BugWP logo BugWP
Back to Community
Home / Community / Plugin → Rank math seo

Troubleshooting Missing or Incorrect Rank Math Schema Markup

34 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Rank math seo

Content

Rank Math SEO is a powerful tool for managing your website's structured data, but users occasionally encounter issues where schema markup is missing, incorrect, or not updating as expected. This guide will walk you through the most common causes and their solutions, based on community-reported issues.

Common Schema Problems and Their Solutions

1. Schema Markup is Completely Missing from HTML

Problem: After changing a post type's default schema (e.g., from 'Article' to 'Person'), the JSON-LD code does not appear in the page's source code, even after clearing all caches.

Why it happens: This often occurs due to a known issue where bulk changes to post type defaults do not automatically update existing posts. The schema module might also show as "Off" for individual posts.

Solution: You must manually edit and re-save each affected post. Navigate to the post editor, open the Rank Math meta box, go to the Schema tab, edit the schema type (e.g., remove and re-add "Person"), and then update the post. For new posts, ensure the schema is set to "On" and configured before publishing.

2. Schema Data is Outdated and Won't Update

Problem: The generated schema reflects old information, such as a previous business name or outdated social profiles, despite the correct data being entered in Rank Math's settings.

Why it happens: Caching is the most frequent culprit. This includes WordPress caching plugins, server-side cache, and sometimes even browser cache.

Solution:

  1. Double-check that the correct information is saved in Rank Math → General Settings → Knowledge Graph and Rank Math → Local SEO (if applicable).
  2. Clear all possible caches: your WordPress caching plugin, your hosting provider's server cache, and your browser cache.
  3. If the issue persists, try temporarily disabling your caching plugin to see if the schema updates correctly, which will confirm a caching conflict.

3. Special Characters Appear as Unicode or Encoded

Problem: Characters like ë or Arabic letters appear as Unicode escape sequences (e.g., u00eb or u062a) in the schema source code.

Why it happens: This is standard JSON encoding and is not typically an error. JSON-LD requires certain characters to be escaped to ensure valid output.

Solution: Validate your page using the Schema.org Validator or Google's Rich Results Test. These tools will parse the encoded JSON and display the characters correctly. If the validators show the proper text, the markup is working as intended.

4. Unable to Delete or Edit a Schema Type

Problem: Trying to delete a default schema (like 'Article') from a post or page does not work—it reappears after saving and reloading the editor.

Why it happens: This can be caused by a JavaScript conflict with another plugin or theme, or it may be related to how the post type's default schema is enforced.

Solution:

  1. Perform a conflict test. Deactivate all other plugins temporarily and switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four). If you can delete the schema successfully, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one to find the culprit.
  2. Ensure you are using the latest versions of WordPress, Rank Math, and your theme.
  3. Try using a different browser or a private/incognito window to rule out browser extensions causing the issue.

5. Desired Schema Type is Not Available in the List

Problem: You cannot find a specific schema type (e.g., 'WebPage', 'Optometrist', or 'Organization') in the dropdown menu within the post editor.

Why it happens: The free version of Rank Math includes the most commonly used schema types. Some more niche types, or advanced customization features, are only available in the Pro version. The 'WebPage' schema is added automatically by the plugin and is not user-selectable.

Solution: For business types not listed, you can often use the more general 'Local Business' type, which is a compliant fallback. To apply 'Organization' schema to a page like an 'About Us' page, you typically configure your organization's details in Rank Math → General Settings → Knowledge Graph, and the plugin will output it site-wide automatically.

When to Use a Validator

Before assuming there is a problem, always validate your structured data. A common misunderstanding is that nested schemas (e.g., 'Article' containing 'WebPage' and 'Organization') are an error. This nesting is by design and follows Google's guidelines. Use the Schema.org Validator to check for technical errors and Google's Rich Results Test to see if your page is eligible for enhanced search features.

By following these troubleshooting steps, you can resolve most common issues with Rank Math's schema generation. If problems persist, the wider community on independent forums like BugWP can be a valuable resource for finding specific solutions.

Related Support Threads Support