Organization (Organization) structured data

Merchant knowledge panel in Google Search results
Merchant knowledge panel in Google Search results

Adding organization structured data to your home page can help Google better understand your organization's administrative details and disambiguate your organization in search results. Some properties are used behind the scenes to disambiguate your organization from other organizations (like iso6523 and naics), while others can influence visual elements in Search results (such as which logo is shown in Search results and your knowledge panel). If you're a merchant, you can influence more details in your merchant knowledge panel and brand profile, such as return policy, address, and contact information. There are no required properties; instead, we recommend adding as many properties that are relevant to your organization.

How to add structured data

Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content. If you're new to structured data, you can learn more about how structured data works.

Here's an overview of how to build, test, and release structured data.

  1. Add as many recommended properties that apply to your web page. There are no required properties; instead, add the properties that apply to your content. Based on the format you're using, learn where to insert structured data on the page.
  2. Follow the guidelines.
  3. Validate your code using the Rich Results Test and fix any critical errors. Consider also fixing any non-critical issues that may be flagged in the tool, as they can help improve the quality of your structured data (however, this isn't necessary to be eligible for rich results).
  4. Deploy a few pages that include your structured data and use the URL Inspection tool to test how Google sees the page. Be sure that your page is accessible to Google and not blocked by a robots.txt file, the noindex tag, or login requirements. If the page looks okay, you can ask Google to recrawl your URLs.
  5. To keep Google informed of future changes, we recommend that you submit a sitemap. You can automate this with the Search Console Sitemap API.

Examples

Organization

Here's an example of organization information in JSON-LD code.


<html>
  <head>
    <title>About Us</title>
    <script type="application/ld+json">
    {
      "@context": "https://schema.org",
      "@type": "Organization",
      "image": "https://www.example.com/example_image.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.example.com",
      "sameAs": ["https://example.net/profile/example1234", "https://example.org/example1234"],
      "logo": "https://www.example.com/images/logo.png",
      "name": "Example Corporation",
      "description": "The example corporation is well-known for producing high-quality widgets",
      "email": "contact@example.com",
      "telephone": "+47-99-999-9999",
      "address": {
        "@type": "PostalAddress",
        "streetAddress": "Rue Improbable 99",
        "addressLocality": "Paris",
        "addressCountry": "FR",
        "addressRegion": "Ile-de-France",
        "postalCode": "75001"
      },
      "vatID": "FR12345678901",
      "iso6523Code": "0199:724500PMK2A2M1SQQ228"
    }
    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
  </body>
</html>

OnlineStore with return policy (example subtype of Organization)

Here's an example of online store information in JSON-LD code.

<html>
  <head>
    <title>About Us</title>
    <script type="application/ld+json">
    {
      "@context": "https://schema.org",
      "@type": "OnlineStore",
      "name": "Example Online Store",
      "url": "https://www.example.com",
      "sameAs": ["https://example.net/profile/example12", "https://example.org/@example34"],
      "logo": "https://www.example.com/assets/images/logo.png",
      "contactPoint": {
        "contactType": "Customer Service",
        "email": "support@example.com",
        "telephone": "+47-99-999-9900"
      },
      "vatID": "FR12345678901",
      "iso6523Code": "0199:724500PMK2A2M1SQQ228",
      "hasMerchantReturnPolicy": {
        "@type": "MerchantReturnPolicy",
        "applicableCountry": ["FR", "CH"],
        "returnPolicyCountry": "FR",
        "returnPolicyCategory": "https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow",
        "merchantReturnDays": 60,
        "returnMethod": "https://schema.org/ReturnByMail",
        "returnFees": "https://schema.org/FreeReturn",
        "refundType": "https://schema.org/FullRefund"
      }
      ... // Other Organization-level properties
    }
    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
  </body>
</html>

Guidelines

You must follow these guidelines to enable structured data to be eligible for inclusion in Google Search results.

Technical guidelines

We recommend placing this information on your home page, or a single page that describes your organization, for example the about us page. You don't need to include it on every page of your site.

We recommend using the most specific schema.org subtype of Organization that matches your organization. For example, if you have an ecommerce site, then we recommend using the OnlineStore subtype instead of OnlineBusiness. And if your site is about a local business, for example a restaurant or a physical store, then we recommend providing your administrative details using the most specific subtype(s) of LocalBusiness and following the required and recommended fields for Local business in addition to the fields recommended in this guide.

