Person Schema

Person is a Schema.org type for describing an individual: name, photo, job title, credentials, and social links. It is essential for establishing author expertise.

Why It Matters for GEO

Claude places particular emphasis on identified authors. Person schema establishes the author-article link and reinforces E-E-A-T signals that are critical for AI citations.

AI engines increasingly distinguish between anonymous content and content written by a named, verifiable expert. An article attributed to "the editorial team" carries less weight than an article authored by someone with a Person schema, a LinkedIn profile, and a history of publications in the field. For service businesses built on personal expertise — consultants, advisors, specialists — Person schema is one of the highest-leverage GEO investments available.

How to Optimize

1. Create a dedicated author page
2. Include photo, bio, and credentials
3. Link to LinkedIn and verifiable profiles
4. Use as the author property in Article schema

Example

{
  "@type": "Person",
  "@id": "#expert",
  "name": "Jane Smith",
  "jobTitle": "GEO Expert",
  "image": "/team/jane.jpg",
  "sameAs": ["https://linkedin.com/in/jane"]
}

Practical Example

A cybersecurity consultant publishes articles without author attribution — just a company logo at the top. After creating a dedicated author page with a bio, headshot, and Person schema that links to her LinkedIn and two industry association profiles, she adds herself as the named author on all existing articles. Within six weeks, Claude and Perplexity begin citing her by name rather than citing the company generically. Her personal brand grows in parallel with the company's AI visibility.

Common Mistakes

• No dedicated author page: Linking a Person schema to a non-existent URL tells AI the entity cannot be verified. Create a real /about or /team page for each author.
• Missing sameAs links: Without external profile links (LinkedIn, industry directories, publisher bios), AI cannot cross-reference and confirm the person's identity and expertise.
• Generic job titles: "Consultant" is too vague. "B2B Cybersecurity Strategy Consultant" gives AI and users a clear, specific signal about your area of expertise.
• Not linking Person to Article: Defining a Person schema is only half the work. You must reference that person as the author in your Article schema to complete the author-content relationship.