# LocalBusiness schema includes the url field

- **Pattern:** `ab-001769` (`marketing-local-seo.local-schema.schema-url-field`)
- **Severity:** info
- **Lifecycle:** active
- **Last modified:** 2026-04-18
- **Canonical URL:** https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001769
- **License:** CC-BY-4.0 — attribute to AuditBuffet Pattern Catalog (https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001769)

## Why it matters

The `url` field in a schema-org LocalBusiness entity explicitly links the structured data entity to your canonical website. Without it, Google's Knowledge Graph cannot definitively associate the JSON-LD block with your domain, weakening entity disambiguation — particularly for businesses with common names or those operating in multiple cities. It takes one field to provide this signal; omitting it is an unnecessary gap.

## Severity rationale

Info because the missing `url` field weakens entity disambiguation but does not prevent indexing, ranking, or structured data rich results from being generated.

## Remediation

Add a `url` property to your LocalBusiness JSON-LD in `app/layout.tsx`. The value should be the canonical root URL of the site, matching your `<link rel="canonical">` declaration.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Springfield Plumbing",
  "url": "https://springfieldplumbing.com"
}
```

If the URL is environment-dependent, derive it from `NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL` rather than hardcoding.

## Detection

- **ID:** `schema-url-field`
- **Severity:** `info`
- **What to look for:** Check the LocalBusiness JSON-LD for a `url` property containing the canonical website URL.
- **Pass criteria:** Count all properties in the LocalBusiness JSON-LD. The schema must include a `url` property with a non-empty string value matching at least 1 canonical domain for the site.
- **Fail criteria:** The LocalBusiness JSON-LD has no `url` property.
- **Skip (N/A) when:** No LocalBusiness JSON-LD exists (caught by parent checks), or whole-audit N/A rule applies.
- **Detail on fail:** `"LocalBusiness schema has no url field. Adding the canonical website URL helps Google associate the schema entity with the site."`
- **Remediation:** Add a `url` property to your LocalBusiness JSON-LD in `app/layout.tsx`:

  ```json
  { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "LocalBusiness", "url": "https://yourbusiness.com" }
  ```

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## External references

- schema-org url

Taxons: findability

HTML version: https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001769