Google processed over 5 trillion searches in 2025. That number is meaningless on its own—what matters is how those searches changed. According to Google’s Year in Search report, queries are becoming longer, more specific, and more conversational.
People aren’t searching “best pizza Calgary” anymore. They’re searching:
“Where can I get a really good thin-crust pepperoni pizza that’s open late near Kensington and also has decent vegetarian options for my partner?”
That’s not a keyword. That’s a paragraph.
And Google doesn’t answer paragraphs by guessing—it answers them by understanding entities, relationships, and context. If your website can’t communicate those things in a language Google’s systems actually read, you’re invisible to the queries that matter most.
The Shift: What Google’s Data Actually Shows
The Year in Search 2025 report highlights three behavioral changes that directly impact how businesses need to structure their web presence.
1. Complex, Conversational Queries Are Now the Norm
People are asking full questions with multiple constraints. Not “plumber Calgary” but “emergency plumber who can come tonight and doesn’t charge extra for after-hours.” Not “running shoes” but “best running shoes for flat feet under $150 that work on trails.”
These queries don’t have a single keyword to optimize for. They have intent—and Google’s language models (like BERT and MUM) are trained to parse that intent by understanding the relationships between concepts, not just matching words.
2. Visual Search Is Exploding
Google Lens usage for product discovery continues to climb. People photograph products, plants, outfits, and expect instant answers.
This matters technically because visual search relies on entity recognition. Google isn’t just reading your image filename—it’s connecting what it sees in an image to what it knows about your business. That connection depends on:
- Image alt text that actually describes the content (not “IMG_4532.jpg”)
- Product schema with properly linked
imageproperties - Image sitemaps that tell Google where your visual assets live
- Consistent entity data across your site
Most businesses treat alt text as an accessibility checkbox. It’s also a search visibility signal.
3. Search Queries Now Expect AI-Assisted Answers
People aren’t just searching “what is [thing]” anymore. They’re asking task-oriented questions that assume intelligent parsing: “Help me plan a weekend trip to Banff that’s dog-friendly and under $500.”
Google’s AI Overviews and featured snippets pull from sources the system can parse confidently. If your content is technically ambiguous, you don’t get cited.
Why This Breaks Traditional SEO
The Keyword Density Problem
Traditional SEO taught us to identify keywords and ensure they appear with appropriate frequency. This worked when queries were 2-3 words. Conversational queries of 10-20 words don’t have a “keyword”—they have intent.
Old query: "Calgary web design"
New query: "who builds websites for small restaurants in Calgary that include online ordering"The second query contains “Calgary,” “web design” (loosely), and “restaurants,” but no single phrase captures what the searcher actually wants. The page that ranks isn’t the one with the best keyword density—it’s the one that answers the question.
For businesses, this means ranking is less about repeating phrases and more about whether Google can confidently understand who you are, what you offer, and under what conditions you’re relevant.
Schema Markup: From Nice-to-Have to Essential
Structured data (schema markup) tells Google explicitly what your content means. When someone asks a complex question, Google doesn’t just match words—it matches entities and relationships.
This is what Google actually reads—not your page design:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Restaurant",
"@id": "https://example.com/#restaurant",
"name": "Example Trattoria",
"servesCuisine": "Italian",
"openingHoursSpecification": {
"@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
"dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"],
"opens": "11:00",
"closes": "23:00"
},
"amenityFeature": {
"@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification",
"name": "Outdoor Seating",
"value": true
},
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"addressLocality": "Calgary",
"addressRegion": "AB",
"streetAddress": "123 Kensington Road NW"
}
}With this markup, when someone searches “Italian restaurant open late Kensington outdoor seating,” Google doesn’t have to infer from your page copy. It knows. Your restaurant becomes a structured entity in Google’s knowledge graph, not just a page with some text on it.
This is where our technical web development team spends significant time on client projects—building the machine-readable layer that most agencies skip entirely.
