What structured data should a groomer, dog walker or pet sitter use?

What is structured data, and does a pet business need it?

Structured data is a small block of code, invisible to visitors, that states facts about your business in a shared vocabulary called schema.org. The usual format is JSON-LD.

It isn't a ticket into AI answers. Google says there's no special schema.org structured data you need to add (opens in a new tab) to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. What it does is remove guesswork: your phone number, areas, hours and prices are stated once, in a format every program reads the same way. Google also asks that it matches the visible text on the page (opens in a new tab).

Which schema.org type should a pet care business use?

Use LocalBusiness. Google recommends the most specific LocalBusiness type possible (opens in a new tab), but schema.org's list of LocalBusiness types (opens in a new tab) has nothing for grooming, walking, sitting, boarding, day care or training, so for pet care the most accurate type is LocalBusiness itself.

Which details should your business labels include?

Start with what Google asks for, then add what pet owners care about. Google lists name and address as required for local businesses, and recommends telephone, url, openingHoursSpecification, geo and priceRange among others (Google (opens in a new tab)).

You can also describe a licence or qualification with hasCredential (opens in a new tab), which schema.org allows on organisations and people. The visible text on your page matters more; our guide to licences and trust covers what to write.

What does a complete example look like?

Here's one block for a fictional Leeds dog walking and pet sitting business that visits clients, so it shows a town and postcode district instead of a street address. Every value is a placeholder.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "@id": "https://www.example.com/#business",
  "name": "Example Paws Walking & Sitting",
  "description": "Dog walking and pet sitting in north Leeds: solo and small-group walks, drop-in cat visits and overnight house sits.",
  "url": "https://www.example.com/",
  "logo": "https://www.example.com/logo.png",
  "image": "https://www.example.com/photos/group-walk.jpg",
  "telephone": "+44 113 496 0456",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "addressLocality": "Leeds",
    "postalCode": "LS6",
    "addressCountry": "GB"
  },
  "areaServed": [
    { "@type": "Place", "name": "Headingley, Leeds" },
    { "@type": "Place", "name": "Meanwood, Leeds" },
    { "@type": "Place", "name": "Chapel Allerton, Leeds" }
  ],
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
      "opens": "08:00:00",
      "closes": "18:00:00"
    }
  ],
  "priceRange": "£15–£45",
  "hasOfferCatalog": {
    "@type": "OfferCatalog",
    "name": "Walking and sitting services",
    "itemListElement": [
      {
        "@type": "Offer",
        "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Solo dog walk, 30 minutes" },
        "priceSpecification": { "@type": "PriceSpecification", "minPrice": 15, "priceCurrency": "GBP" }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Offer",
        "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Small-group dog walk, 1 hour" },
        "priceSpecification": { "@type": "PriceSpecification", "minPrice": 18, "priceCurrency": "GBP" }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Offer",
        "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Drop-in cat visit, 30 minutes" },
        "priceSpecification": { "@type": "PriceSpecification", "minPrice": 15, "priceCurrency": "GBP" }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Offer",
        "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Overnight house sit" },
        "priceSpecification": { "@type": "PriceSpecification", "minPrice": 45, "priceCurrency": "GBP" }
      }
    ]
  },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.example.com/your-google-business-profile-link",
    "https://www.example.com/your-rover-profile-link",
    "https://www.facebook.com/your-page"
  ]
}

Notice what's missing: no review stars, no licence the business doesn't hold and no area it doesn't cover. The free schema generator writes a block like this from your details.

Can you add review stars to your markup?

Not for reviews about your own business. Google says that when the business being reviewed controls the reviews about itself, its pages using LocalBusiness or Organization markup are not eligible for review stars (opens in a new tab), including reviews shown through an embedded Google or Facebook review widget.

• Leave out `aggregateRating` and `review` for your own reviews. Show them as text on the page and link to your review profiles with sameAs.
• Never turn a licence star rating into review stars. A council's 1-to-5-star licence rating in England isn't a customer rating.
• Don't mark up anything readers can't see. Google's guidelines say not to mark up content that isn't visible (opens in a new tab), and to avoid misleading content such as fake reviews.

Where do you add the code, and how do you test it?

Add one block to your homepage or contact page, then test it. Most website builders have a box for custom code in the page head, and some SEO plugins add their own local business block, so check you don't end up with two that disagree.

1. Paste the JSON-LD inside a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag in the page head, using your builder's custom code setting.
2. Run the page through Google's Rich Results Test (opens in a new tab) and the Schema Markup Validator (opens in a new tab).
3. Fix any errors, then test again whenever you change your services, prices, areas or hours.

Google says it doesn't guarantee (opens in a new tab) that structured data will show up in search results. Treat it as tidy, accurate facts, not a ranking trick. For the general version of this guide, see schema markup for local businesses.

ServiceCited builds this block from the services, prices, areas and hours in your business profile, adds it to your site once it's connected and checks it on every weekly scan.