JSON-LD Schema Guide for Australian & NZ Small Business (2026)
A practical guide to JSON-LD structured data for AU and NZ businesses — what it is, why AI search needs it, and how to deploy it correctly.
What is JSON-LD Schema?
JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is a structured data format that tells search engines and AI exactly what your business is, where it operates, and what it does — in a language machines can read precisely.
It lives in a <script type="application/ld+json">tag in your website's <head> and is invisible to visitors but highly visible to Google, ChatGPT, and other AI engines that crawl your site.
Why AU & NZ Businesses Need Schema
Most Australian and New Zealand business websites have either no schema markup or incomplete markup that fails validation. This means AI search engines cannot reliably identify them and fall back to third-party directories — which are often wrong.
A correctly structured JSON-LD schema with a verified ABN or NZBN embedded as the taxID field tells AI engines unambiguously who your business is.
The Minimum Viable Schema for AU Businesses
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": ["Organization", "LocalBusiness"],
"@id": "https://yourdomain.com.au/#organization",
"name": "Your Trading Name",
"legalName": "YOUR LEGAL NAME PTY LTD",
"taxID": "XX XXX XXX XXX",
"url": "https://yourdomain.com.au",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "Your Street",
"addressLocality": "Your Suburb",
"addressRegion": "VIC",
"postalCode": "3000",
"addressCountry": "AU"
},
"inLanguage": "en-AU"
}The 5 Most Common Schema Mistakes
- No @id property — without a unique identifier, AI cannot distinguish your entity from others with similar names
- Missing taxID — embedding your ABN or NZBN as
taxIDis the strongest identity signal you can give AI search - Wrong @type — using generic Organization when you should use Restaurant, Dentist, LegalService, etc.
- No address in schema — even if your address is on the page, it needs to be in the schema for AI to read it
- Schema errors — invalid schema is worse than no schema. Always validate at schema.org/validator
Gold Standard Schema: What Osapher Deploys
Osapher deploys a complete JSON-LD graph that passes both Google Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator with zero errors and zero warnings. Key nodes include:
- Organization — legal name, ABN/NZBN as taxID, registered address
- WebSite — site search action, site URL
- WebPage — page-level entity linking
- LocalBusiness — operating hours, geo coordinates, service area
- BreadcrumbList — site navigation structure
- ContactPoint — phone, email, contact type
- OfferCatalog — services and products offered
- Certification — the Osapher identity certification node
All nodes are linked via @id references — creating a machine-readable knowledge graph about your business, not just isolated schema fragments.
How to Deploy Schema on WordPress
The Osapher WordPress plugin deploys your verified JSON-LD schema automatically on installation. Connect your Entity Vault, and the plugin injects the complete schema graph into every page of your site — no code changes required.
For non-WordPress sites, Osapher provides a single-line script tag that loads your schema from our CDN. Copy it into your site's <head> once — updates are pushed automatically.
Validate your schema: After deploying, check your schema at validator.schema.org and Google Rich Results Test. Both should show zero errors.
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