Structured data type definitions

Google recognizes the following properties of an Organization. To help Google better understand your page, include as many recommended properties that apply to your web page. There are no required properties; instead, add the properties that apply to your organization.

Recommended properties
address

PostalAddress

The address (physical or mailing) of your organization, if applicable. Include all properties that apply to your country. The more properties you provide, the higher quality the result is for users. You can provide multiple addresses if you have a location in multiple cities, states, or countries. For example:

"address": [{
  "@type": "PostalAddress",
  "streetAddress": "999 W Example St Suite 99 Unit 9",
  "addressLocality": "New York",
  "addressRegion": "NY",
  "postalCode": "10019",
  "addressCountry": "US"
},{
  "streetAddress": "999 Rue due exemple",
  "addressLocality": "Paris",
  "postalCode": "75001",
  "addressCountry": "FR"
}]
address.addressCountry

Text

The country for your postal address, using the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.
address.addressLocality

Text

The city of your postal address.
address.addressRegion

Text

The region of your postal address, if applicable. For example, a state.
address.postalCode

Text

The postal code for your address.
address.streetAddress

Text

The full street address of your postal address.
alternateName

Text

Another common name that your organization goes by, if applicable.
contactPoint

ContactPoint

The best way for a user to contact your business, if applicable. Include all support methods available to your users following Google recommended best practices. For example:

"contactPoint": {
  "@type": "ContactPoint",
  "telephone": "+9-999-999-9999",
  "email": "contact@example.com"
}
contactPoint.email

Text

The email address to contact your business, if applicable. If you are using a LocalBusiness type, specify a primary email address at the LocalBusiness level before using contactPoint to specify multiple ways to reach your organization.

contactPoint.telephone

Text

The phone number to contact your business, if applicable. Be sure to include the country code and area code in the phone number. If you are using a LocalBusiness type, specify a primary phone number at the LocalBusiness level before using contactPoint to specify multiple ways to reach your organization.

description

Text

A detailed description of your organization, if applicable.
duns

Text

The Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number for identifying your Organization, if applicable. We encourage using the iso6523Code field with prefix 0060: instead.
email

Text

The email address to contact your business, if applicable.
foundingDate

Date

The date your Organization was founded in ISO 8601 date format, if applicable.
globalLocationNumber

Text

The GS1 Global Location Number identifying the location of your Organization, if applicable.
hasMerchantReturnPolicy

MerchantReturnPolicy

The return policy used by your Organization, if applicable. If you add this property, be sure to also include the required and recommended fields for MerchantReturnPolicy.

iso6523Code

Text

The ISO 6523 identifier of your organization, if applicable. The first part of an ISO 6523 identifier is an ICD (International Code Designator) which defines which identification scheme is used. The second part is the actual identifier. We recommend separating the ICD and the identifier with a colon character (U+003A). Common ICD values include:

  • 0060: Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
  • 0088: GS1 Global Location Number (GLN)
  • 0199: Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)
legalName

Text

The registered, legal name of your Organization, if applicable and different from the name property.
leiCode

Text

The identifier for your Organization as defined in ISO 17442, if applicable. We encourage using the iso6523Code field with prefix 0199: instead.
naics

Text

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for your Organization, if applicable.
name

Text

The name of your organization. Use the same name and alternateName that you're using for your site name.

numberOfEmployees

QuantitativeValue

The number of employees in your Organization, if applicable.

Example with a specific number of employees:

"numberOfEmployees": {
  "@type": "QuantitativeValue",
  "value": 2056
}

Example with the number of employees in a range:

"numberOfEmployees": {
  "@type": "QuantitativeValue",
  "minValue": 100,
  "maxValue": 999
}
sameAs

URL

The URL of a page on another website with additional information about your organization, if applicable. For example, a URL to your organization's profile page on a social media or review site. You can provide multiple sameAs URLs.

taxID

Text

The tax ID associated with your Organization, if applicable. Make sure taxID matches the country that you provided in the address field.
telephone

Text

A business phone number meant to be the primary contact method for customers, if applicable. Be sure to include the country code and area code in the phone number.
url

URL

The URL of the website of your organization, if applicable. This helps Google uniquely identify your organization.
vatID

Text

The VAT (Value Added Tax) code associated with your Organization, if applicable to your country and business. This is an important trust signal for users (for example, users can look up your business in public VAT registries).

