This factor reports whether RankGear finds a SearchAction @type declaration in a page’s raw HTML. It returns 1 when the string is present and 0 when it is not — and because it pattern-matches source text rather than parsing a JSON-LD graph, a match anywhere in the source counts, so treat it as a signal of intent, not proof of valid structured data.
| Factor ID | RG-SCJ-234 |
|---|---|
| Family | Structured Data – JSON-LD |
| Measurement | Binary presence (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Raw rendered HTML |
What it measures
This factor reports whether RankGear finds an @type value of SearchAction in a page’s raw source. SearchAction is the schema.org type that describes a site’s own search function — the potential action a user can take to search the site — and is most often nested inside a WebSite entity. A value of 1 means the marker is present in the source; 0 means it was not found.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear searches the raw HTML for the string "@type": "SearchAction", allowing flexible whitespace around the colon and optionally permitting a schema: prefix on the key. Matching is case-insensitive, so differences in capitalization do not change the result.
What RankGear looks for
"@type": "SearchAction"
"schema:@type": "SearchAction" (prefix optional)
"@type":"searchaction" (whitespace and case ignored)| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The SearchAction @type string was found in the raw HTML source. |
| 0 | No SearchAction @type string was found in the source. |
How to optimize it
Use SearchAction only for a genuine site-search action with an accurate target URL template and the required query-input specification. Every property should reflect content users can verify on the page. Do not add the markup solely to flip this factor to 1 — a SearchAction that does not describe a real, working search resolves to an inaccurate description of the page, and the value here confirms only that the string exists, not that the markup is correct.
Important considerations
- The detector pattern-matches source text rather than validating a full JSON-LD graph, so a value of 1 does not confirm the structured data is well-formed.
- A matching string that sits outside valid JSON-LD — in a comment, a script that never parses, or plain text — can still produce a 1.
- Capitalization differences do not affect detection; matching is case-insensitive.
- Validate the complete structured data independently with a schema validator before relying on it.
- This is an observed presence signal that relates to how a page is described within a measured result set. It does not by itself cause or guarantee a ranking — correlation is not causation.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.