If you've searched "structured data testing tool" recently, you've probably landed on a Google support page telling you it's gone. Google retired the original Structured Data Testing Tool, and the old search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool URL now redirects away from anything useful. It's an easy tool to still be looking for - it was the default validator for years, plenty of older SEO guides still link to it, and Google never put a single obvious replacement in its place.
What Replaced It
Google split the old tool's job across two separate ones:
- Rich Results Test - checks whether your structured data makes you eligible for the enhanced search result types Google actually supports (FAQ, Product, Recipe, Article, and others). This is the one most people mean when they say "structured data testing tool" today.
- Schema Markup Validator - a community-run tool (from Schema.org itself, not Google) that validates your markup against the full Schema.org vocabulary, including types Google doesn't use for rich results at all.
The distinction matters: Rich Results Test tells you what Google will show; Schema Markup Validator tells you whether your markup is technically correct. Code can pass one and fail the other - a perfectly valid HowTo schema, for instance, validates cleanly on Schema Markup Validator but shows nothing useful on Rich Results Test, because Google stopped supporting HowTo rich results in 2023.
Which One to Use, and When
- Testing a live page you want to appear as a rich result (star ratings, FAQ dropdown, event details) → use Rich Results Test. Paste the URL or the raw code, and it flags errors and warnings specific to Google's supported types.
- Validating markup before it ships, or checking a schema type Google doesn't render as a rich result (like
OrganizationorBreadcrumbList, which inform Google without producing a visible rich snippet) → use Schema Markup Validator. - Checking what's actually indexed across your whole site, not just one page → Google Search Console's Rich Results report, under "Search appearance," tracks structured-data errors and impressions site-wide over time rather than one URL at a time.
Run all three if you can spare the ten minutes. Most sites only need Rich Results Test day-to-day, but a full validation before a template change is worth the extra step.
Common Errors Both Tools Catch
- Missing required fields - a
Productschema without apriceorimage, for example, will validate as present but ineligible for the rich result it's aiming for. - Mismatched content - schema claiming a 5-star review that doesn't appear anywhere in the visible page content. Google's guidelines require structured data to reflect what a visitor actually sees.
- Multiple conflicting schemas for the same entity on one page, often left behind after a CMS or theme change layered a new schema plugin on top of an old one without removing it.
- Invalid JSON syntax - a trailing comma or unescaped quote breaks the whole block silently; browsers ignore malformed JSON-LD rather than erroring visibly, so it can sit broken for months unnoticed.
The Fast Way to Check Yours
Testing one page at a time in Rich Results Test works fine for a single launch check, but it doesn't scale to catching schema errors across an entire site. AuditCrow's free scan checks structured data as part of its technical SEO review, alongside the rest of the fundamentals in our technical SEO checklist. For the full guide to adding schema in the first place, see structured data and schema markup.