Published by the Zolyp team ·
What does LocalBusiness structured data do?
Google says that when people search for a business on Search or Maps, results may show a knowledge panel with its details, and searches for a type of business may show a carousel of businesses. LocalBusiness markup tells Google about your hours, departments and other details. Google states that structured data doesn't guarantee these features appear.
Your Business Profile is a separate thing that you manage in Business Profile itself. Our suggestion: keep the name, address and phone in your markup identical to your profile.
Source: Google Search Central: Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, checked 15 October 2026
Which properties should you include?
Google requires two properties and recommends the rest where they apply.
- Use the most specific type for your business, such as Restaurant or DaySpa, rather than plain LocalBusiness.
- Google recommends review and aggregateRating only for sites that collect reviews about other local businesses.
- LocalBusiness is a type of Organization, so Google also recommends the Organization properties.
| Property | Required? | Notes from Google |
|---|---|---|
| name | Required | Your business name |
| address | Required | Your physical address, with as many fields as possible |
| telephone | Recommended | Main number, including country and area codes |
| url | Recommended | The full, working URL of that specific location's page |
| openingHoursSpecification | Recommended | Your opening hours (formats below) |
| geo | Recommended | Latitude and longitude, at least 5 decimal places |
| priceRange | Recommended | Under 100 characters, such as a range or a number of currency signs |
| menu, servesCuisine | Recommended | For restaurants and other food businesses |
| department | Recommended | For distinct departments, such as a pharmacy inside a shop |
Source: Google Search Central: Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, checked 15 October 2026
How do you format opening hours?
Each entry in openingHoursSpecification has days, an opening time and a closing time in hh:mm:ss format.
- Group days that share hours, such as Monday to Friday, in one entry.
- Open past midnight: use a closing time earlier than the opening time, such as 18:00 to 03:00.
- Open 24 hours: opens 00:00 and closes 23:59.
- Closed all day: opens 00:00 and closes 00:00.
- Seasonal hours: add validFrom and validThrough dates (YYYY-MM-DD). Without them, hours apply all year.
Source: Google Search Central: Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, checked 15 October 2026
How do you add and test it?
Our tip: check whether your website platform already adds this markup before writing it by hand.
- Add the required properties, plus any recommended ones that apply, to the page for that location.
- Test the page in Google's Rich Results Test and fix any critical errors.
- Publish a few pages and inspect them with Search Console's URL Inspection tool to see how Google reads them.
- Check the pages aren't blocked by robots.txt, a noindex tag or a login.
- Ask Google to recrawl the pages. Google says this can take several days.
- Submit a sitemap so Google picks up future changes.
Source: Google Search Central: Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, checked 15 October 2026
What can go wrong?
Check these:
- Nothing new appears in results. Google doesn't guarantee structured data will be shown, even when it's valid.
- The Rich Results Test shows errors. Fix critical ones first; non-critical issues are worth fixing too.
- You received a manual action. Markup that breaks Google's structured data guidelines can trigger one; fix it and request reconsideration.
- The page is blocked. Google says to check it isn't blocked by robots.txt, a noindex tag or a login.
Source: Google Search Central: Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, checked 15 October 2026
Keeping your profile and site in step
Disclosure: this is our product. Markup describes your business on your website; your Business Profile describes it on Maps. Zolyp writes and designs Google Business updates and events in your brand's style and publishes them to your connected profile once you approve. It doesn't add structured data to websites. There's a 3-day free trial, no card required.
Common questions
Which properties are required for LocalBusiness schema?
Only name and address. Google recommends others such as telephone, url, openingHoursSpecification and geo.
Does LocalBusiness schema improve my Google Maps ranking?
Google's structured data page doesn't say it affects ranking, and it doesn't guarantee any feature will show. Google's local ranking help says local results mainly depend on relevance, distance and prominence.
Should I add my Google reviews as aggregateRating schema?
Google recommends review and aggregateRating only for sites that collect reviews about other local businesses.
What format should LocalBusiness schema use?
Google's examples use JSON-LD.
How do I test my LocalBusiness markup?
Use the Rich Results Test, then inspect the live page with Search Console's URL Inspection tool.