launch a new type of page, such as location pages or a new product range
- You migrate the site: test before and after launch
- Prices, opening hours, contact details or other marked-up details change on the page
- A Search Console report shows a jump in invalid items, or rich results you had disappear
Wildcat Digital Example: After a theme and plugin update on a client’s site, something was clashing between the two, and the structured data stopped outputting as it should. The site itself looked fine, but Search Console began reporting “Unparsable structured data” errors. We monitored the change, then updated all the plugins and the template again, which resolved the conflict. To finish, we used “Validate fix” in Search Console so Google would recrawl the affected pages and confirm the schema could be read and indexed properly.
Our Top Tip: If a rich result report disappears from Search Console or its numbers collapse overnight, check Google’s documentation updates before you touch your code. Google retires rich result features from time to time: FAQ rich results stopped appearing in Google Search in May 2026, and Google’s Search Console help no longer lists an FAQ report. If the feature has gone, your markup hasn’t broken, and there’s nothing to fix. If it hasn’t, test a live URL from the affected template to find what changed.
Structured Data Testing FAQs
You don’t have to. Google’s documentation update says FAQ rich results stopped appearing in Google Search from 7 May 2026, and it doesn’t ask site owners to remove existing markup. Leaving it in place just means Google won’t show an FAQ rich result for those pages.
No. Warnings, which Google calls non-critical issues, don’t stop a page from being eligible for a rich result. Add the missing recommended properties where the information is on the page and useful, and leave the rest.
How Wildcat Handles Structured Data Testing
Structured data is one of the areas our technical SEO work covers, alongside crawlability, indexing and site structure. We add structured data for local businesses, products, reviews, recipes and videos, and a technical SEO audit looks at it alongside the rest of your site.
If your structured data is throwing errors, or you’d like it reviewed as part of a technical SEO audit, you can arrange a free consultation with us.
Last Reviewed: 7 October 2026
