Organization Schema Markup: JSON-LD Guide for Stores

Organization schema markup is a block of JSON-LD code, usually on your homepage, that tells Google who runs your website: your name, logo, URL, social profiles, contact details and company identifiers. Google lists no required properties, recommends you add every one that applies, and for online stores it now also reads return, shipping and loyalty program policies from the same block.

This guide is for Shopify and e-commerce teams who want markup that is accurate, complete and easy to maintain. You'll get the type to choose, every property Google recommends, a copy-ready OnlineStore example with a return policy, what Shopify's Dawn and Horizon themes already output, a step-by-step install and the checks that catch the common mistakes.

What organization schema markup does

Organization markup is a machine-readable record of the business behind a website. Schema.org defines Organization broadly, covering companies, schools, NGOs and clubs, and offers dozens of properties. Google uses a subset of them.

According to Google's Organization structured data documentation (last updated September 8, 2026), the markup helps Google understand your administrative details and tell your organization apart from others with similar names. Some properties, such as iso6523Code and naics, work behind the scenes. Others can affect what people see, such as the logo Google shows in Search and your knowledge panel. Merchants can also use it to influence their merchant knowledge panel and brand profile, including return policy, address and contact information.

Three things it does not do:

• It doesn't guarantee a feature. Google states that valid markup does not guarantee any feature will appear in results.
• It doesn't create a knowledge panel by itself. Panels come from Google's understanding of the entity across the web. Our guide to the Google knowledge panel covers the rest of that work.
• It doesn't replace content. The markup should describe the same business a visitor sees on your homepage, About page and policy pages.

Organization is one of the most widely used types on the web. In the HTTP Archive's 2025 Web Almanac, it appeared on about a quarter of home pages, and it overtook WebPage for the first time.

If you're new to structured data in general, start with our schema markup guide and our explainer on JSON-LD for SEO, then come back here for the organization-specific details.

Organization, OnlineStore or LocalBusiness?

Google tells you to use the most specific schema.org subtype that fits. Pick the type that describes your business as it really is, not the one you think will win a search feature.

Where the markup goes

Google says to put organization markup on your homepage or on one page that describes your organization, such as an About page, and that you don't need it on every page. Most stores use the homepage because it is the page Google associates most strongly with the brand. Pick one location and keep a single, complete block there.

The properties Google recommends

Google lists no required properties for Organization. It recommends adding every property that applies to you. The table groups them and adds the guidelines that trip people up.

Leave out what you can't verify

Every value should be true, current and visible somewhere a customer could check it. If you don't have a DUNS number, skip duns. If your support phone line is closed, don't list it. An empty or guessed property adds nothing and becomes one more thing to keep accurate.

A complete OnlineStore JSON-LD example

Here is an OnlineStore block for a fictional US brand, with identity, logo, profiles, contact, company facts and a return policy. Replace every value with your own and delete any property that doesn't apply.

<script type="application/ld+json">{"@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "OnlineStore", "@id": "https://www.example.com/#organization", "name": "Example Outdoor Co.", "alternateName": "Example Outdoor", "legalName": "Example Outdoor Company LLC", "url": "https://www.example.com/", "logo": "https://www.example.com/cdn/shop/files/logo.png", "description": "Example Outdoor Co. sells lightweight camping gear designed in Illinois.", "sameAs": ["https://www.instagram.com/exampleoutdoor", "https://www.youtube.com/@exampleoutdoor", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Example_Outdoor"], "address": {"@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "100 Example Avenue", "addressLocality": "Springfield", "addressRegion": "IL", "postalCode": "62701", "addressCountry": "US"}, "contactPoint": {"@type": "ContactPoint", "contactType": "customer service", "email": "help@example.com", "telephone": "+1-217-555-0100"}, "foundingDate": "2015-04-01", "numberOfEmployees": {"@type": "QuantitativeValue", "minValue": 11, "maxValue": 50}, "hasMerchantReturnPolicy": {"@type": "MerchantReturnPolicy", "applicableCountry": "US", "returnPolicyCountry": "US", "returnPolicyCategory": "https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow", "merchantReturnDays": 30, "returnMethod": "https://schema.org/ReturnByMail", "returnFees": "https://schema.org/FreeReturn", "refundType": "https://schema.org/FullRefund", "merchantReturnLink": "https://www.example.com/policies/refund-policy"}}</script>

What each part is doing

• @id gives the organization a stable identifier. You can reference it from your WebSite markup or from the brand or seller of your Product schema, so every block points to the same entity instead of repeating it.
• name and alternateName match the site name the brand uses everywhere else.
• sameAs lists only profiles the brand controls or that are clearly about it.
• numberOfEmployees uses a range, which Google's guidelines allow when you'd rather not publish an exact headcount.
• hasMerchantReturnPolicy describes a 30-day, free, mail-in return window with a full refund, plus a link to the full policy page.

JSON-LD is now the dominant format for this kind of markup. In the 2025 Web Almanac, 43% of home pages used JSON-LD, far ahead of Microdata and RDFa, and Google recommends JSON-LD because it is the easiest to implement and maintain.

