SEO & Technical
Google officially retired the term "rich snippets" in December 2017, consolidating all terminology under "rich results"—defined as "experiences on Google surfaces, such as Search, that go beyond the standard blue link" and "can include carousels, images, or other non-textual elements." Despite this change, "rich snippets" remains widely used interchangeably in the industry.
The short answer: Structured data remains one of the most reliable ways to earn enhanced visibility in Google Search, with CTR improvements of 20–82% documented across multiple studies. However, Google has significantly reshaped the landscape between 2023–2025, deprecating popular schema types like HowTo and FAQPage whilst adding new features for product variants, loyalty programmes, and AI-powered search. The shift toward "rich results" now serves dual purposes: earning enhanced SERP visibility and powering AI search engines like Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
In this guide:
The journey from 2009's original review and recipe snippets to today's sophisticated results reflects Google's progressive investment in structured data. Key evolutionary milestones include the 2016 Rich Cards launch, the 2017 Rich Results Test tool introduction, the 2020 sunset of data-vocabulary.org markup in favour of schema.org exclusively, and the significant 2023–2025 simplification that removed several schema types entirely.
"Google uses structured data to understand the content on the page and show that content in a richer appearance in search results, which is called a rich result."
— Google Search Central Documentation
For businesses investing in SEO services, understanding this evolution is crucial. The terminology change signalled Google's broader ambition: structured data isn't just about enhancing search listings anymore—it's becoming the foundation for how machines understand your content across multiple platforms.
Here's what actually works as of January 2026:
| Category | Rich Result Types |
|---|---|
| Core content | Article, Recipe, Video, Event, Job Posting |
| E-commerce | Product, Merchant Listing, Product Variants (new Feb 2024), Loyalty Programme (new June 2025), Review Snippet |
| Local/Organisation | LocalBusiness, Organization (expanded Nov 2023), Profile Page (new Nov 2023) |
| Navigation | Breadcrumb (desktop only), Carousel |
| Educational | Course List, Math Solver, Education Q&A |
| Other | Discussion Forum (new Nov 2023), Vacation Rental (new Dec 2023), Dataset, Fact Check, Software App |
Google hasn't just been removing features—they've added several new schema types that reflect evolving business models:
⚠️ Critically deprecated or restricted types
Google's stated rationale: "We're phasing out these specific structured data types because our analysis shows that they're not commonly used in Search." Translation: if you're still using HowTo schema hoping for rich results, you're wasting your time.
Multiple studies confirm substantial click-through rate improvements from rich results implementation. Here's what the evidence says:
20–82%
CTR improvement documented across Google's official case studies
The landmark Milestone Research study analysing 4.5 million queries found rich results achieved 58% CTR compared to 41% for non-rich results. FAQ rich results performed exceptionally well at 87–91% CTR, though this data predates the 2023 restrictions.
seoClarity's controlled A/B testing demonstrated approximately 25% traffic improvement when FAQ schema was applied, with combined content optimisation plus schema yielding 350% traffic increases. Industry consensus places general CTR improvements in the 20–35% range for properly implemented structured data.
Important caveats to consider
Featured snippets can "steal clicks" from the #1 organic result (reducing its CTR from 26% to 19.6%), and the rise of zero-click searches—now at 60–65%—partially offsets rich result gains. AI Overviews appear in approximately 7.5% of searches. This is precisely why Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) has become essential alongside traditional SEO.
Keeping track of Google's structured data changes has become a job in itself. Here's your executive summary:
Schema.org version updates progressed from v24.0 (January 2024) through v29.4 (December 2025), adding significant vocabulary including Financial Incentives (v29.0), Member Programs (v28.0), Certification type (v25.0), and IPTCDigitalSourceEnumeration for AI-generated content (v24.0).
This pace of change is exactly why working with an agency that stays current with SEO best practices matters. By the time you've implemented last year's recommendations, Google may have deprecated them.
Google officially recommends JSON-LD as the preferred format: "In general, Google recommends using JSON-LD for structured data if your site's setup allows it, as it's the easiest solution for website owners to implement and maintain at scale."
All three formats (JSON-LD, Microdata, RDFa) remain equally valid for Google processing, but JSON-LD's separation from HTML markup makes it less error-prone and easier to maintain dynamically.
Google's nesting guidance states: "If you put recipe and review at the same level, it's not as clear as telling us that the page is a recipe with a nested review." The same principle applies to products with offers, articles with authors, and events with locations.
If you're running HubSpot, our HubSpot onboarding service includes schema implementation as standard—because structured data done wrong can be worse than no structured data at all.
Here's where things get genuinely interesting for forward-thinking marketers.
Structured data increasingly influences visibility across AI-powered search platforms. A September 2025 Search Engine Land experiment found that only pages with well-implemented schema appeared in AI Overviews—pages with poor or missing schema ranked but never achieved AI Overview inclusion.
Microsoft's Fabrice Canel confirmed at SMX Munich 2025: "Schema Markup helps Microsoft's LLMs understand content." OpenAI has similarly acknowledged structured data's role in ChatGPT Search shopping results.
22%
Median citation lift in AI search results from schema markup
Source: Relixir study
"Context, not content, now drives AI visibility, making structured data the strategic data layer every enterprise must prioritise."
— Martha van Berkel, CEO, Schema App
This is precisely why we developed our Answer Engine Optimisation service—combining classic technical SEO foundations with "citation-ready" content architecture designed to be quoted by AI systems.
UK businesses should prioritise several region-specific implementation details:
{
"@type": "Offer",
"price": "99.99",
"priceCurrency": "GBP",
"eligibleRegion": {
"@type": "Country",
"name": "GB"
}
}Prices displayed in structured data must match visible on-page prices, comply with ASA advertising standards for review claims, and ensure GDPR/UK GDPR compliance regarding personal information exposure.
With Google holding approximately 93% UK search market share, prioritising Google's supported schema types remains essential. Growing voice search adoption makes Speakable schema increasingly relevant for UK publishers.
The 2024–2025 period marks a definitive shift in Google's structured data strategy—streamlining rich result types whilst expanding support for e-commerce, AI-readiness, and membership features.
Product, Recipe, Article, Video, Event, LocalBusiness, and Organization schema types remain the most stable and impactful investments.
✅ Your immediate to-do list
The deprecation of HowTo and restriction of FAQPage represent significant losses, but the emergence of structured data as a factor in AI search visibility creates new strategic importance. Sites implementing quality schema markup can expect 20–82% CTR improvements whilst simultaneously improving visibility in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity.
For UK businesses specifically, proper LocalBusiness implementation with correct currency, address formatting, and VAT-inclusive pricing remains foundational for local search success.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CTR improvement range | 20–82% | Google case studies |
| Rich results vs non-rich CTR | 58% vs 41% | Milestone Research |
| Nestlé CTR improvement | 82% | Google Search Central |
| AI citation lift from schema | 22% median | Relixir study |
| Zero-click searches | 60–65% | SparkToro 2024 |
| AI Overviews prevalence | 7.47% of searches | SE Ranking 2024 |
All statistics and claims in this article are verified against the following sources:
Our SEO team can audit your current schema implementation, fix technical issues, and ensure you're capturing both traditional search and AI visibility opportunities.
Book a Free Website AuditAbout Whitehat SEO
Whitehat is a London-based HubSpot Diamond Solutions Partner and full-service inbound marketing agency. We run the world's largest HubSpot User Group and specialise in SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation, and helping B2B companies build predictable pipeline through ethical, sustainable marketing.
Related reading: Honest SEO That Actually Works in 2025 · What Does a Digital Marketing Agency Do? · About Us