Research Report

Local SEO Schema Markup Gap Analysis: 2026

An analysis of schema markup adoption across 16,673 audited local business websites, revealing significant gaps in structured data implementation.

16,673 websites analyzed Last updated: February 10, 2026
“45% of local businesses are invisible to Google's rich results — the enhanced listings with stars, hours, and contact info that get 58% more clicks.”

The Invisible Half

45.3%
have zero structured data

45.3% of the 16,673 websites we audited have zero structured data markup. Google can crawl and index these sites, but it can't display them in rich results — the enhanced listings that show star ratings, business hours, phone numbers, and other structured information directly in search results.

These businesses show up as plain blue links, competing against competitors who get rich snippets with stars and click-to-call buttons. In a world where rich results get 58% more clicks, being a plain blue link is a serious disadvantage.

What the Winners Use

31.6%
use LocalBusiness schema (the type that matters)

Among the 54.7% of sites with schema markup, the most common type is WebSite (69.8% of schema users) — basic markup that simply identifies the page as a website. Only 31.6% use LocalBusiness schema, which is what actually powers rich results for local searches. Just 12.5% have FAQPage schema.

The majority of businesses with "schema" are using types that don't actually help them in local search. It's like wearing a name badge at a conference but forgetting to include your name.

The LDS Effect

89.6%
LDS schema adoption — the centralized web effect

LDS church websites have 89.6% schema adoption — nearly double the next closest group (HVAC at 69.1%). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints runs a centralized digital platform where every ward worldwide gets an optimized template with proper structured data, sitemaps, SSL, and mobile responsiveness.

It's the most dramatic proof in our dataset that centralized web management wins. When you give every location the same professional template, technical excellence becomes the default — not the exception.

Trades vs. Churches

62.2%
trades schema vs. 51.1% churches

Trade businesses (62.2% schema) outpace churches (51.1%) by over 11 percentage points. The likely reason: a single trade lead can be worth $500–$15,000, so businesses invest in SEO agencies who implement schema as standard practice. Churches rely on volunteers and tight budgets — web optimization is rarely a budget line item.

Interestingly, churches lead on OG tags (9.1% vs 4.2%), perhaps because social sharing is more naturally part of church community culture.

Schema and Rankings

5.1
avg rank with schema vs. 5.4 without

Sites with schema markup average position 5.1 in our SERP tracking data. Sites without: 5.4. A 0.3-position advantage might seem small, but in local search where the top 3 results get the majority of clicks, every position matters.

The correlation doesn't prove causation — businesses that invest in schema likely invest in other SEO — but it's consistent evidence that structured data is part of the winning formula.

Schema Type Breakdown

The 20 most common schema types found across all audited sites, showing what markup is actually being used.

Schema TypeCount% of Schema Users
WebSite6,36569.8%
PostalAddress3,53438.7%
BreadcrumbList3,42837.6%
ListItem3,42737.6%
WebPage3,31036.3%
Organization3,02633.2%
LocalBusiness2,88531.6%
SearchAction2,76630.3%
ImageObject2,48827.3%
EntryPoint2,16723.8%
GeoCoordinates2,13523.4%
ReadAction1,89820.8%
PropertyValueSpecification1,73619%
Answer1,15012.6%
Question1,15012.6%
FAQPage1,14212.5%
Thing1,06111.6%
Church1,04511.5%
MediaObject1,02111.2%
WPHeader7468.2%

Category Breakdown

How trades and churches compare across all website health metrics.

CategoryTotalSchema %Sitemap %OG Tags %
churches1121451.1%74.2%9.1%
trades545962.2%70.5%4.2%

State-by-State Breakdown

Schema adoption and website health metrics across all 17 states in our dataset.

StateTotalSchema %Sitemap %Viewport %SSL %OG Tags %
CO319259.6%72.7%87.3%96.4%5.8%
UT210565.5%76.3%87.3%98%5.3%
AZ119549%72.2%90.1%95.2%9.9%
ID117161.1%74.8%89.1%97.5%5.8%
WA105947.8%75.7%89.5%95.8%9.3%
NE105151.7%68.3%87.8%95.8%7.2%
MT93056.6%72.7%88.6%95.4%6%
KS90147.3%68.1%87.7%95.4%9.4%
WY86051%70.7%86.6%94.7%6.9%
MN77448.3%71.7%88.2%97.3%12%
OR72851%77.1%89.3%97.1%10.3%
SD59555.3%73.3%89.1%97%6.9%
IA55645.1%70%90.1%96%9.5%
NV55154.8%73.3%90.4%96.6%8.2%
NM51147%73.8%89.2%94.1%10.6%
ND30242.7%76.2%89.7%94.7%8.6%
Unknown19254.2%71.9%85.9%94.8%4.7%

Methodology

We analyzed 16,673 local business websites that received full technical site audits. Each site was checked for Schema.org structured data markup, and the specific schema types were cataloged. Results were cross-referenced with SERP ranking data where available to examine correlation between schema markup and search visibility. Audits covered 17 states across trades and church categories. Data collected January–February 2026.

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Last updated: February 2026