Schema Mountain Part 3 — The Black Diamond Schemas That Unlock AI Authority & Citations

Welcome to the top of Schema Mountain.

Up here the snow is thinner, the runs are steeper, and this is where most websites — and most SEOs — tap out.

But if you want to be cited inside AI answers…

If you want ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Copilot to treat your brand like a source of truth…

This is the terrain that gets you there.

---

Why Black Diamond Schema Exists

The Black Diamond runs aren’t decoration.

These schemas create expert-level clarity around:

• Your knowledge

• Your authority

• Your content relationships

• Your identity

• Your expertise

• Your role in the broader topic graph

This is where your website stops being “a website”…

and becomes an entity with expertise.

AI engines lean heavily on this layer.

Why?

Because it helps them answer harder questions — and helps them determine who deserves to be cited.

This is the final step in AEO/GEO maturity.

---

Knowledge Knifepoint: Knowledge Graph & Entity Layer

Knowledge Knifepoint is where you build your own topic graph.

Not Google’s.

Not Wikipedia’s.

Yours.

This is how you structure your expertise in a way AI can navigate.

Key Schema Types

• DefinedTerm

• DefinedTermSet

• Dataset

• AlignmentObject

• CreativeWorkSeries

Where to Use It

• Glossaries

• Terminology hubs

• Research pages

• Data reports

• Multi-part content series

• Video series pages

• Any long-form topical depth content

This is the stuff AI engines pull from when deciding:

• How informed are you?

• How comprehensive is your topic coverage?

• Should you be a cited source?

If you want to earn the “According to…” line inside AI answers —

Knowledge Knifepoint is the run that gets you there.

---

Trustfall Tundra: Industry Authority Schemas

Trustfall Tundra is the precision layer — built for industries where accuracy isn’t optional.

Medical.

Legal.

Scientific.

Financial.

If you operate in a regulated niche, these schemas are non-negotiable.

Key Schema Types

• ScholarlyArticle

• ResearchProject

• Report

• MedicalWebPage

• Legislation

• LegalService

Why It Matters

This is how you tell AI:

“We’re not guessing. We know what we’re talking about.”

When AI decides:

• Which answer should I trust?

• Which site deserves attribution?

…it looks for exactly these structures.

This is where AI separates serious expertise from generic online noise.

---

Platform Plunge: SaaS & Software Schema

If you offer software, dashboards, tools, or a SaaS product, this is your lane.

Platform Plunge is how you describe your:

• App

• Features

• Pricing

• Tiers

• Onboarding

• Documentation

• Support flow

Key Schema Types

• SoftwareApplication / WebApplication

• OfferCatalog

• HowTo / HowToStep

Why It Matters

AI engines need structured data to understand:

• What your product does

• Who it’s for

• How it works

• How to get started

Without schema, AI sees your SaaS the same way it sees a blog post.

Platform Plunge is how you stand out when someone asks:

“What’s the best tool for X?”

“What software solves Y?”

This is how you get recommended.

---

Broadcast Bluff: Video Series, Broadcasts & Live Content

If you publish video, this run is essential.

Broadcast Bluff teaches AI how your video universe fits together — not just a single clip.

Key Schema Types

• MediaObject

• Clip

• BroadcastEvent

• BroadcastService

Why It Matters

This schema tells AI:

• How episodes relate

• How clips map to long-form content

• Which videos belong to a series

• What your channel covers

• How your media fits into your domain authority

It turns your scattered uploads into a structured video ecosystem.

If you want your videos to surface in AI answers —

Broadcast Bluff makes it happen.

---

Identity Icefall: Roles, Relationships & Author Identity

Identity Icefall is where everything gets tied together:

• You.

• Your team.

• Your brand.

• Your expertise.

• Your content history.

• Your authority signals.

This is the schema run that helps AI understand who said what, and why they should trust you.

Key Schema Types

• Role

• PropertyValue (credentials, awards, IDs)

• Affiliation (inside Person)

• Multiple Person entities with clearly defined roles

Why It Matters

If you want AI to correctly attribute answers and citations to:

“Kevin Roy from GreenBanana SEO”

— this is the schema that makes it possible.

Most websites skip this entirely.

That’s exactly why it’s a Black Diamond.

---

What Black Diamond Schema Unlocks

This is the schema layer that separates hobby sites from authority brands.

Black Diamond schemas help you:

• Build topic ownership

• Clarify your expertise

• Create reusable AI-ready knowledge

• Structure your software

• Elevate your video ecosystem

• Define your entity relationships

• Tie your people to your brand

• Become the source engines trust

This is the run where:

Brands become experts… and experts become the answers.

---

The Full Mountain: Green, Blue, Black

You’ve now seen the entire mountain:

• 🟢 Green Circle — Foundations

• 🔷 Blue Square — Authority & visibility

• ⬛ Black Diamond — Entity mastery & citations

If you implement even half of what’s in this series, you’re already ahead of 99% of businesses online.

On my website, you’ll find a full Schema Mountain Guidebook with links to every schema type mentioned in the Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert trails.

Your climb starts now — and AI search visibility is the summit.

---