Rich Result Eligibility Checker

<!-- Updated: 2026-06-10 -->

Deeper than the generic schema skill: this skill answers "which rich results CAN this page earn, and what exactly is missing?" — per-type, against Google's own required/recommended property lists. For markup generation, use /seo-schema.

Inputs

• URL (preferred) — the page to check, or
• Page type — an archetype ("blog post", "product page", "event page") when no live URL exists yet, or
• Local HTML file — read with Read tool instead of WebFetch

Optional: existing JSON-LD pasted by the user for offline validation.

Execution

1. Fetch the page. WebFetch the URL (or Read the local file). If WebFetch is blocked, fall back to curl -sL <url>.
2. Detect existing structured data. Extract every <script type="application/ld+json"> block; also note Microdata (itemscope/itemprop) and RDFa (typeof/property). JSON-LD is Google's stated preference.
3. Classify the page archetype from content signals (title, H1, byline, price, dates, ingredients, salary, address, thread replies).
4. Check eligibility with the decision table below — map archetype → active rich result types. Reject any type on the deprecation list.
5. Diff required properties. For each eligible type, compare existing markup against the required and recommended property lists below.
6. Output the gap report (format under Output), with a Rich Results Test link for live verification.

Eligibility Decision Table

Page archetype	Eligible rich result types	Source of truth
Blog post / news / sports article	Article (Article, NewsArticle, BlogPosting) + BreadcrumbList	structured-data/article
Product page (ecommerce)	Product snippet, Merchant listing, Review snippet, BreadcrumbList	structured-data/product-snippet
Event / concert / webinar page	Event	structured-data/event
Recipe page	Recipe (+ ItemList for carousels, HowToStep for instructions)	structured-data/recipe
Job listing	JobPosting	structured-data/job-posting
Business location page	LocalBusiness	structured-data/local-business
Author / user / company profile	ProfilePage	structured-data/profile-page
Forum thread / UGC discussion	DiscussionForumPosting (or SocialMediaPosting) + Comment	structured-data/discussion-forum
Q&A page (one question, many answers)	QAPage (use instead of DiscussionForumPosting)	structured-data/discussion-forum
Page with reviews of OTHER things	Review snippet / AggregateRating	structured-data/review-snippet
Video page	VideoObject	structured-data/video
Any page with hierarchy	BreadcrumbList	structured-data/breadcrumb
Homepage / brand page	Organization (knowledge panel, not a rich result card)	structured-data/organization

Hard Rules — Deprecated & Restricted Types

Never report these as eligible (consistent with /seo-schema):

• HowTo — rich results removed September 2023 (HowToStep nested inside Recipe recipeInstructions is still fine).
• FAQPage — restricted August 2023: ONLY government and healthcare authority sites remain eligible. Everyone else: not eligible.
• SpecialAnnouncement — deprecated July 31, 2025.
• CourseInfo, EstimatedSalary, LearningVideo — retired June 2025.
• ClaimReview — retired from rich results June 2025.
• VehicleListing — retired from rich results June 2025.
• Practice Problem — retired from rich results late 2025.
• Dataset — retired from rich results late 2025.

Also flag self-serving abuse: aggregateRating/review on LocalBusiness or Organization markup about yourself is not eligible for review snippets — those properties are only for sites that capture reviews about other entities.

Required vs Recommended Properties (Google-documented)

Article (Article / NewsArticle / BlogPosting)

• Required: none. Google documents only recommended properties.
• Recommended: author (+ author.name, author.url), headline, image (multiple ratios 16x9/4x3/1x1, ≥50K pixels), datePublished, dateModified (ISO 8601 with timezone).

Product (product snippet)

• Required: name, AND at least one of review | aggregateRating | offers.
• Recommended: the other two of review/aggregateRating/offers; within Offer: price (or priceSpecification.price), priceCurrency, availability; positiveNotes/negativeNotes for editorial pros/cons.
• Note: offers without review/aggregateRating triggers a Rich Results Test warning. Per Google's Dec 2025 JS guidance, ship Product/Offer JSON-LD in server-rendered HTML, not JS-injected.

Event

• Required: name (event title, not venue), startDate (ISO 8601 date+time), location (Place with location.address).
• Recommended: endDate, description, image, eventStatus, location.name, offers (+ offers.price, offers.priceCurrency, offers.availability, offers.url, offers.validFrom), organizer, performer, previousStartDate (only with EventRescheduled).

Recipe

• Required: name, image.
• Recommended: recipeIngredient, recipeInstructions (prefer HowToStep), prepTime + cookTime (always paired) or totalTime, recipeYield (required if nutrition.calories present), nutrition.calories, author, datePublished, description, keywords, recipeCategory, recipeCuisine, aggregateRating, video.

JobPosting

• Required: title (job title, not posting title), description (full HTML), datePosted, hiringOrganization, jobLocation (must include addressCountry).
• Recommended: baseSalary (employer-provided only), employmentType, validThrough (required if posting expires), identifier, directApply; for 100% remote jobs jobLocationType: TELECOMMUTE is required, plus applicantLocationRequirements if location-restricted.

LocalBusiness

• Required: name, address (PostalAddress).
• Recommended: url, telephone, geo (latitude/longitude, ≥5 decimal places), openingHoursSpecification (opens/closes/dayOfWeek), priceRange (<100 chars), menu + servesCuisine (food businesses), department. (review/aggregateRating only for third-party review sites.)

ProfilePage

• Required: mainEntity (Person or Organization) with name.
• Recommended: dateCreated, dateModified, alternateName (handle), description, identifier, image, sameAs, interactionStatistic, agentInteractionStatistic.

DiscussionForumPosting

• Required: author (+ author.name), datePublished, AND one of text | image | video (content not required when representing a post on another page via external url).
• Recommended: headline, url, author.url, interactionStatistic, sharedContent, nested comment (each Comment requires author + datePublished).

Output

## Rich Result Eligibility Report — <URL>

Detected page archetype: <archetype>
Existing structured data: <types found, format>

### Eligibility
| Rich result type | Eligible? | Markup present? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product snippet | Yes | Partial | Fix gaps |
| FAQ | No (restricted to gov/health, Aug 2023) | Yes | REMOVE |

### Gap Table (per eligible type)
| Property | Status | Required? | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| offers.priceCurrency | MISSING | Recommended | Add ISO 4217 code |

### Next Steps
1. <highest-impact fixes, required props first>
2. Validate live: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
   (syntax-only check: https://validator.schema.org/)
3. For generating the missing JSON-LD, use /seo-schema

Always include the Rich Results Test link. Remind the user that valid markup makes a page eligible — Google does not guarantee a rich result will show.

Cross-references

• /seo-schema — markup generation, templates, full deprecation list
• /seo-page — broader single-page SEO review
• Full type gallery: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/search-gallery