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Module 7 · Lesson 7.2 · Product and Offer data · 3 min

Product and Offer structured data: how to write it and check it

Lesson 7.2 of the AEO and GEO course: Product and Offer structured data for an online store. The difference between a product snippet and a merchant listing, the required and recommended fields according to Google, returns and shipping (in your structured data or in Search Console), and how to check it all with the Rich Results Test.

The video for this lesson is coming soon to YouTube. Meanwhile, the full transcript is right here.

Transcript

0:00Introduction

Lesson 7.2: Product and Offer structured data.

0:05Product and Offer

In the last lesson, you wrote your product's facts for people. Now you write them for machines too, with structured data. Product says what it is: name, image, brand, description, GTIN. Offer says the terms you sell it on: price, currency, availability. It's written in JSON-LD, in the page's code. Usually your theme or platform already adds it: your job is to check that it's complete and true.

0:33Two kinds of page

Google separates two cases. If people can't buy on the page, like a review or a comparison, it's called a product snippet. If people buy from you on the page, it's a merchant listing. And that's your case. Here Google needs at least three things: the name, the image, and the offer, with a price above zero and its currency.

0:56Recommended fields

The minimum isn't enough. Google also recommends other fields, and they're the same facts from the last lesson. In the product: brand, description, GTIN, SKU, and ratings, but only if the reviews are really visible on the page. In the offer: availability, condition, new or used, shipping details, and the return policy.

1:20Returns and shipping

Returns and shipping usually apply to the whole store. So you have two options. The first: describe them just once, in your organization's data, with Merchant Return Policy and your shipping services. The second: set them up in Search Console. If you use both, Google goes with Search Console. Either way, your policy pages need to be published and clear, with the same facts.

1:45How to check it

To check, open Google's Rich Results Test, and paste in the address of a product page. Look for Merchant listings and Product snippets. Errors need fixing; warnings tell you which recommended fields are missing. Then compare by eye: the price and availability in the data must match what visitors see on the page.

2:05What to expect

An honest warning. Ahrefs tracked 1,885 pages that added structured data, and their citations in AI answers didn't change in any significant way. Structured data isn't a shortcut. It's there to say the same things as the page, with no ambiguity. A well-written product page comes first, then the data that confirms it.

2:30Your task for today

Your task for today: run your five product pages through the Rich Results Test, and mark the result in the Product data OK column. Fix the errors, add the recommended fields that are missing, and check that your returns and shipping pages are published.

3:02Next lesson

In the next lesson: product feeds, and what's happening with shopping inside ChatGPT. See you there.

Your task

Run your five product pages through the Rich Results Test, and mark the result in the Product data OK column. Fix the errors, add the recommended fields that are missing, and check that your returns and shipping pages are published.

Track it in the course worksheet.

Sources

Checked 19 October 2026.

  • Google Search Central, «Introduction to Product structured data» (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/product, updated 10 December 2025): product snippet «For product pages where people can't directly purchase the product»; merchant listing «For pages where customers can purchase products from you».
  • Google Search Central, «Merchant listing (Product, Offer) structured data» (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/merchant-listing, updated 8 September 2026): required name, image, offers with price and priceCurrency; «merchant listing experiences require a price greater than zero»; recommended, among others, brand, description, gtin, sku, aggregateRating, and in the offer availability, itemCondition, shippingDetails, hasMerchantReturnPolicy.
  • Google Search Central, «Return policy» and «Shipping policy» (updated 8 September 2026): MerchantReturnPolicy under Organization; «You can alternatively configure account-level shipping and return policies in Search Console»; «if you provide both… Google will only use the information provided in Search Console».
  • Google, Rich Results Test (https://search.google.com/test/rich-results): supported types include «Merchant listings» and «Product snippet».
  • Ahrefs, May 2026, «We Tracked 1,885 Pages Adding Schema. AI Citations Barely Moved.» (lesson 4.3). Original source: ahrefs.com/blog/schema-ai-citations/. Checked 18 October 2026.
  • The JSON-LD example (water bottle, price in US dollars) is illustrative.
  • CiteProof on Shopify: the theme's Product schema is verified, not replaced; the app's block adds one only when the theme has none; missing return and shipping policies are drafted from the store's facts (Product pages: score, rewrite, alt text and schema, Pages, policies and blog articles).