WebSite SearchAction markup (retired)
What it checks
Whether any sampled page still publishes a Schema.org SearchAction, usually as the potentialAction of a WebSite node. The search URL is not probed: the markup is the finding.
The OpenAPI search-operation half of the old audit is gone. It had no consumer and no retirement notice to report.
| State | Result |
|---|---|
a SearchAction on any sampled page, with or without a usable URL template |
warn, priority low |
no SearchAction, including a WebSite node without one |
notApplicable |
Why it matters
Mechanism: Google read SearchAction to show a search box under a site’s result. The claim this audit tests is that Google retired that box and that no AI vendor reads the markup, so it no longer does anything.
Evidence
- Google: “we’ll be removing this visual element starting on November 21, 2024.” — Farewell, sitelinks search box (verified 2026-10-18)
- The same post: “While you can remove sitelinks search box structured data from your site, there’s no need to do so. Unsupported structured data like this won’t cause issues in Search.” It adds that site names use a variation of
WebSitestructured data. - No AI vendor documents reading
SearchAction.
Limits
Google says removal is unnecessary and that WebSite markup still feeds site names. The message therefore says removal is optional and tells the owner to keep the WebSite node.
How it scores
Grade: D — the only documented consumer was retired by its operator. An obsolete audit carries weight 0 and never returns fail (sunset.test.ts; Audit.toCheckResult lowers a stray fail to warn). It does not move any score.
Example finding
The homepage JSON-LD has a WebSite with potentialAction: SearchAction. The report says the sitelinks search box is gone, that removing the action is optional, and that the WebSite node should stay.
Sources
- Farewell, Sitelinks Search Box — Google Search Central Blog, vendor-doc (verified 2026-10-18)
- schema.org — SearchAction — schema.org, spec (verified 2026-08-21)
- OpenAI — Getting started with GPT Actions — OpenAI, vendor-doc (verified 2026-08-21)