Do you need schema markup? Not first.

Schema markup is a block of code on your site that labels your business details for machines: your name, address, phone, hours, the services you offer. Google documents what it uses it for in search results. You can read that on Google's own Search Central pages.

What we have not been able to show is that it changes whether ChatGPT or Perplexity names you. In our scan of one market, Mesa air conditioning in October 2026, the pages the AI tools cited most were licence lookups, directories and other businesses' websites. We did not see any sign that markup decided who got named.

So what comes first

The things a person would notice. Your trade and city written plainly on your homepage. The same name, address and phone number everywhere it appears. Being listed where the AI tools look for your trade.

When markup is worth doing

Once those are right, markup is cheap and does no harm. If your site builder adds it for you, keep it. Just do not start there, and do not pay someone a lot for it on the promise that it will get you into AI answers. We have not seen that, and we would tell you if we had.