To build your own version without hand-writing JSON, use our free Schema Markup Generator, which outputs Organization JSON-LD, then paste the result into the validator described below.

Add return, shipping and loyalty policies

For merchants, the biggest change to organization markup in the last two years is the policy properties. Google's Search Central changelog shows organization-level return policy support added in June 2025, loyalty programs in July 2025 and organization-level shipping policies in November 2025. These let you describe a store-wide policy once instead of repeating it in every product's Offer.

Return policy

According to Google's merchant return policy documentation, an organization-level MerchantReturnPolicy needs one of two sets of required properties:

• Option A: applicableCountry and returnPolicyCategory, plus merchantReturnDays when the category is a finite return window.
• Option B: merchantReturnLink, the URL of the page that explains your policy.

Recommended extras include returnFees, returnMethod, refundType, returnPolicyCountry, restockingFee, returnLabelSource and separate customer remorse and item defect variants. returnShippingFeesAmount becomes required when returnFees is set to return shipping fees.

Shipping and loyalty programs

An organization-level ShippingService has one required property, shippingConditions, which sets cost or delivery times for a destination, weight, order value or other conditions. A MemberProgram goes under hasMemberProgram and requires a name, description and at least one tier in hasTiers; each tier needs a name and hasTierBenefit.

Which source Google trusts first

Markup is the weakest of the places Google reads policies from. If you've also set policies elsewhere, those win.

For loyalty programs, Google says that when you provide both markup and Merchant Center loyalty programs, it uses the Merchant Center settings. If your store sends products to Google Merchant Center, check its return and shipping settings before adding policy markup, and make sure the two never contradict your published refund and shipping pages.

What Shopify themes output by default

Most Shopify stores already have some organization markup, so check what your theme prints before you add more. We read the theme source code on Shopify's public GitHub repositories and checked Shopify's official demo stores on October 27, 2026.

Both themes also build url from the current domain plus page.url, and the name comes from your store name in Shopify settings. If your store name in admin is an internal label rather than your brand name, that is the name Google receives. Dawn also prints a separate WebSite block with a SearchAction on the homepage.

How to add organization schema on Shopify

The cleanest setup is one complete block in your theme, on the homepage, with the theme's thin default removed or replaced so you don't publish conflicting versions.

1. Audit what exists. Test your live homepage and one product page. List every Organization, OnlineStore or LocalBusiness block and where it comes from: theme, app or a past developer.
2. Collect verified facts. Brand name as customers know it, legal name, logo file (at least 112 by 112 pixels, readable on white), official profile URLs, support email and phone, address if you publish one, and your current refund and shipping policies.
3. Duplicate your theme. In the Shopify admin, go to Online Store, then Themes, and duplicate the live theme so you can test safely.
4. Write the block. Start from the example above or the generator. In Liquid you can pull values from Shopify instead of hard-coding them, for example "name": {{ shop.name | json }}, and wrap the snippet in {% if request.page_type == 'index' %} so it prints only on the homepage.
5. Add it to the theme. Use Edit code on the duplicate theme, create a snippet such as organization-schema.liquid and render it from layout/theme.liquid inside the head.
6. Remove the duplicate. Delete or comment out the theme's default Organization script in the header section, and turn off organization markup in any app that prints its own. Keep exactly one.
7. Validate on the preview. Test the preview URL in Google's Rich Results Test or the Schema Markup Validator. Fix syntax errors and any value that doesn't match the visible page.
8. Publish and inspect. Publish the theme, then use URL Inspection in Search Console to confirm Google sees the new block in the rendered HTML.

If you'd rather not edit Liquid, many SEO apps can output organization markup. That's fine as long as you remove the theme's version and the app lets you fill every property you need.

How to validate and maintain it

Valid code is the minimum. Accurate code that stays accurate is the goal.

The checks to run

• Syntax. Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator both parse JSON-LD. Our Schema Markup Validator pulls every block from a URL or pasted snippet and checks the properties Google needs.
• Search Console reports. Google points to the unparsable structured data report, the structured data error list and URL Inspection. There is no dedicated Organization rich result report, so use URL Inspection to confirm what Google rendered.
• Manual actions. Google notes that a structured data manual action can cause markup to be ignored. Check the Manual Actions report if your logo or panel details never update.
• Visible match. Compare every value with your About, contact and policy pages. A return window of 30 days in markup and 14 days on the refund page is a trust problem, not just a markup problem.

When to update it

Treat the block like your business record. Update it when you rebrand, change your logo, open or close a profile, move address, change your support line or change your refund or shipping terms. Add it to your site migration checklist too, because a theme switch can silently drop custom snippets and bring back the theme default.

Common organization schema mistakes

Organization markup is one layer of a site Google can understand. The other layers are your site architecture and internal links, which decide whether the pages your organization block vouches for get crawled at all. Our free Internal Link Checker finds orphan and under-linked pages from a crawl export.

Get your organization markup right this week

Test your homepage, list every block, collect verified facts, ship one complete OnlineStore block and check your Merchant Center policies match it. That's an afternoon of work for most Shopify stores, and it removes a whole class of conflicting signals about who you are. If you want a second set of eyes on your schema and the rest of your technical SEO, talk to our team.