Free Article Schema Markup Generator

Article schema is the structured data behind nearly every blog post and news article that gets pulled into Google Discover, Top Stories, or AI search citations. If you publish content and you're not using it, you're invisible to half of Google's content surfaces. Our free generator builds Article JSON-LD with author, publish date, image, and publisher fields — no plugin required.

What Article Schema Unlocks

Article schema (and its specialized subtypes NewsArticle and BlogPosting) is what makes your content eligible for:

• Google Discover — the personalized content feed in the Google app, which can drive massive traffic spikes
• Top Stories carousel — the news strip at the top of search results for time-sensitive queries
• Article rich results — enhanced snippets with author, date, and image thumbnail
• AI search citations — Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews preferentially cite content with structured data
• Knowledge graph mentions — articles can become source citations in Google's knowledge panels

None of this happens automatically just because you have a blog post. Article schema is the explicit signal that tells Google "this is publishable editorial content, not just a webpage." Adding it should be standard practice for any content site.

Article vs BlogPosting vs NewsArticle: Which to Use

Three types inherit from Article. Use the most specific one that fits:

• NewsArticle — for news content. Required for Top Stories carousel eligibility. Use this for journalism, breaking news, current events coverage.
• BlogPosting — for blog content. Use this for opinion pieces, how-to guides, personal essays, listicles.
• Article — the parent type, fallback when neither News nor Blog fits cleanly.

If your site is a news publication, default to NewsArticle for everything. If your site is a blog, default to BlogPosting. If you're a hybrid (some news, some opinion), use the right type per piece.

The fields are nearly identical across all three. The main difference is which Google features they're eligible for. NewsArticle has the highest bar but unlocks Top Stories. BlogPosting unlocks Discover and rich results.

Required and Recommended Article Fields

Required:

• headline — article title (under 110 characters for Top Stories)
• image — high-resolution image (at least 1200px wide, multiple aspect ratios recommended)
• datePublished — ISO 8601 datetime with timezone
• author — Person object with name and url (link to an author bio page)

Recommended:

• dateModified — last update timestamp (Google uses this for freshness signals)
• publisher — Organization with name and logo
• description — article summary (matches your meta description usually)
• articleBody — full text of the article (for AI search context)
• articleSection — category (Politics, Tech, Lifestyle, etc.)
• wordCount — word count of the article
• keywords — comma-separated topic tags

The author field is critical and often skipped. Google's E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) framework leans heavily on author identity. Listing a real author with a link to a real bio page significantly improves how Google ranks editorial content.

Sell Custom Apparel — We Handle Printing & Free Shipping

Image Requirements for Article Rich Results

Google has strict image requirements for Article rich results, especially for Top Stories:

• At least 1200 pixels wide
• High-quality JPEG or PNG (not stock photos)
• Crawlable (not blocked in robots.txt)
• Hosted on your domain
• Provide multiple aspect ratios when possible: 16:9, 4:3, and 1:1 (Google picks the best one for each surface)

For multiple aspect ratios, use an array in the image field with three image URLs. Google will use the 16:9 for Discover, the 1:1 for some mobile snippets, and the 4:3 for desktop rich results. Sites that provide all three get more visual treatment than sites with just one image.

Author and Publisher: The E-E-A-T Layer

The author field uses Person schema. At minimum, include name. Strongly recommended: url (link to a bio page on your site), sameAs (link to the author's professional profiles like LinkedIn, Twitter), jobTitle, and worksFor.

Build a real author bio page for each writer on your site. Include the author's photo, bio, area of expertise, contact info, and a list of articles they've written. Link to this page from the schema. Google uses author bio pages as a trust signal — more so for articles in YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health, finance, and law.

The publisher field uses Organization schema. Include name and logo. The logo here should be the same logo you use in your homepage Organization schema for consistency.

Adding Article Schema to Every Blog Post Automatically

For a content site, you don't want to hand-write schema for every post. Automate it:

WordPress: Yoast and Rank Math both auto-generate Article schema for posts. If you don't want a plugin, write a child theme function that hooks into wp_head for single post pages and outputs the JSON-LD using post meta values.

Static site generators: Most have plugins (Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy, Astro) that generate Article schema from frontmatter. Configure once, never think about it again.

Headless CMS: Build the schema in your front-end framework (Next.js, Gatsby, Nuxt) using the post data from your CMS. Render it as a script tag in the page head.

Use the generator to build a template post with all the fields populated correctly, then translate that pattern into your automation. The hard part is getting the fields right once — after that it's just template substitution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I use Article, BlogPosting, or NewsArticle?

Use the most specific type that fits. NewsArticle for journalism and current events (required for Top Stories). BlogPosting for opinion, how-to, and personal blogs. Article as a fallback when neither fits cleanly. The fields are nearly identical across all three.

Do I need a real author with a real bio page?

Yes, for Google's E-E-A-T framework. Listing a real author with a link to a bio page on your site is one of the strongest trust signals you can give. This matters most for YMYL topics (health, finance, law) but helps everywhere.

What's the minimum image size for Article schema?

Google recommends at least 1200 pixels wide, high-quality JPEG or PNG. For Top Stories eligibility, provide multiple aspect ratios (16:9, 4:3, 1:1) so Google can use the right one for each search surface.

Do I need both datePublished and dateModified?

Yes if you ever update articles after publishing. datePublished is the original publish date. dateModified is the last update. Google uses dateModified as a freshness signal — updating an article and bumping dateModified can boost rankings for older content.

Can I use Article schema on landing pages?

No. Landing pages, product pages, and homepage are not articles — they're different content types. Use Article only for editorial content. For landing pages, use WebPage. For products, use Product. For your homepage, use Organization or WebSite.

Will Article schema get me into Google Discover?

It's required but not sufficient. Article schema is the eligibility gate for Discover. From there, Discover ranks content based on user interest signals, image quality, freshness, and topical relevance. Without schema you can't even compete; with schema you're in the running.