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Structured data is missing a documented required property

LowHigh confidenceQuick winseo.structured-data.missing-required-property

What this check looks for

The page's ‹type› markup is missing ‹property›, which Google's documentation lists as required. Without it the markup parses but is not eligible for the rich result.

Why it matters

Markup that is valid JSON but incomplete produces no rich result and no error anywhere you would look. It is the state where the work has been done and none of the benefit arrives.

When the check passes, your report says: “Structured data carries every property Google documents as required”.

What it costs your score

When this check fails it removes 5 points from your SEO score, before the status, confidence and repeat multipliers are applied. SEO carries a weight of 5 in the overall score.

It shares the seo.structured-data family ceiling of 10 points: however many findings that family produces, together they cannot remove more than that from SEO. One underlying problem showing up in several places is still one problem.

Severity
low
Default confidence
high
Status when triggered
warn
Deduction
5 points
Family cap
seo.structured-data · 10
Category
SEO
Module
Seo audit
Fix owned by
user
In the ruleset since
2026.09

How the whole score is calculated

How to fix it

Add the missing property, or remove the markup if the data does not exist.

Incomplete markup is ineligible for the rich result and reports no error anywhere obvious.

  1. Add the named property with a value that matches what is visible on the page.

  2. Run the page through Google's Rich Results Test for a complete check across every type.

  3. Where the required data does not genuinely exist — ratings, most often — leave the property out rather than inventing it.

  4. Fix it in the component that generates the markup, not in the rendered page.

How to confirm it worked

  • Re-run this check, and confirm with Google's Rich Results Test

A named slot like ‹domain› — and the braces left in the configuration below — is filled in with your own values when this rule appears on a report.

Technical detail

‹issues›

Only two type families are checked here, and the narrowness is deliberate: BreadcrumbList and SoftwareApplication/WebApplication, where Google's documentation states a short, unambiguous requirement. We say nothing about the other types on the page, because guessing at requirements produces confident complaints about markup that is correct.

For a complete check across every type, use Google's Rich Results Test, which is generated from the same requirements and is updated when they change.

One requirement deserves a word of its own. SoftwareApplication needs aggregateRating or review, which means real ratings from real people. If you do not have them, omit the property and accept that the markup will not produce a rich result — it is still useful for entity understanding. Inventing a rating is a spam-policy violation and the sanction applies to the site, not the page.

Standards and references

Test this on your domain

Run the check that produces this finding, on its own, against any domain.

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