E-commerce SEO
Product Schema for Online Stores: Merchant Listings and Product Rich Results
The markup that can show price, availability, ratings and shipping in Google results.
Google says adding structured data to product pages can let product information appear in richer ways in Search, Google Images and Google Lens, such as price, availability, review ratings and shipping.
There are two types, and which one you use depends on whether shoppers can buy on the page.
Short answer: Use merchant listing structured data on pages where customers can buy the product, and product snippet markup on pages where they can’t (such as review pages). Merchant listings require name, image and an offer with a price greater than zero and a currency. Recommended properties include availability, brand, identifiers such as gtin, mpn and sku, reviews and ratings, shipping details and return policy. Combine markup with a Merchant Center feed for the widest eligibility.
Key Takeaways
- Merchant listings: pages where shoppers can buy. Product snippets: pages where they can’t.
- Required for merchant listings: name, image, offers with price above zero and currency.
- Add as many recommended properties as you accurately can.
- Mark up product pages, not category pages.
- Structured data plus a Merchant Center feed maximizes eligibility, Google says.
Merchant listings vs product snippets
| Merchant listings | Product snippets | |
|---|---|---|
| Use on | Pages where customers can buy from you | Pages where people can’t buy directly (e.g. reviews) |
| Extra options | Apparel sizing, shipping, returns | Review details such as pros and cons |
| Price | Required, greater than zero | Optional |
Google notes that adding the required merchant listing properties generally makes a page eligible for product snippets too.
Required and recommended properties
| Level | Properties (merchant listings) |
|---|---|
| Required (Product) | name, image, offers |
| Required (Offer) | price (above zero), priceCurrency |
| Recommended (Product) | brand, description, gtin, mpn, sku, aggregateRating, review, color, size, material, isVariantOf |
| Recommended (Offer) | availability, itemCondition, priceValidUntil, shippingDetails, hasMerchantReturnPolicy |
Markup must match what’s visible on the page. Google may attempt to verify merchant listing data before showing it.
Guidelines that trip stores up
- Only pages where a shopper can buy are eligible for merchant listings; affiliate pages linking elsewhere aren’t.
- Markup should be on pages focused on a single product (or its variants), not category pages.
- Use a distinct URL per currency if you sell in several currencies.
- Image URLs must be crawlable and indexable.
Variants, returns and shipping
- Product variant markup helps Google understand which products are variations of the same parent.
- Google recommends return policy (and loyalty program) markup nested under Organization markup.
- Shipping and return details can also be configured in Merchant Center.
Test and monitor
- Validate with the Rich Results Test before deploying templates.
- Monitor the merchant listings and product snippets reports in Search Console (Search Console guide).
- Keep markup consistent with your feed; see product feed checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Is product structured data required to appear in Google Shopping?
Not strictly; a Merchant Center feed can also provide product data. Google recommends using both.
Can I add product schema to category pages?
Google recommends focusing product markup on product pages, not listing or category pages.
Will structured data guarantee rich results?
No. Google shows enhancements at its discretion, and price drops, for example, aren’t guaranteed.
Want more of your products found in search?
We fix crawling and indexing on store sites, improve category and product pages, and connect structured data with your Merchant Center feed.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Introduction to Product structured data
- Google Search Central: Merchant listing structured data
Last reviewed October 14, 2026.
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