How do I describe product certifications in merchant listing markup?

Definition: Product certification markup describes an authoritative statement about a product through Product.hasCertification. Each Certification object identifies the issuing organization and certification name, with a certification identifier or rating where applicable.

Key facts

• As of October 2026, Google's merchant listing documentation supports up to 10 certifications per product.
• Schema.org's Certification definition describes certificationIdentification as an identifier registered with a certification body and certificationRating as the certification's rating.
• Google's structured data policies require the marked-up information to be visible to readers of the page.

Which certification names and issuers are supported?

Google's certification properties require issuedBy, an Organization whose name identifies the issuer, and the certification's own name. The documented issuers are EC or European_Commission for EU energy labels, ADEME for French vehicle CO2 classes, and BMWK for German vehicle CO2 classes.

Merchant Center's unsupported certification name guidance specifies these combinations:

The same guidance gives an invalid pairing: European_Commission with ENERGY STAR. Google leaves that certification data unused.

Where does the certification go in the markup?

Merchant Center's certification attribute documentation includes an LED energy-label example in JSON-LD, a structured data format. The following excerpt retains its certification object inside the Product object:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Product",
  "hasCertification": {
    "@type": "Certification",
    "issuedBy": {
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "European_Commission"
    },
    "name": "EPREL",
    "certificationIdentification": "123456"
  }
}

This is a certification excerpt; Google's complete example also contains product identity, an image and an offer. The identifier 123456 is Google's example value. For an actual product, the field contains that product's certification code.

When is a code required, and when is a rating used?

Google's Certification property table requires certificationIdentification for European Energy Labels. Merchants serving Norway, Switzerland or the UK without EPREL codes can use certificationRating instead.

A certificationRating has type Rating and requires ratingValue. EU energy efficiency ratings also require bestRating and worstRating. Google ignores the rating when certificationIdentification is present. Google's German vehicle example uses D for its CO2 class.

How is the markup checked?

Google's general structured data guidelines recommend the Rich Results Test and URL Inspection tool for technical checks. The same guidelines require current information and prohibit marking up content hidden from readers. Certification details in the markup therefore need corresponding visible product information.

The guidelines also require pages to remain accessible to Googlebot: robots.txt, noindex and other access controls can prevent eligibility. Automated tools cannot easily test the quality guidelines, including whether structured data represents the page's main content.

Related terms

• Product structured data
• Structured data
• Google Merchant Center
• How do I test a URL or code snippet with Google's Rich Results Test?

FAQ

Can I use the older energy consumption properties?

Google's merchant listing documentation continues to support hasEnergyConsumptionDetails and recommends hasCertification with its required properties where possible.

Does Schema.org describe certifications beyond these schemes?

Yes. Schema.org's Certification definition includes organic food and professional certifications among its examples. Google's supported merchant listing values are specified in its certification property table.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Merchant listing (Product, Offer) structured data", updated 8 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "Certification", accessed 18 October 2026
3. Google Merchant Center Help, "Certification [certification]", accessed 18 October 2026
4. Google Merchant Center Help, "How to fix: Unsupported certification name", accessed 18 October 2026
5. Google Search Central, "General structured data guidelines", updated 10 July 2026

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