How to use the JSON-LD Validator
JSON-LD that parses isn't always JSON-LD that earns rich results. The validator catches three classes of issue: malformed JSON, schema.org spec violations, and Google-specific requirements that go beyond the spec.
Paste your JSON-LD
Drop in the contents of your <script type="application/ld+json"> block, or paste a full URL to fetch and parse the page's schema.
Review parse errors first
Trailing commas, smart quotes copy-pasted from a doc, and unclosed brackets are the most common parse failures. Fix these before anything else — invalid JSON-LD is invisible to Google.
Check required fields
Each schema type has fields Google requires for rich results: Article needs datePublished, Recipe needs image, LocalBusiness needs address. The validator flags missing required fields by type.
Review warnings vs errors
Errors block rich-result eligibility. Warnings (missing recommended fields, unclear publisher logo, ambiguous types) don't block but reduce your chances of being chosen for a rich result.
Why JSON-LD validation matters
Schema markup that doesn't parse is the most expensive bug in technical SEO — it costs nothing to fix, but it silently disqualifies the page from rich results worth potentially 50–100% more clicks.
Three layers of validation
- JSON syntax — does the block parse as valid JSON? Trailing commas and smart quotes are the usual killers.
- schema.org spec — are the @type values real, are the required fields present, do the types nest correctly?
- Google requirements — image dimensions, publisher logo, datePublished format, language tags. Google's rules are stricter than schema.org's.
The five errors that quietly break rich results
- datePublished missing or wrong format — must be ISO 8601 (
2025-04-26T10:00:00Z), notApril 26, 2025. - Image too small — Article requires 1200 × 675; Recipe requires 1200 × 675 minimum, but Google prefers 4:3, 16:9, and 1:1 versions.
- publisher.logo missing or undersized — must be at least 112 × 112 px and have a Person or Organization wrapper.
- Conflicting types — Article + BlogPosting on the same page (BlogPosting extends Article — pick one).
- Inline-only schema — putting JSON-LD inside the
<body>after slow-loading scripts can cause Google's parser to time out.
Validate before deploy, not after
Once invalid schema goes live, Google may take days or weeks to re-evaluate the page. Validating in your dev/staging build is essentially free; validating in production after a release costs traffic. Build the validation into your deploy pipeline if you ship schema-driven pages frequently.
Frequently asked questions
What is JSON-LD?
JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is the structured-data format Google recommends for marking up pages with schema.org types. It's a JSON object that lives inside a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag and describes the page's content (article, product, recipe, etc.) in a way search engines can parse precisely.
Why validate before deploying?
Invalid JSON-LD is silently ignored by Google — the page renders fine, the rich-result eligibility just disappears. There's no error in Search Console for malformed schema; you only notice when impressions for the rich result quietly drop. Validating in dev catches the issue before you ship.
What's the difference between this validator and Google's Rich Results Test?
Google's Rich Results Test only validates types Google supports for rich results (Article, Recipe, Product, FAQ, etc.) and only flags issues Google cares about. A schema.org-spec validator like this one is stricter — it catches all spec violations, including types that don't trigger rich results but still affect understanding (Person, Organization, Place). Run both. Google's tool tells you what's eligible; ours tells you what's correct.
Can I have multiple JSON-LD blocks on one page?
Yes — and it's recommended for pages with multiple schema types. A typical content page has Article + BreadcrumbList + Organization in three separate <script type="application/ld+json"> blocks. Combining them into one giant @graph block also works and is sometimes cleaner.
Does invalid schema hurt SEO?
Not directly — Google ignores invalid schema rather than penalizing it. But invalid schema means you miss out on rich-result CTR lift (typically 30–100% on eligible queries), and that lost CTR can correlate with lower rankings over time as user-engagement signals weaken.