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Course → Module 2: Structured Data: Speaking Google's Language
Session 3 of 10

Schema.org Deep Dive: The Type Hierarchy

Session 2.3 · ~5 min read

Schema.org is not a flat list of types. It is a hierarchy. Every type inherits properties from its parent, all the way up to the root type: Thing. Understanding this hierarchy is essential because it determines which properties are available to you, and choosing the wrong type means missing properties that could strengthen your entity signal.

This session maps the hierarchy, explains inheritance, and helps you select the most specific type that accurately describes your entity.

The Root: Thing

Thing is the top-level type in Schema.org. Every other type is a descendant of Thing. The properties defined on Thing are available to every type in the vocabulary:

Because these are defined at the Thing level, you can use them on an Organization, a Person, a Product, an Event, or any other type. They are universal.

The Major Branches

Below Thing, Schema.org branches into major categories. The ones most relevant to entity authority work are:

graph TD Thing["Thing"] --> Organization Thing --> Person Thing --> Place Thing --> CreativeWork Thing --> Product Thing --> Event Thing --> Action Organization --> LocalBusiness Organization --> Corporation Organization --> NGO LocalBusiness --> Restaurant LocalBusiness --> Store LocalBusiness --> MedicalBusiness Store --> AutoPartsStore Store --> BookStore CreativeWork --> Article CreativeWork --> Book CreativeWork --> WebSite style Thing fill:#222221,stroke:#c8a882,color:#ede9e3 style Organization fill:#222221,stroke:#6b8f71,color:#ede9e3 style Person fill:#222221,stroke:#6b8f71,color:#ede9e3 style Place fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style CreativeWork fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style Product fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style Event fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style Action fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style LocalBusiness fill:#222221,stroke:#6b8f71,color:#ede9e3 style Corporation fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style NGO fill:#222221,stroke:#8a8478,color:#ede9e3 style Restaurant fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style Store fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style MedicalBusiness fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style AutoPartsStore fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style BookStore fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style Article fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style Book fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3 style WebSite fill:#222221,stroke:#c47a5a,color:#ede9e3

How Inheritance Works

When you declare "@type": "Restaurant", your entity inherits properties from the entire chain: Thing → Organization → LocalBusiness → FoodEstablishment → Restaurant. This means a Restaurant can use:

This is why specificity matters. If you declare your restaurant as just "Organization," you lose access to openingHours, priceRange, servesCuisine, and other properties that help Google understand what your business actually does.

Common Types for Entity Authority

Type Use When Key Unique Properties
Organization Generic company, non-profit, agency logo, founder, foundingDate, numberOfEmployees
Corporation Publicly traded or incorporated entity tickerSymbol
LocalBusiness Business with a physical location customers visit openingHours, priceRange, geo
ProfessionalService Consulting, legal, accounting firms Inherits LocalBusiness properties
Person Individual (founder, author, speaker) jobTitle, worksFor, alumniOf, birthDate
Product Physical or digital product sku, brand, offers, aggregateRating
Service Intangible service offering provider, serviceType, areaServed
WebSite The website itself (for sitelinks search box) potentialAction (SearchAction)
FAQPage Page with Q&A pairs mainEntity (array of Question)
Article Blog post, news article author, datePublished, headline, publisher

Choosing the Right Type

The rule is simple: use the most specific type that accurately describes your entity. Do not round up (using Organization when LocalBusiness is correct) and do not round down (using Restaurant when you are actually a Bakery).

To find the right type:

  1. Go to schema.org/docs/full.html
  2. Search for your business category
  3. Trace the hierarchy up to confirm it makes sense
  4. Check that the type's properties match the data you can provide

Key concept: More specific types are not "better" in a ranking sense. They are more informative. A Restaurant type tells Google more than Organization because it unlocks properties like servesCuisine and acceptsReservations. More information means less ambiguity, and less ambiguity means stronger entity recognition.

Multiple Types

An entity can have multiple types. A person who is both an author and a business owner might appear in both a Person schema and be referenced as the founder in an Organization schema. These are not conflicting declarations. They are complementary views of the same entity, especially when connected using the @id pattern (covered in Session 2.9).

However, do not assign contradictory types to the same entity. A single entity should not be both a Person and an Organization. If your brand is named after a person, use the Person type for the individual and the Organization type for the business, then link them with founder or worksFor.

Further Reading

Assignment

For the entity you audited in Module 1:

  1. Identify the most specific Schema.org type that applies. Trace the full hierarchy from Thing down to your chosen type.
  2. List all properties inherited from each level of the hierarchy that you can populate with real data.
  3. If your entity could reasonably use two different types (e.g., ProfessionalService vs. LocalBusiness), explain which is more accurate and why.