What We’ve Implemented for Clients
For a multi-location optometry practice we work with, comprehensive schema markup resulted in:
- Rich results appearing for 12 of their 15 target service keywords
- Knowledge panel appearances for 4 of 6 locations
- 73% increase in “near me” query visibility within 90 days
The implementation included LocalBusiness schema for each location with linked service offerings, FAQ schema for their most common patient questions, and proper @id references connecting their practice entity across all location pages.
For an e-commerce client, Product schema with proper review markup increased click-through rates on Shopping results by 28%—star ratings and price visibility in search results make a measurable difference.
The Case For Aggressive Schema Implementation
1. First-mover advantage is real.
Most local businesses have zero or minimal structured data. Implementing comprehensive schema now puts you ahead of competitors who won’t catch up for years.
2. AI Overviews favor structured data.
Google’s AI-generated summaries pull from sources it can parse confidently. Schema makes your content parseable.
3. Voice search is conversational by nature.
Every smart speaker query is conversational. Schema answers voice queries directly.
4. It’s measurable.
Rich results, knowledge panel appearances, and featured snippets are trackable wins that demonstrate ROI.
The Honest Caveats
1. Schema alone doesn’t rank you.
Structured data helps Google understand your content—it doesn’t make bad content good. A site with great schema and thin content still loses to a site with excellent content and no schema.
2. Implementation cost is non-trivial.
Proper schema requires developer time. For a small business with a 5-page WordPress site, the ROI may not justify custom implementation. (That said, plugins like Yoast and RankMath handle basics adequately for simple sites.)
3. Google’s algorithm is a black box.
We’re inferring schema’s importance from Google’s behavior and public statements. They could deprioritize it tomorrow. (Counterpoint: they’ve consistently moved toward structured data for over a decade.)
4. Over-engineering is possible.
Adding schema for every conceivable entity can create maintenance burden and potential errors. Start with high-impact schema types before going deep.
The real risk isn’t doing schema wrong. It’s doing nothing while your competitors quietly build machine-readable sites.
What Businesses Should Actually Do
Tier 1: Essentials — This is table stakes.
Every business, regardless of size, should have:
- LocalBusiness or Organization schema with complete NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
- OpeningHoursSpecification for every location
- Review/AggregateRating schema if you have testimonials
- Proper image alt text that describes what’s actually in the image
Tier 2: Industry-Specific — This is where ROI shows up.
Based on your business type:
- Product schema for e-commerce (price, availability, reviews)
- Service schema for service businesses (service area, service types)
- FAQ schema for common questions (appears directly in search results)
- HowTo schema for instructional content
- Event schema for businesses with recurring events
Tier 3: Advanced — This is how you outrank better-known competitors.
For businesses ready to invest in technical differentiation:
- Speakable schema for content optimized for voice assistants
- Interconnected schema with @id references creating a local knowledge graph
- Video schema with clip markup for YouTube embeds
- BreadcrumbList for site navigation signals
Start here: Run your site through Google’s Rich Results Test and see what you’re missing. The gaps are usually larger than expected.
If you want a comprehensive review, our team offers structured data and technical SEO audits that identify exactly what’s missing and prioritize implementation by impact.
The Technical Floor Is Rising
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the minimum technical competence required to compete in search is rising every year. Five years ago, you could rank with good content and basic on-page SEO. Today, you need that plus structured data, plus Core Web Vitals compliance, plus mobile optimization, plus proper internal linking architecture.
Google’s Year in Search 2025 isn’t just a trend report—it’s a signal. The way people search has changed. The queries are longer. The expectations are higher. And Google’s systems are getting better at understanding which sites actually answer the question versus which ones just contain the right words.
The businesses that win in search over the next five years won’t be the loudest. They’ll be the ones Google understands best.
Ready to find out where your site stands? Request a technical SEO audit and we’ll show you exactly what Google sees—and what it’s missing.
Sources:
- Google Year in Search 2025 — Think with Google
- Introduction to Structured Data — Google Search Central
- Schema.org — Structured data vocabulary
Written by Peter Jaffray, technical SEO specialist and developer with 10+ years of experience implementing structured data for multi-location businesses. Last updated December 2025.