In short. Product structured data describes an item and its offers using Schema.org properties that Google supports for product snippets and merchant listings.

Definition: Product structured data is machine-readable markup that describes a product using Schema.org's Product type, with properties for its identity, characteristics and offers. Google uses this information to assess eligibility for product search appearances.

Key facts

As of 17 October 2026, Google's Product documentation distinguishes product snippets from merchant listings, with some overlap in eligibility.
A product snippet is a text search result with additional product information. Google's snippet requirements require name and at least one of review, aggregateRating or offers.
Google's merchant listing requirements require product name, image and offers, with an Offer containing an active price and currency.
Google's variant documentation uses ProductGroup to connect variations of a parent product, such as different sizes or colors.

Which fields identify the product?

Schema.org's Product vocabulary defines sku as a Stock Keeping Unit, a merchant-specific identifier. A Global Trade Item Number, or GTIN, identifies a trade item through a numeric identification code. The mpn property holds the Manufacturer Part Number, while brand identifies the associated brand.

Google's merchant listing documentation asks for all applicable global identifiers and recommends the most specific GTIN property that applies, such as gtin13. Google accepts GTIN values in numeric form and excludes the URL form permitted by Schema.org. Its definition of mpn identifies the product within a manufacturer's catalog.

For variants, Google's ProductGroup guide assigns a group identifier through productGroupID. The variesBy property names the characteristics that vary, and hasVariant connects the individual products. Shared brand information can sit at group level.

What does the markup look like?

JSON-LD expresses structured data as JSON inside an HTML script element. This shortened version of Google's illustrative “Nice trinket” example in the merchant listing guide retains identity fields and an offer. Its sample values need replacement with the actual product data before use.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Product",
  "sku": "trinket-12345",
  "gtin14": "00012345600012",
  "image": "https://example.com/photos/1x1/trinket.jpg",
  "name": "Nice trinket",
  "description": "Trinket with clean lines",
  "brand": {
    "@type": "Brand",
    "name": "MyBrand"
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "url": "https://www.example.com/trinket_offer",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
    "price": 39.99,
    "priceCurrency": "USD"
  }
}
</script>

Here, Product describes the item and the nested Offer carries its selling terms. The same guide recommends placing Product markup in the initial HTML; dynamically generated markup can make Shopping crawls less frequent and less reliable when price or availability changes quickly.

Which Google uses and checks apply?

Google's Product overview lists product snippets, popular product results, shopping knowledge panels and annotated product images. A shopping knowledge panel can combine product details with a list of sellers using product identifiers. Each search experience controls which enhancements appear.

The same overview describes web markup and Google Merchant Center feeds as complementary inputs. Some experiences combine them; product snippets can, for example, use a feed's price when the page markup omits it.

For implementation checks, Google's merchant listing guide recommends the Rich Results Test to identify critical markup errors and URL Inspection to check Google's access to the deployed page. After indexing, Search Console's Merchant listings report covers purchase pages, while its Product snippets report covers other product pages, including reviews and aggregator sites.

FAQ

Can I use Product markup on a category page?

Google's technical guidelines restrict product rich results to pages focused on a single product or variants of that product. Google recommends adding the markup to product pages rather than category listings.

Do I need to sell the product to use this markup?

Google's Product overview directs editorial product review pages toward product snippets. Merchant listings apply to pages where customers can purchase products from the merchant.

Do I need a customer rating for a product snippet?

Under Google's snippet requirements, you can supply offers alongside name without a rating. The Rich Results Test may flag a warning when both review and aggregateRating are absent.

Sources

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