Which fields are required for a carousels beta list item?

Definition: A carousels beta list item is a ListItem inside an ItemList. Its nested item describes one LocalBusiness, Product, or Event, while position gives that item its place in the carousel.

Key facts

• Google's carousels beta documentation, updated 11 September 2026, requires an ItemList with at least three itemListElement.item elements.
• Each list item needs an integer position; Google defines it as a 1-based number.
• The nested item needs the shared image, name, and url properties, along with any fields required by its content type.
• The image value can be a URL or an ImageObject, and Google requires one or more images that represent the marked-up item.
• Schema.org's ListItem type defines item, position, image, name, and url as properties with their own expected values.

What belongs in itemListElement.item?

Google defines itemListElement as a list of ListItem values. The nested item is the individual entity in that list. Google permits the LocalBusiness type and its subtypes, Product, or Event. The nested object carries the shared image, url, and name properties, plus any additional fields required for the selected type.

The following shortened shape follows Google's restaurant example. It shows the required shared fields for one item. The complete ItemList needs at least three such elements.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "ItemList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "item": {
        "@type": "Restaurant",
        "name": "Trattoria Luigi",
        "image": [
          "https://example.com/photos/1x1/photo.jpg",
          "https://example.com/photos/4x3/photo.jpg",
          "https://example.com/photos/16x9/photo.jpg"
        ],
        "url": "https://www.example.com/trattoria-luigi"
      }
    }
  ]
}
</script>

Schema.org describes item as the entity represented by an entry in a list or data feed. It also says that ListItem supplies extra context for ordered lists, because the order of elements in markup alone does not express a position.

What are the image, name, and URL requirements?

The image property accepts a URL or an ImageObject. Google requires one or more images of the entity or item and says to exclude logos from this property. Image URLs must be crawlable and indexable, the images must represent the marked-up content, and the file format must be supported by Google Images. The page recommends multiple high-resolution images with 16x9, 4x3, and 1x1 aspect ratios, with a minimum of 50K pixels when width and height are multiplied.

The name property is text for the entity or item. Google displays item.name as the title of the individual carousel item and ignores HTML formatting in that value.

The url property is the canonical URL of the item's detail page. URLs in the list must be unique and must use the same domain, subdomain, or superdomain as the summary page. Anchor links within the summary or category page are unsupported, so each item needs a standalone detail page.

Schema.org gives image the expected type ImageObject or URL, name the expected type Text, and url the expected type URL. Google's carousel specification supplies the feature-specific constraints on those general properties.

How should the markup be checked?

The shared fields do not replace type-specific requirements. Google's documentation directs the implementation to add the required and recommended properties for the selected content type, such as a LocalBusiness subtype, Product, or Event. The exact additional fields therefore depend on the nested item type.

Google says to validate the code with the Rich Results Test, then use URL Inspection on deployed pages. The page containing the markup must be accessible to Google and free of blocks from robots.txt, a noindex tag, or login requirements. Image URLs need the same practical access check because Google requires them to be crawlable and indexable.

Schema.org's general ListItem definition allows position to be an integer or text. The carousel beta requirement is narrower: position is an integer and starts at 1. That distinction matters when a generic Schema.org list is adapted to this Google feature.

Related terms

• Which listing pages qualify for Google's structured data carousels beta?
• Which items should a paginated or infinite-scroll list mark up for carousels beta?
• Structured data
• JSON-LD

FAQ

Does position have to be an integer?

Yes. Google defines the carousel field as an integer and says it is 1-based. Schema.org's broader definition also accepts text, but Google's carousel requirement specifies an integer.

Can the url be an anchor on the summary page?

No. Google requires the canonical URL of the item's standalone detail page and says anchor links within the summary or category page are unsupported.

Is one image URL enough?

Google accepts one or more images, represented by a URL or an ImageObject. Its documentation recommends multiple high-resolution images in three aspect ratios for best results.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Carousels (Beta) Structured Data", updated 11 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "ListItem", August 2026

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