Schema Mountain Part 2 — Blue Square Trails for Authority, Visibility & AI-Ready Content
Welcome back to Schema Mountain — where we take the driest part of SEO and turn it into something you can actually understand, visualize, and deploy.
In Part 1, we covered the Green Circle runs: the foundational schema every website needs to even qualify for AI visibility.
Now we’re taking the lift up into the Blue Square runs — the intermediate trails that build:
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Authority
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Rich results
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Topic depth
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AI citation potential
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And real visibility inside ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Copilot
If the Green runs helped AI understand who you are, the Blue runs teach AI why you matter.
This is where your site starts earning:
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“According to…” citations
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Rich results
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Credibility signals
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Visibility in AI-generated answers
If the Green trails were your warm-up… the Blues are where you start carving.
Thought Leader Loop: Articles, Blogs & Expert Content
Thought leadership lives on this run.
The schema types here turn your content into AI-ready assets that models can quote, summarize, and trust.
Key Schema Types
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Article
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BlogPosting
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NewsArticle
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TechArticle
Whenever you publish:
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Blog posts
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Industry insights
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Thought-leadership content
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Reports
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Guides or analysis
…this is the schema that tells AI:
“This isn’t random text — this is an article written by an expert on a specific topic.”
If you watched my AEO video, you remember the trust component:
AI engines must understand who wrote the content and why the content is authoritative.
Thought Leader Loop is how you unlock those coveted “According to…” citations.
Knowledge Knoll: FAQ & Q&A Schema
Knowledge Knoll is all about packaging your answers in a form AI can instantly trust and reuse.
Key Schema Types
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FAQPage
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QAPage
If you’re not using FAQ or Q&A schema on:
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Service pages
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Product pages
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Resource hubs
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Help centers
—you’re leaving authority on the table.
AI models love structured Q&A because it’s clean, unambiguous, and built for answer reuse.
This schema makes your answers:
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Machine-readable
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Citation-friendly
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More likely to appear in AI-generated summaries
Merchandise Meadow: Product & Service Schema
Welcome to clarity.
This run is all about making your offers unambiguous — for both humans and AI.
Key Schema Types
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Product
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Service
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Offer
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PriceSpecification
This is where you tell AI:
“Here’s exactly what we sell, who it’s for, and how much it costs.”
If someone asks Gemini:
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“What are the best skis for powder?”
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“Where can I rent the best demo equipment in Vermont?”
—AI engines need structured detail about your product or service.
This is how they recommend solutions.
This is how they match your offering to user intent.
AI can’t recommend what it can’t understand.
Render Run: Media Schema (Video, Audio, Images)
This is where your media finally gets treated like real assets.
Key Schema Types
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VideoObject
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ImageObject
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AudioObject
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PodcastSeries / PodcastEpisode
Your media is a goldmine for visibility — but only if AI can read it.
Without schema, your:
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YouTube videos
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Shorts
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Podcast episodes
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Infographics
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Hero images
…are essentially buried.
Media schema is how you show up in:
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Video carousels
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Featured media snippets
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Rich multimedia blocks
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AI engine recommendations
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“According to this video…” citations
AI engines actively pull from media.
Render Run makes your media discoverable.
Vertical Valley: Local Business Vertical Types
Vertical Valley is where things get specific.
This schema tells AI exactly what type of business you are — not just your name, but your niche.
Key LocalBusiness Subtypes
Trades & Home Services
HVACBusiness, Electrician, Plumber, HomeAndConstructionBusiness
Health & Medical
MedicalOrganization, Dentist, Physician
Legal & Financial
Attorney, LegalService, FinancialService, InsuranceAgency, BankOrCreditUnion
Retail & Food
Store, GroceryStore, ClothingStore, HardwareStore,
Restaurant, CafeOrCoffeeShop, BarOrPub
Real Estate
RealEstateAgent
Why It Matters
This schema is massive for relevance.
If AI doesn’t know your vertical, it can’t match you to the correct intent.
Vertical schema is one of the strongest signals you can send about what you actually do.
Landmark Lookout: Events, Places & Tourism
If you run events, have a venue, host conferences, or work in hospitality — Landmark Lookout is your run.
Key Schema Types
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Event, BusinessEvent, EducationEvent,
SportsEvent, MusicEvent, Festival
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LandmarksOrHistoricalBuildings
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TouristAttraction
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TouristDestination
Why It Matters
This is how AI understands:
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Locations
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Attractions
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Venues
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“Things to do”
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Time-based events
If someone asks:
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“What’s happening in Boston this weekend?”
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“What should I do in Beverly?”
This schema is how you show up.
Recipe Ridge: How-To & Recipe Schema
Recipe Ridge is all about procedural clarity — the step-by-step instructions people ask AI every day.
Key Schema Types
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HowTo
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Recipe
AI LOVES procedural content.
It can break it down, explain it, reformat it, and provide it as an answer.
Think about how often people ask:
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“How do I ski moguls?”
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“How do I tune a snowboard?”
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“How do I make the best après-ski cocktail?”
HowTo schema makes your content the answer.
Why Blue Square Schema Matters
Blue Square schema is where your visibility starts to scale.
These schemas:
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Build authority
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Strengthen topic relevance
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Clarify your offers
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Make your content AI-readable
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Unlock media visibility
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Create citation-ready content
This is where real AEO/GEO separation happens.
The brands that implement this layer will dominate AI-driven search for years.
Next Up: Black Diamond Runs
Now… the next post — Part 3 — is where things get steep.
The Black Diamond runs take you into:
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Topic graphs
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Author identity
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Relationship mapping
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Trust structures
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Advanced schema engines rely on to decide:
“Who should I cite?”
If you’re ready for that terrain, keep reading.
Schema Mountain Part 1: In case you missed the beginner runs!!.