MerchantReturnPolicy

Use the following properties to describe general return policies for your entire Organization, if applicable to your business. If you have specific policies for individual products, use merchant listing markup instead.

Required properties (choose the option that best suits your use case)
Option A
applicableCountry

Text

The country code that the return policy applies to, using the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code formatting. You can specify up to 50 countries.
returnPolicyCategory

MerchantReturnEnumeration

The type of return policy. Use one of the following values:

  • https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow: There's a set number of days to return a product.
  • https://schema.org/MerchantReturnNotPermitted: Returns aren't permitted.
  • https://schema.org/MerchantReturnUnlimitedWindow: There's an unlimited amount of time to return a product.

If you use MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow, then the merchantReturnDays property is required.

returnPolicyCountry

Text

The country where the product has to be sent to for returns. This country can be different from the country where the product was originally shipped or sent to. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code formatting. You can specify up to 50 countries.
Option B
Recommended properties
customerRemorseReturnFees

ReturnFeesEnumeration

A specific type of return fee if the product is returned due to customer remorse. See returnFees for possible values.
customerRemorseReturnLabelSource

ReturnLabelSourceEnumeration

The method by which the consumer obtains a return shipping label for a product. See returnLabelSource for possible values.

customerRemorseReturnShippingFeesAmount

MonetaryAmount

The cost of shipping for returning a product due to customer remorse. This property is only required if there's a non-zero shipping fee to be paid by the consumer to return a product. See returnShippingFeesAmount for details.

itemCondition

OfferItemCondition

The acceptable conditions of an item which can be returned. You can provide multiple conditions which are accepted. Use the following values:

  • https://schema.org/DamagedCondition: Damaged items are accepted.
  • https://schema.org/NewCondition: New items are accepted.
  • https://schema.org/RefurbishedCondition: Refurbished items are accepted.
  • https://schema.org/UsedCondition: Used items are accepted.
itemDefectReturnFees

ReturnFeesEnumeration

A specific type of return fee for defect products. See returnFees for possible values.
itemDefectReturnLabelSource

ReturnLabelSourceEnumeration

The method by which the consumer can obtain a return shipping label for a product. See returnLabelSource for possible values.

itemDefectReturnShippingFeesAmount

MonetaryAmount

The cost of shipping for returning a product due to defect products. This property is only required if there's a non-zero shipping fee to be paid by the consumer to return a product. See returnShippingFeesAmount for details.

merchantReturnDays

Integer or Date or DateTime

The number of days from the delivery date that a product can be returned. This property is only required if you set the returnPolicyCategory to MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow.
refundType

RefundType

The type of refund(s) available for the consumer when returning a product.

  • https://schema.org/ExchangeRefund: The item can be exchanged for the same product.
  • https://schema.org/FullRefund: The item can be refunded for the full monetary amount.
  • https://schema.org/StoreCreditRefund: The item can can be refunded for store credit.
returnFees

ReturnFeesEnumeration

The default type of return fee. Use one of the following supported values:

  • https://schema.org/FreeReturn: There's no charge to the consumer to return the product. If used, don't include the returnShippingFeesAmount property.
  • https://schema.org/ReturnFeesCustomerResponsibility: The consumer needs to handle and pay for the return shipping themselves. If used, don't include the returnShippingFeesAmount property.
  • https://schema.org/ReturnShippingFees: There's a shipping fee charged by the merchant to the consumer to return the product. Specify the (non-zero) shipping fee using the returnShippingFeesAmount property.
returnLabelSource

ReturnLabelSourceEnumeration

The method by which the consumer can obtain a return shipping label for a product. Use one of the following values:

  • https://schema.org/ReturnLabelCustomerResponsibility: It's the responsibility of the consumer to create a return label.
  • https://schema.org/ReturnLabelDownloadAndPrint: The return label must be downloaded and printed by the customer.
  • https://schema.org/ReturnLabelInBox: The return label was included when the product was originally shipped.
returnMethod

ReturnMethodEnumeration

The type of return method offered. This is only recommended if returnPolicyCategory is different from MerchantReturnNotPermitted. Use one or more of the following values:

  • https://schema.org/ReturnAtKiosk: The item can be returned at a kiosk.
  • https://schema.org/ReturnByMail: The item can be returned by mail.
  • https://schema.org/ReturnInStore: The item can be returned in store.
returnPolicySeasonalOverride

