What Is LocalBusiness Schema? The Complete Guide (2026)

What Does LocalBusiness Schema Unlock?

According to Google's official documentation, LocalBusiness schema enables the following search features:

• Knowledge Panel. The business information card that appears on the right side of desktop search results (and at the top on mobile) — showing name, address, hours, phone number, and photos. LocalBusiness schema feeds this panel and keeps the information consistent.
• Local search carousel.When users search for a business type ( "dentists near me", "Italian restaurants in Berlin"), Google may display a horizontal carousel of local businesses. Structured data improves your eligibility for these placements.
• Google Maps integration. LocalBusiness schema data can be used alongside your Google Business Profile. As of 2025, the Maps Booking API also allows reservations and orders to appear directly in search results for eligible businesses.
• AI assistant responses.When someone asks an AI assistant "What are the opening hours of [business]?" or "Is [business] open on Sunday?", the assistant reads structured data first. Businesses with complete LocalBusiness schema get accurate answers; businesses without it get guessed answers or no answer at all.

Always Use the Most Specific Subtype

The single most impactful decision in LocalBusiness schema is choosing the right type. Google explicitly recommends using the most specific subtype available rather than the generic LocalBusiness. More specific types unlock category-specific properties and improve ranking in local results.

You can also specify multiple types as an array: "@type": ["Restaurant", "LocalBusiness"]. This is valid Schema.org and can help Google understand ambiguous business categories.

Required Properties

Based on Google's LocalBusiness documentation, two properties are required. Missing either one is a hard error in Greadme and prevents Knowledge Panel eligibility:

Recommended Properties

These properties don't block eligibility, but each one adds a measurable amount of information to the Knowledge Panel and AI assistant responses:

How to Format Opening Hours

Opening hours are one of the most searched pieces of local business information — and one of the most commonly misconfigured. Schema.org supports two formats:

"openingHoursSpecification": [
  {
    "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
    "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
    "opens": "09:00",
    "closes": "18:00"
  },
  {
    "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
    "dayOfWeek": "Saturday",
    "opens": "10:00",
    "closes": "16:00"
  }
]

"openingHours": ["Mo-Fr 09:00-18:00", "Sa 10:00-16:00"]

Special cases per Google's documentation:

• Open all day: "opens": "00:00", "closes": "23:59"
• Closed all day: "opens": "00:00", "closes": "00:00"
• Hours spanning midnight (e.g., Saturday 6pm to Sunday 3am): use a single specification with "dayOfWeek": "Saturday", "opens": "18:00", "closes": "03:00"
• Seasonal hours: add validFrom and validThrough in YYYY-MM-DD format to each specification

Full Implementation Example

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Restaurant",
  "name": "Bella Napoli",
  "image": [
    "https://example.com/restaurant-1x1.jpg",
    "https://example.com/restaurant-4x3.jpg",
    "https://example.com/restaurant-16x9.jpg"
  ],
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "45 King Street",
    "addressLocality": "Manchester",
    "addressRegion": "Greater Manchester",
    "postalCode": "M2 4LY",
    "addressCountry": "GB"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 53.48095,
    "longitude": -2.23743
  },
  "telephone": "+44-161-234-5678",
  "url": "https://example.com/locations/manchester",
  "servesCuisine": "Italian",
  "priceRange": "££",
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"],
      "opens": "12:00",
      "closes": "22:30"
    },
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Saturday","Sunday"],
      "opens": "11:00",
      "closes": "23:00"
    }
  ],
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.7",
    "reviewCount": "218"
  }
}

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Hospital",
  "name": "City General Hospital",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1 Hospital Road",
    "addressLocality": "Springfield",
    "addressRegion": "IL",
    "postalCode": "62701",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "telephone": "+1-217-555-0100",
  "department": [
    {
      "@type": "MedicalBusiness",
      "name": "City General — Emergency Room",
      "openingHours": "Mo-Su 00:00-23:59",
      "telephone": "+1-217-555-0199"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Pharmacy",
      "name": "City General — Pharmacy",
      "openingHours": "Mo-Fr 08:00-20:00"
    }
  ]
}

The 7 Most Common LocalBusiness Schema Mistakes

How LocalBusiness Schema Affects AI Visibility

AI assistants (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, voice assistants) increasingly answer local intent queries directly without sending users to a search results page. Queries like "Is there a vegan restaurant in Amsterdam open on Sunday?" or "What time does the nearest hardware store close?" are answered from structured data — not from reading prose on a website.

When LocalBusiness schema is complete, AI systems can extract:

• name — to identify and name the business in the response
• openingHoursSpecification— to answer "is it open now?" accurately
• address — to give a precise, navigable location
• telephone — to allow voice assistants to offer to call the business
• servesCuisine / priceRange— to match the business to filtered queries ("cheap Italian near me")

Businesses without LocalBusiness schema rely on AI models guessing from inconsistent sources — Google Maps, Yelp, aggregator sites. A complete, accurate JSON-LD implementation makes your own website the authoritative source of truth.

How to Validate Your LocalBusiness Schema

Run your URL through Greadme to validate your LocalBusiness schema. Greadme checks all required and recommended fields — including PostalAddress completeness, geo coordinate precision, opening hours format, price range length, and type specificity — and scores the implementation with actionable fixes for each issue.

FAQ

Does LocalBusiness schema replace a Google Business Profile?

No — they serve different systems. A Google Business Profile controls what Google shows in Maps and the local pack for your business. LocalBusiness schema on your website helps Google understand your site and can reinforce the signals from your Business Profile. Both should be kept consistent and up to date.

Should every page of a multi-location business have its own schema?

Yes. Each location should have its own dedicated page with its own LocalBusiness schema containing the specific address, phone number, hours, and geo coordinates for that location. A single schema block on the homepage covering all locations is far less effective and can confuse Google's local ranking signals.

Can I use both openingHours and openingHoursSpecification?

You should use one or the other, not both. openingHoursSpecification is preferred because it supports seasonal variations via validFrom and validThrough. The text-based openingHours is simpler but does not support seasonal hours.

What country code format should I use in addressCountry?

Always use the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code: "US" for the United States, "GB" for the United Kingdom, "DE" for Germany, and so on. Writing"United States" or "USA" is invalid.

Is LocalBusiness schema useful for online-only businesses?

LocalBusiness schema is designed for businesses with a physical location. An online-only business should use Organization or OnlineStoreschema instead. Applying LocalBusiness schema to a business with no physical address creates a mismatch that Google's classifier will flag.

Can I mark up a service-area business (no storefront)?

Yes — Google supports service-area businesses. Use the most appropriate subtype (e.g.,Plumber, Electrician), include your address, and use the areaServed property to describe the geographic area you cover. You can specify areaServed as a city name, region, or a GeoCircle / GeoShape object.

How often should I update LocalBusiness schema?

Any time your business details change — hours, phone number, address, or seasonal schedules. Stale schema (e.g., old opening hours left in the code after a change) causes AI assistants to give users incorrect information, which damages trust even when the Google Business Profile is up to date.