Video Schema: VideoObject Markup for Rich Results, Clips, and AI Citation
VideoObject schema is the structured data markup that enables videos to appear in Google's rich result formats - video carousels, standalone video rich results, and the Key Moments (Clip) jump-link feature that lets users skip directly to specific video segments from the SERP. For AEO, Video schema is the prerequisite for video content to be surfaced in AI-mediated discovery contexts: Google Assistant video recommendations, AI Overview video citations, and Discover feed video cards.
Beyond rich results, the most impactful AEO practice for video content is the transcript corpus approach - publishing page-level transcripts, detailed show notes, and structured blog posts that convert spoken video content into text that AI retrieval systems can directly index and cite. Video files themselves are not directly readable by text-embedding-based retrieval - the transcript is.
For context see Podcasts & Audio AEO and FAQ Schema.
Video Rich Result Formats - Carousel, Standalone, and Clip
Three formats Video schema can enable in Google Search - toggle between each to see the display format and schema requirements:
How to Implement FAQ Schema Markup in 2026
AEO Practitioner Channel
Mar 10, 2026
Video Carousel Item
Appears in the Videos carousel on the SERP. Shows thumbnail, title, channel/creator name, publish date, and video duration. Most common format for informational content.
VideoObject JSON-LD - Basic and Clip Schema Examples
Toggle between the basic VideoObject schema and the full Clip/hasPart implementation with timestamped segments:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "How to Implement FAQ Schema in 2026: Complete Guide",
"description": "A complete walkthrough of FAQPage schema markup...",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://example.com/thumbnails/faq-schema-guide.jpg",
"uploadDate": "2026-03-10",
"duration": "PT12M34S",
"contentUrl": "https://example.com/videos/faq-schema-guide.mp4",
"embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "AEO Practitioner Network",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://example.com/logo.png"
}
},
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Jane Smith"
}
}VideoObject Field Reference
Complete field reference with required vs optional status, format specifications, and implementation notes for each VideoObject property:
| Field | Required | Format | Implementation note |
|---|---|---|---|
| name | Required | String | Use the full video title as it appears on the platform. Include target keywords naturally. |
| description | Required | String | Min 150 characters. Describe what viewers will learn. Include key terms naturally. This text is used for rich result and AI citation description. |
| thumbnailUrl | Required | URL (jpg/png/gif/webp) | Min 160x90px; recommend 1280x720 (16:9). High-quality thumbnail increases CTR from rich results. |
| uploadDate | Required | Date (ISO 8601, YYYY-MM-DD) | Date the video was first published. Do not update this date on content revisions. |
| duration | Optional | ISO 8601 duration (PT12M34S) | PT=Period Time, H=hours, M=minutes, S=seconds. Example: 1h 23m 45s = PT1H23M45S. Strongly recommended for rich result display. |
| contentUrl | Optional | URL (direct video file) | Direct link to the video file (.mp4). Not required if embedUrl is provided. Required for Google to crawl the video content. |
| embedUrl | Optional | URL (embed player URL) | YouTube embed URL recommended. Either contentUrl or embedUrl is required - provide both when available. |
| hasPart (Clip) | Optional | Array of Clip @type objects | Enables the video to show timestamp jump links in search results. startOffset/endOffset in seconds. |