Forget Schema. AI Retrieves What It Trusts.

For over a decade, SEO advice has revolved around Schema markup.

Need more visibility? Add FAQPage.

Want to show up for a product? Use Product, Offer, Review.

Structured data, we were told, is the key to showing up in search.

But that’s not how AI systems work.

Schema might help search engines see your page.

But AI systems don’t crawl. They retrieve.

And they retrieve what they trust.

AI Doesn’t Cite Schema

When you ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Google’s AI Overview for answers, they’re not reading your HTML. They’re pulling structured facts from memory — built from trusted content that’s:

• Exposed in machine-readable formats
• Aligned with authoritative sources
• Reinforced over time through repetition and co-occurrence

They’re not citing your Schema.

They’re citing your structure — if you gave it to them.

What AI Retrieval Actually Looks For

LLMs and retrieval-based systems like Perplexity don’t rely on markup for trust.

They prefer:

• Turtle (TTL) — for semantic graphs
• JSON — for data structure
• Markdown — for summarization
• PROV — for provenance and verification
• Clear, consistent definitions — like DefinedTerm blocks
• Machine-readable endpoints — not just web pages

If you’re not delivering these, you’re not training the system to retrieve you.

For more on how this shift is unfolding, see the LinkedIn article breaking down why Schema isn’t retrieved — and what is.

Introducing the Semantic Digest

A Semantic Digest is a structured, multi-format output layer that exposes the trust layer of your content.

Unlike Schema, which tags what your page is, a Semantic Digest explains:

• What’s true
• What’s defined
• What’s calculated
• And where that data came from

It’s what AI systems want to read, retain, and cite.

From Markup to Memory

Schema markup was built to assist crawlers.

Semantic Digests are built for AI memory conditioning.

If you want to appear in:

• Google AI Overviews
• Featured Snippets
• Perplexity summaries
• Chatbot answers
• Voice agents

...you need more than metadata. You need retrievable structure.

Final Word: The Shift Has Already Started

The future of content visibility isn’t about ranking higher.

It’s about being remembered.

And if you’re still relying on Schema markup to get there, you're already being outpaced by those publishing Semantic Digests, structured endpoints, and source-aligned trust layers.

Forget Schema.

AI retrieves what it trusts. Period.

You'll find an example of how to intentionally train AI to cite your content in this foundational LinkedIn piece.