How to Fix Broken Schema References (When an @id Points at Nothing)
Parts of your structured data point at something, often your business, your website or an author, that is never actually described anywhere on your site. Rebuilding the markup on those pages makes every pointer lead somewhere real.
In your report
References point at something that does not exist
What this means
Structured data can describe something once and then point back at it from other places, using a fixed name called an @id. A blog post, for example, can say "written by" and "published by" just by pointing at your business, instead of describing the business all over again.
This problem means some of those pointers lead nowhere. The post says it was published by your business, but no page on your site actually describes that business. Our check follows every pointer across the pages it read, and lists each one that never arrives anywhere.
It usually happens when the page that held the full description was removed or changed, when a plugin or theme points at an author page that is switched off, or when markup was copied from another site.
Why it matters for AI
An AI tool that follows the pointer expects an answer, such as who runs the business, and finds a gap instead. A pointer that leads nowhere is worse than no pointer at all, because it promises information and then does not deliver it.
Your score reflects that: a broken reference costs more than simply leaving the detail out.
Fix it with AI Schema Gen
Every step below is in the AI Schema Gen dashboard, whatever your site is built with. For the fixes to reach your pages, your site needs to be connected first: connect your site.
- 1
Open Fixes
In the menu on the left, click Fixes.
- 2
Fill in your business details first
If Complete your business details is on the page, do that first: click Add your business details, fill in the form and click Save.
Many broken references point at your business. Saving these details is what puts the full description of your business on your homepage, so those pointers have something to arrive at. The steps are in AI can't answer questions about your business.
- 3
Find the broken references card
Scroll down to Understand. The card references point at something that does not exist shows how many pages are affected and lists the first few.
Click Review structured data.
- 4
Tick the pages and click Auto Generate
Schema Manager opens with every page of your site. Type a page from the card into Search pages (1) and tick the box next to it (2). Do the same for each page on the card.
Tick your homepage too. It is the page that holds the full description of your business, so it needs to be rebuilt along with the pages that point at it.
Then click Auto Generate with the number of pages you ticked (3). We work out the right markup for each page again and replace what we put there before, and every pointer in the new markup leads to something described on your site.
- 5
Wait for it to finish
Each page shows Generating… while it is being rebuilt. When it finishes, the page lists its new schema types, and your live pages are updated.
- 6
Check again
Go back to Fixes and click Check again. When every reference leads somewhere, this problem moves to Resolved.
On WordPress
If you use Yoast SEO or Rank Math, our plugin takes out the parts of their markup that overlap with ours, and uses the same names for your business and website that they do, so their remaining pointers still arrive. Markup added by any other plugin, by your theme or by hand is not something we can change from the dashboard. If the problem is still listed after you generate, one of those is the likely source.
Check it worked
Run the free AI readiness check again once your pages are rebuilt. This problem should be gone from the Understand part of the report.
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