In short. LocalBusiness structured data identifies a physical business or branch through its name, address and related Schema.org properties.

Definition: LocalBusiness structured data describes a particular physical business or branch using Schema.org properties. It connects the business name with its location and can include contact details and relationships to a parent organization.

Key facts

As of 17 October 2026, Google's Local business structured data documentation lists name and address as required properties for its LocalBusiness search feature.
Schema.org's LocalBusiness definition places the type under both Organization and Place, so it inherits properties from both.
Google's structured data guidelines require the markup to represent the page content and describe information visible to readers.
Google's introduction to structured data recommends JSON-LD, a JavaScript notation embedded in a script element in an HTML page's head or body.

Which properties identify the business?

Google's LocalBusiness guidance calls for the most specific applicable subtype, such as Restaurant or DaySpa. The url property identifies the specific location's working web address. The recommended telephone property supplies the primary customer contact number, including country and area codes.

The Schema.org definition supplies additional identity properties. legalName holds the official organization name, such as its registered company name. parentOrganization connects a branch to the larger organization it belongs to. sameAs links to a reference page that unambiguously identifies the entity; the vocabulary gives Wikipedia pages, Wikidata entries and official websites as examples.

These properties describe different relationships: a branch's parent organization and an external page identifying that branch each have a dedicated property.

How is the location represented?

A PostalAddress is a structured mailing address. Schema.org's PostalAddress definition separates streetAddress, addressLocality, addressRegion, postalCode and addressCountry. The locality sits within the region, which sits within the country. The country property accepts text or a Country object.

The following JSON-LD is an address-focused excerpt adapted from Google's example local business listing. The business name and address are Google's example data and require replacement for another business.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Restaurant",
  "name": "Dave's Steak House",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "148 W 51st St",
    "addressLocality": "New York",
    "addressRegion": "NY",
    "postalCode": "10019",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  }
}
</script>

Google also recommends geo, a GeoCoordinates object containing the business latitude and longitude. Its documentation requires at least five decimal places for each coordinate.

How is the markup checked?

Google's implementation steps specify the Rich Results Test for validation and correction of critical errors. After deployment, the URL Inspection tool checks how Google sees the page. Access checks cover robots.txt restrictions, a noindex directive and login requirements.

Google's quality guidelines require current information and a true representation of the page content. For a business page, that means checking the marked-up name and location against the details readers see. Automated validation catches technical errors, while the same guidelines explain that quality compliance also requires review.

FAQ

How should you describe multiple branches?

Google's LocalBusiness documentation directs you to define each local business location as a LocalBusiness type. Each location's url points to that specific location.

What does a passing validation test tell you?

You can use the Rich Results Test to check technical compliance. Google's general guidelines explain that quality rules are harder to test automatically, and search appearance also depends on factors such as the user's location and device.

Sources

Check how a page reads to answer engines. Open the GEO score analyzer