Local Business Schema: What It Is and How to Add It to Your Website

Say you run a pharmacy in Madaripur, a restaurant in Dhaka or a phone repair shop in Chattogram. When someone searches for "pharmacy near me", you want your name, address and phone number to show up correctly. That is what local business schema is for. It is a small piece of code on your website that tells Google, in plain machine language, what your business is, where it is and when it is open.

Years ago, Sultan Muhammad Rashed wrote about a free schema generator for local businesses. Building on that idea and checked against Google's current guidance (as of November 2026), this guide walks through what schema is, which details it needs, what the code looks like and how to test it.

What is local business schema?

Schema markup is structured data: page information arranged in a fixed format. A person reading your page knows "this is a shop's address", but for a search engine that is a guess. Schema removes the guesswork.

Schema.org is a shared vocabulary used by Google, Microsoft Bing and other major search engines. Its LocalBusiness type describes a business with a physical location or a defined service area. According to Google's documentation, this markup helps Search and Maps understand details such as opening hours, departments and reviews.

Which businesses need it?

• Shops, showrooms, supermarkets and pharmacies
• Restaurants, cafés and bakeries
• Doctors' chambers, dental clinics and diagnostic centres
• Coaching centres, schools and training institutes
• Salons, gyms, hotels and resorts
• Phone and computer repair shops, car workshops

Schema.org offers more specific types inside LocalBusiness, such as Store, FoodEstablishment (which includes Restaurant), MedicalBusiness, Dentist, LodgingBusiness and AutomotiveBusiness. Google recommends using the most specific type that fits, so a restaurant should be marked as Restaurant, not just LocalBusiness.

What details does local business schema need?

Google requires only two properties: name and address. The rest are recommended, but the more complete your information, the easier it is for Google to understand.

Property	What to enter	Required?
name	The business name, as on your signboard	Yes
address	Street, area, city, postal code, country (PostalAddress)	Yes
telephone	Number with country code, e.g. +880…	Recommended
url	The page for that specific branch or shop	Recommended
geo	Latitude and longitude, at least 5 decimal places	Recommended
openingHoursSpecification	Which days you open and close, and when	Recommended
priceRange	Price range, under 100 characters	Recommended
menu / servesCuisine	Menu link and cuisine type	Food businesses
department	Separate departments inside the business	If relevant

One important rule: what you write in the schema must match what is on the page and on your Google Business Profile. Keep your name, address and phone number (known as NAP) identical everywhere. Writing "Road 5" in one place and "Rd. No. 05" in another creates confusion.

A note on reviews: Google says aggregateRating and review markup should be used only by sites that collect reviews about other businesses. Adding your own star rating to your own shop page does not fit the review snippet rules.

Local business schema JSON-LD example

Google recommends the JSON-LD format. It sits in a separate script tag in your HTML, so it does not change your design. Here is an example for a fictional pharmacy (replace the name, address and number with your own):

<script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Pharmacy", "name": "Sample Pharmacy", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "Upazila Road", "addressLocality": "Madaripur", "postalCode": "7900", "addressCountry": "BD" }, "geo": {"@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 23.17000, "longitude": 90.20000}, "telephone": "+8801XXXXXXXXX", "url": "https://example.com/madaripur", "openingHoursSpecification": [{ "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": ["Saturday","Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday"], "opens": "09:00", "closes": "22:00" }] } </script>

Times use the 24-hour format. If you close on Fridays, leave Friday out of the list. For seasonal hours, for example during Ramadan or Eid, add a separate schedule with validFrom and validThrough.

How to add local business schema to your website

1. Pick the page. Use the page that carries the business details: home, contact or branch page.
2. Collect the details. Name, full address, postal code, phone with country code, opening hours, and latitude and longitude from Google Maps.
3. Create the code. Edit the example above or use a trustworthy schema generator.
4. Add it to the page. The code can go in the head or anywhere in the body. On WordPress, use a Custom HTML block or your theme's header settings.
5. Save and publish, then test it (see below).

For WordPress users

Plugins such as Yoast SEO and Rank Math let you enter business details and generate schema for you. Yoast's local SEO features come in a separate add-on, so check what your version offers. Don't use a plugin and hand-written code together, or the same business may be marked up twice.

If you have several branches

Give each branch its own page and its own LocalBusiness schema, with a separate address, phone and url. For departments inside one store, such as a pharmacy counter in a supermarket, use the department property and name it "store name + department name".

If you sell online, check that your website platform lets you manage SEO settings and structured data. For Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, a ready-made e-commerce platform such as eCommerce Autopilot brings the website, orders and courier together, so local shop owners can get online without writing code.

How to test your schema

• Rich Results Test: paste your page URL or code into this free Google tool to see whether the schema can be read and whether there are errors. Always fix critical errors.
• Schema Markup Validator: this schema.org tool checks that the code structure is valid.
• URL Inspection in Search Console: check that the page isn't blocked by robots.txt, noindex or a login, then click "Request indexing".

Remember that correct schema doesn't guarantee a special search result. Schema is a helpful signal; accurate information, good content and customer trust do the real work.

What else to do for local SEO

• Create and verify a Google Business Profile with the same name, address and phone.
• Encourage real customers to leave reviews, and reply politely.
• On branch pages, add the area name, directions, photos and a list of services.
• Make sure your website loads fast on mobile, since most local searches happen on phones.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake	Problem	Fix
Marking up details not shown on the page	Against Google's guidelines	Mark up only what visitors can see
Old phone number or hours left in place	Confuses customers	Update the schema whenever details change
All branches in one schema on one page	Hard to tell which branch is where	One page and one schema per branch
Approximate coordinates in geo	Wrong spot on the map	Copy exact coordinates from Google Maps
Plugin and hand-written code together	Same business marked up twice	Keep only one method

If you want deeper help with SEO or personal branding for your business, you can learn about Sultan Muhammad Rashed's work and advice at sultanmuhammadrashed.com.

Final word: adding local business schema takes about an hour, yet it helps Google recognise your shop correctly. Gather your details today, add the code, test it, and keep it updated whenever something changes.