Person Schema – Author Profiles & Biographical Data
Person schema describes individuals, their professional credentials, achievements, and relationships, helping search engines understand author credibility and display rich biographical information in knowledge panels and search results.
Everything you need to know about Person schema markup. Learn how to establish author credibility, build E-E-A-T signals, and showcase professional expertise in search results.
What is Person Schema?
Person schema describes real individuals - their professional credentials, achievements, contact information, and relationships. It's essential for author profiles, biographies, team pages, and any content where individual credibility and expertise matter.
Why Person Schema Matters
In Google's E-E-A-T framework, author credibility is crucial for content quality assessment. Person schema provides the structured data search engines need to understand who you are, what you've accomplished, and why you're qualified to write about your topics. Combine this with Article schema for content attribution and Organization schema for business credibility to maximize authority signals.
The key insight: Person schema transforms your bio from "just another paragraph" into verifiable credentials that search engines can trust and display prominently.
What Person Schema Includes
SEO Benefits You Get
JSON-LD Example
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Person",
"@id": "https://schemavalidator.org/#sarah-johnson",
"name": "Sarah Johnson",
"alternateName": "Sarah J. Johnson",
"description": "Senior Technical SEO Specialist with 8+ years experience in schema markup implementation, search engine optimization, and technical web standards.",
"image": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://schemavalidator.org/authors/sarah-johnson.jpg",
"caption": "Sarah Johnson, Technical SEO Expert"
},
"jobTitle": "Senior Technical SEO Specialist",
"worksFor": {
"@type": "Organization",
"@id": "https://schemavalidator.org/#organization"
},
"knowsAbout": [
"Schema Markup",
"Technical SEO",
"Structured Data",
"JSON-LD",
"Search Engine Optimization",
"Web Standards",
"E-E-A-T",
"Rich Results"
],
"hasCredential": [
{
"@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential",
"name": "Google Analytics Certified",
"credentialCategory": "Professional Certification"
},
{
"@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential",
"name": "Schema.org Standards Expert",
"credentialCategory": "Professional Certification"
}
],
"alumniOf": [
{
"@type": "EducationalOrganization",
"name": "Stanford University",
"department": "Computer Science"
},
{
"@type": "EducationalOrganization",
"name": "SEO Institute",
"department": "Advanced Technical SEO"
}
],
"hasOccupation": [
{
"@type": "Occupation",
"name": "Technical SEO Specialist",
"occupationLocation": {
"@type": "City",
"name": "San Francisco",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"estimatedSalary": {
"@type": "MonetaryAmount",
"currency": "USD",
"value": "95000"
}
}
],
"expertise": [
"Schema markup implementation",
"Rich results optimization",
"Technical SEO audits",
"E-E-A-T optimization"
],
"award": [
"Google Search Champion 2023",
"SEO Agency of the Year 2022",
"Schema.org Community Contributor"
],
"sameAs": [
"https://linkedin.com/in/sarah-johnson-seo",
"https://twitter.com/sarahjseo",
"https://github.com/sarahj-tech-seo"
],
"url": "https://schemavalidator.org/authors/sarah-johnson",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://schemavalidator.org/authors/sarah-johnson"
},
"gender": "Female",
"birthDate": "1992-05-15",
"nationality": {
"@type": "Country",
"name": "United States"
},
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"addressLocality": "San Francisco",
"addressRegion": "CA",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"contactPoint": {
"@type": "ContactPoint",
"telephone": "+1-555-0123",
"contactType": "Professional",
"availableLanguage": ["English", "Spanish"],
"hoursAvailable": {
"@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
"dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
"opens": "09:00",
"closes": "17:00",
"timeZone": "America/Los_Angeles"
}
},
"publishingPrinciples": "https://schemavalidator.org/about#editorial-standards",
"owns": [
{
"@type": "WebSite",
"@id": "https://schemavalidator.org/#website"
}
],
"memberOf": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "SEO Professionals Association",
"url": "https://seoprofessionals.org"
}
],
"affiliation": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Schema.org Community",
"url": "https://schema.org/"
}
]
}Breaking Down the Structure
@type: Must be "Person"name: Full legal namedescription: Professional bio summaryjobTitle: Current professional role
knowsAbout: Areas of expertisehasCredential: Certifications achievedalumniOf: Educational backgroundaward: Recognition and achievements
Practical Use Cases
✍️ Author & Contributor Profiles
Blog authors, journalists, and content creators use Person schema to establish credibility and connect their bylines to professional credentials.
Impact: Search engines can better assess content authority and display author information prominently in search results and knowledge panels.
👥 Team & About Pages
Company team pages and executive profiles use Person schema to showcase leadership credentials and company expertise.
Impact: Potential clients and partners can verify leadership qualifications directly through search results and knowledge panels.
🎓 Expert & Professional Bios
Consultants, speakers, and industry experts use Person schema to highlight their professional achievements and speaking credentials.
Impact: Event organizers and potential clients can discover and verify expert credentials through enhanced search visibility.
Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
❌ Using Brand Names Instead of People
Mistake: Applying Person schema to brands, companies, or fictional characters instead of real individuals.
Fix: Person schema is only for real human beings. Use Organization schema for companies and brands. Reserve Person for actual people with verifiable identities.
❌ Overstating Credentials
Mistake: Including unverified or exaggerated credentials that could be seen as misleading.
Fix: Only include credentials you can verify with links to official sources. Be accurate about certifications, awards, and achievements. Google penalizes misleading information.
⚠️ Missing Contact Information
Mistake: Not including professional contact details or social profiles that help verify identity.
Fix: Include sameAs with LinkedIn, Twitter, or professional profiles. Add contactPoint for business contact information. This helps search engines verify your real-world identity.
⚠️ Incomplete Professional History
Mistake: Only including current job without educational background or career progression.
Fix: Include alumniOf for education, hasOccupation for career history, and award for achievements. A complete professional profile builds stronger E-E-A-T signals.
E-E-A-T Tip: Start with Core Credentials
For maximum E-E-A-T impact, focus first on verifiable credentials like education, certifications, and professional memberships. Build credibility progressively.
Validate Your Person Schema
Test your Person schema implementation to ensure proper identity verification and credibility signals.
Our comprehensive validation tool
Official Google testing tool
Related Schema Types
Person schema works with these related schemas for complete professional representation.