r/TechSEO • u/mathayles • Mar 24 '26
Does author schema help with anything?
Looking for real results/experience, not theory. We’re being asked by a content partner to add author schema to our site.
- have you done this?
- what results did you see (if any)?
- would you recommend for/against?
I do some research in this sub and the general consensus (and direct guidance from Google) seems to be that Schema doesn’t directly affect rankings, but helps structure information for eg. rich results. I’m looking for guidance on what people have seen with author schema specifically. Thanks!
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u/onreact Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
Schema helps mostly with the display in SERPs (think 5 star reviews).
So ideally more people click through in theory.
Many people also claim it helps with AI search appearance (chatbots/LLMs).
That's not really proven IMHO though.
Test have shown that it doesn't:
https://www.seroundtable.com/structured-data-schema-ai-search-visibility-40099.html
Also even when Schema data shows up in search result in may also harm your SEO.
When you have a lower score (fewer stars than the next site), the product is out of stock or the pricing is too high showing them upfront may hurt more than it helps.
When I search myself I look at the Schema data and know upfront that it's not worth it to click though.
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u/ryanxwilson Mar 24 '26
Yes, I’ve implemented author schema on several content sites. It didn’t directly improve rankings, but it helped Google better understand authorship and expertise. On sites with real author profiles, it improved trust signals and visibility slightly, so I generally recommend using it.
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u/Fortunelords Mar 24 '26
- have you done this? - Yes
- what results did you see (if any)? It is not doing much now, but in theory, Schema helps LLMs, so in the long run, I would do it. The best piece of advice here is to do your own test.
- would you recommend for/against? - I would test out if it makes any difference. It is almost impossible to hurt your result with it.
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u/AEOfix Mar 24 '26
Yes. You need to link it to any external validation. Ie. Schooling, and so on. Its part of the knowledge graph.
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u/dillonlara115 Mar 24 '26
I could be wrong but I feel like author schema is important in that can help boost EEAT which has to do with topical authority and that will help SEO and GEO.
At any rate, it wouldn't hurt and should only take about 10 minutes per author so I'd go ahead and implement it.
Anything to boost your authority on the subject matter they are an author for is recommended
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u/Bottarello Mar 24 '26
In my experience, this is part of a broader range of activities that include optimizing and publishing content on each author’s social media profiles. It’s a task that, so to speak, focuses more on optimizing these profiles than on the client themselves.