Search Console's Enhancements reports flag structured data problems, and the messages are terse enough that the required fix is often unclear. Here is what the common ones mean.
#Errors versus warnings
Errors make the page ineligible for the rich result entirely. A required property is missing or invalid. Fix these.
Warnings indicate a recommended property is absent. The page remains eligible but the result may be less complete or less likely to be shown. Fix the ones that matter for your content type; ignore the rest.
The distinction matters because teams often spend time eliminating every warning when only the errors affect eligibility.
#"Missing field 'X'" — required property absent
The most common error. Structured data has no partial credit: a BlogPosting without datePublished is not a slightly weaker BlogPosting, it is ineligible.
Frequently missing required properties by type:
- Article / BlogPosting —
headline,image,datePublished - Product —
name,offers(withpriceandpriceCurrency),image - Recipe —
name,image,recipeIngredient,recipeInstructions - Event —
name,startDate,location - LocalBusiness —
name,address,telephone - VideoObject —
name,description,thumbnailUrl,uploadDate
The schema markup generator marks required fields per type and will not report output as valid until they are present, which catches this class of error before deployment.
#"Invalid value in field 'X'"
The property exists but the format is wrong. Usual causes:
Dates not in ISO 8601. Use 2026-03-27 or 2026-03-27T09:00:00-05:00. Not "March 27, 2026".
Durations not in ISO 8601. Use PT30M for thirty minutes, PT1H15M for an hour and a quarter.
Price as a formatted string. Use "129.00", not "$129.00" or "129,00". Currency belongs in priceCurrency.
Enumerations as free text. availability must be a Schema.org URL such as https://schema.org/InStock, not the word "in stock".
Ratings out of range. ratingValue must fall between worstRating and bestRating, which default to 1 and 5.
#"Missing field 'image'" on Article
Extremely common and easily fixed. Articles require an image, and Google recommends multiple aspect ratios — 16:9, 4:3 and 1:1 — at a minimum width of 1200px.
Provide an array:
"image": [
"https://example.com/photo-16x9.jpg",
"https://example.com/photo-4x3.jpg",
"https://example.com/photo-1x1.jpg"
]A single image satisfies the requirement; multiple ratios improve the chance of display across surfaces.
#"Either 'name' or 'itemListElement' should be specified"
Usually a BreadcrumbList where itemListElement entries are missing name or item. Every entry needs both, and position must start at 1 and increment without gaps.
#"Unparsable structured data"
The JSON is malformed. Common causes:
- A trailing comma before a closing brace
- Unescaped double quotes inside a string value
- A raw
</script>sequence inside a string, which terminates the block early - Smart quotes introduced by a CMS rich text editor
That last one is a frequent culprit when structured data is pasted into a WYSIWYG field. Always inject JSON-LD as raw HTML, never through a rich text editor.
Escape < as < when serialising, which prevents the </script> problem entirely.
#Warnings usually safe to ignore
"Missing field 'aggregateRating'" on Product — only add ratings if you have genuine, visible reviews. Adding fabricated ratings is a spam policy violation and is actively enforced.
"Missing field 'sku'" — helpful for e-commerce, irrelevant otherwise.
"Missing field 'author.url'" — a recommended enhancement, not a requirement.
#The policy violations that trigger manual actions
Distinct from technical errors and considerably more serious. A manual action removes rich results across the whole site.
Marked-up content not visible on the page. Reviews, ratings, prices or FAQ content that exists only in the JSON-LD.
Self-serving aggregateRating on your own product or service page with no visible review content. Explicitly against policy.
Mismatched values. Price in the markup differing from the price on the page.
Irrelevant types. Marking a category listing as a Product, or applying Recipe to something that is not a recipe.
#The workflow that prevents all of this
- Design and validate the shape with a generator
- Implement it as a template serialising from the same data that renders the page
- Test representative URLs with the Google Rich Results Test before deploying
- Deploy and check Search Console Enhancements after a few days
- Re-test after any template change
Step five is the one that gets skipped. Structured data is generated by templates, so a bug affects every page of that type simultaneously — and Search Console is usually where you find out.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Search Console take to show structured data fixes?
Typically a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on crawl frequency. Use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing on a sample page and validate the fix immediately with the Rich Results Test.
Do warnings affect rich result eligibility?
No. Warnings indicate recommended properties are missing; the page remains eligible. Errors indicate required properties are missing and do remove eligibility.
Why does my page pass the Rich Results Test but show no rich result?
Eligibility is not a guarantee. Google decides whether to display a rich result based on query, device, site quality and its own judgement. Valid markup makes you eligible; it does not entitle you to the enhancement.