Frequently Asked Questions
If I provide a different Churp file for each region, do I need to include values for other countries?
No. If your data is already region-specific (for example, stock levels only for the UK), you only need to include those values. But if your source includes global data (like total stock worldwide) you should use by_countries to break it down per region.
Can I minify my Churp JSON?
Yes. Churp can be minified to reduce page size, as long as it remains valid JSON. Minification doesn't affect AI readability.
How often should I update my Churp data?
As often as your product or service changes. Certain properties within value and availability should only be implemented if the data reflects the live status.
How can I validate my Churp?
We plan to provide a dedicated validation system for Churp in the future to help ensure accuracy and compliance. If you're interested in contributing to this effort or getting involved with developing Churp, please contact us using the link in the footer or by visiting the contribute page. We welcome all collaboration.
In the meantime, you can use a JSON validator to check that your JSON is properly formatted and syntactically correct. However, please note that while a JSON validator can ensure your data is valid JSON, it does not verify that your Churp schema itself is valid or follows Churp-specific rules.
How will search engines interpret my Churp?
Churp is not designed primarily for SEO or search engines, but because it provides clear, structured JSON data, it can indirectly help search engines understand your content better, which may have a positive effect on rankings. However, it does not guarantee SEO benefits in the way Schema.org markup is designed to do.
We advise using Churp alongside traditional Schema.org markup, as they serve different roles.
Will adding Churp affect my page speed?
Churp is lightweight and designed to have minimal impact on page performance. It uses efficient JSON formatting, which is widely adopted for structured data due to its small size and fast parsing. Churp includes only essential fields, reducing redundancy. This makes it suitable for fast-loading websites and optimised for both user experience and machine readability.
Can I use Churp alongside Schema.org?
Yes. We recommend using Churp in addition to Schema.org. Schema.org helps with SEO and rich snippets, while Churp provides the structure and detail needed to enable conversational commerce.
Can I use Churp if I don't sell online?
Yes. You don't need a transactional website to implement Churp. You can expose descriptive, structured data for AI to understand your offering.
Will Churp still be relevant as AI improves its understanding of websites?
As AI continues to improve, the need for high-quality structured data becomes even more important. While AI systems are better than ever at parsing unstructured text, they are still limited by ambiguity, missing context and inconsistencies in how information is presented.
Churp eliminates these issues by providing AI with precise, reliable, and commerce-specific data. It allows AI to access structured product and service information directly, including specifications, availability, user intent, pricing logic and regional constraints, without relying on inference or guesswork.
Why not just add more detailed plain text on web pages?
Leaving large blocks of verbose text on web pages makes it hard for AI to present clear information. Without structured data, AI systems often have to guess or infer meaning, which dramatically increases the likelihood of hallucinations. In commerce, these hallucinations can be particularly dangerous, leading to incorrect pricing, false availability or misleading product details.
In addition to this, Churp data exposes necessary information for AI which users wouldn't want to see. This includes product relationship types, UX preferences, region rules, shipping logic and pricing logic. This data is crucial for AI systems understanding but wouldn't provide a good user experience if displayed on a web page.
How is Churp different from Schema.org?
Schema.org is designed to improve search engine indexing and generate rich snippets. It captures basic product facts but does not provide the level of detailed data or transactional context needed to facilitate conversational commerce. Its focus is on enhancing search experiences rather than enabling AI-driven interactions.
In contrast, Churp goes far beyond this by providing rich product and service data in a format optimised for AI understanding. It offers essential fields such as user-intent linked actions, regional restrictions, compliance signals and shipping logic. These fields are essential in allowing AI systems to understand and engage with products and services at a much deeper level.