GeoCoordinates structured data

Definition: Schema.org defines GeoCoordinates as "The geographic coordinates of a place or event." Its latitude and longitude properties describe a location using the WGS 84 coordinate system.

Key facts

• Schema.org's GeoCoordinates definition accepts either Number or Text values for latitude and longitude.
• Schema.org's geo property attaches geographic coordinates to a Place; its expected values include GeoCoordinates and GeoShape.
• As of 17 October 2026, Google's Local business structured data documentation lists geo among recommended properties and requires at least five decimal places for each coordinate supplied.

What do latitude and longitude represent?

Latitude measures a point's distance north or south of the Equator in degrees. Longitude measures its distance east or west of the Prime Meridian in degrees. The W3C's Geolocation specification defines these meanings and expresses the coordinates in the WGS 84 system, a geographic reference system.

Schema.org's coordinate definitions use the same system and provide 37.42242 as a latitude example and -122.08585 as a longitude example. The property names identify which value describes each coordinate. In structured data, each value therefore belongs under its corresponding named property.

How are coordinates represented on a page?

JSON-LD is a structured data format that uses JSON objects. Schema.org's geo documentation supplies this JSON-LD example inside an HTML script element:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Place",
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": "40.75",
    "longitude": "-73.98"
  },
  "name": "Empire State Building"
}
</script>

The outer object identifies a Place by name. Its geo property contains a separate object whose type is GeoCoordinates. Latitude and longitude appear as quoted text values. The same documentation also provides Microdata and RDFa examples, which attach the vocabulary's properties to HTML elements.

These are the values in Schema.org's published example. A business implementation follows the coordinate requirements of the service consuming its markup.

What does Google require for a local business?

Google's local business guide specifies Number for both geo.latitude and geo.longitude, with at least five decimal places each. Its restaurant example uses 40.761293 and -73.982294 as unquoted JSON numbers. The two-decimal text values in the Schema.org example above illustrate a different representation.

The guide lists address and name as required local business properties. Coordinates appear in the recommended properties table. Google instructs implementers to validate markup with the Rich Results Test and fix critical errors, then use URL Inspection to examine how Google sees a deployed page.

Related terms

• LocalBusiness structured data
• PostalAddress structured data
• Structured data
• JSON-LD

FAQ

Can I use text values for coordinates?

Schema.org's GeoCoordinates type accepts Number or Text for latitude and longitude. For Google's local business implementation, use numeric values with at least five decimal places, as specified above.

Should I include a postal address as well?

For Google's local business markup, include the required address and name properties. Google's property table lists coordinates separately under recommended properties.

Can I include elevation?

Yes. The same Schema.org documentation provides an elevation property that accepts a number or text with a measurement unit. A number supplied without a unit is interpreted in meters.

Sources

1. Schema.org, "GeoCoordinates", undated, accessed 17 October 2026
2. Schema.org, "geo", undated, accessed 17 October 2026
3. W3C, "Geolocation", 26 March 2026
4. Google Search Central, "Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data", 8 September 2026

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