MerchantReturnPolicySeasonalOverride

A seasonal override of a return policy to specify return policies for special events, such as holidays. For example, your usual return policy category is set to MerchantReturnPolicyUnlimitedWindow but the return window should be limited during Black Friday sales: 

"returnPolicySeasonalOverride": {
  "@type": "MerchantReturnPolicySeasonalOverride",
  "startDate": "2024-11-29",
  "endDate": "2024-12-06",
  "merchantReturnDays": 10,
  "returnPolicyCategory": "https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow"
}

Here's how to specify multiple seasonal overrides. In this example, the usual return policy is unlimited, but is limited during the following two date ranges: 

"returnPolicySeasonalOverride": [{
  "@type": "MerchantReturnPolicySeasonalOverride",
  "startDate": "2024-11-29",
  "endDate": "2024-12-06",
  "merchantReturnDays": 10,
  "returnPolicyCategory": "https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow"
},
{
  "@type": "MerchantReturnPolicySeasonalOverride",
  "startDate": "2024-12-26",
  "endDate": "2025-01-06",
  "merchantReturnDays": 10,
  "returnPolicyCategory": "https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow"
}]
returnPolicySeasonalOverride.endDate

Date or DateTime

The end date of the seasonal override.
returnPolicySeasonalOverride.merchantReturnDays

Integer or Date or DateTime

The number of days from the delivery date that a product can be returned. This property is only required if you set the returnPolicyCategory to MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow.

returnPolicySeasonalOverride.returnPolicyCategory

MerchantReturnEnumeration

The type of return policy. Use one of the following values:

  • https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow: There's a set number of days to return a product.
  • https://schema.org/MerchantReturnNotPermitted: Returns aren't permitted.
  • https://schema.org/MerchantReturnUnlimitedWindow: There's an unlimited amount of time to return a product.

If you use MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow, then the merchantReturnDays property is required.

returnPolicySeasonalOverride.startDate

Date or DateTime

The start date of the seasonal override.
returnShippingFeesAmount

MonetaryAmount

The cost of shipping for returning a product. This property is only required if there's a non-zero shipping fee to be paid by the consumer to the merchant to return a product, in which case returnFees must be set to https://schema.org/ReturnShippingFees). If the return is free, returnFees must be set to https://schema.org/FreeReturn. If the consumer needs to handle and pay for the return shipping cost, returnFees must be set to https://schema.org/ReturnFeesCustomerResponsibility.

Alternative approach to configuring return settings with Google

Retailer return policies can get complicated and may change frequently. If you're having trouble indicating and keeping your return details up-to-date with markup and have a Google Merchant Center account, consider configuring your return policies in Google Merchant Center Help. You can alternatively configure account-level return policies in Search Console, which get automatically added to Merchant Center.

Combining multiple shipping and return configurations

If you're combining various shipping and return configurations, keep in mind how you can override your policy information based on the order of precedence. For example, if you provide both organization-level markup on your site and return policy settings in Search Console, Google will only use the information provided in Search Console. If you submit a product feed in Merchant Center and configure shipping settings in Search Console, your Merchent Center feed information overrides your Search Console settings.

Here's what takes precedence for shipping and return policy information (ordered by strength, with feeds being the strongest):

Troubleshooting

If you're having trouble implementing or debugging structured data, here are some resources that may help you.

  • If you're using a content management system (CMS) or someone else is taking care of your site, ask them to help you. Make sure to forward any Search Console message that details the issue to them.
  • Google does not guarantee that features that consume structured data will show up in search results. For a list of common reasons why Google may not show your content in a rich result, see the General Structured Data Guidelines.
  • You might have an error in your structured data. Check the list of structured data errors and the Unparsable structured data report.
  • If you received a structured data manual action against your page, the structured data on the page will be ignored (although the page can still appear in Google Search results). To fix structured data issues, use the Manual Actions report.
  • Review the guidelines again to identify if your content isn't compliant with the guidelines. The problem can be caused by either spammy content or spammy markup usage. However, the issue may not be a syntax issue, and so the Rich Results Test won't be able to identify these issues.
  • Troubleshoot missing rich results / drop in total rich results.
  • Allow time for re-crawling and re-indexing. Remember that it may take several days after publishing a page for Google to find and crawl it. For general questions about crawling and indexing, check the Google Search crawling and indexing FAQ.
  • Post a question in the Google Search Central forum.