How Do You Get Your Local Business Event to Show Up in Google?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 16, 2026

The short answer

Event structured data is code on an event page that tells Google the event’s name, start date and time, and location. Google uses it to show events in search and other products like Maps. The event has to be real, held at a physical place, open to the general public, and on its own page. Sales, coupons, business hours, and online-only events don’t qualify.

What this means

Google says each event needs three things in the markup:

Name. The title of the event, not the name of the place.
Start date. The date and time it begins.
Location. The place, with its street address.

Google also recommends a description, an end date, an image, the event status, the organizer, and ticket details like price and a link to buy.

Say Tall Pines Garden Center holds a free “Spring Container Gardening Workshop” on a Saturday morning at its store. It makes one page for that workshop with the date, time, address, a photo, and a sign-up link. The event markup on that page lists the same facts. That’s a good fit.

Now say the same garden center runs a “20% off all pots this weekend” sale. That’s a promotion, not an event. Google says short-term promotions, coupons, and business hours shouldn’t be marked up as events.

Google says the event experience is available in the United States and several other countries.

Why it matters

More ways to be found. People search for things to do nearby. A correctly marked-up event can show in Google’s event results.
Wrong markup can cost you. Google’s general rules say misleading markup can lead to a manual action that removes rich result eligibility.
Stale events confuse people. If an event is canceled and the page still says it’s on, people show up to a locked door.

Who this applies to

Businesses that host real, public, in-person events. Think of a salon holding a hair care class, a brewery hosting live music, a hardware store running a deck-building clinic, or a yoga studio offering a free community class.

Skip this if you don’t host public events. Also skip it for:

Sales, discounts, and coupons
Your regular business hours
Private or invite-only events. Google says events must be bookable to the general public
Online-only events with no physical place

If your tickets are sold on a ticketing platform that already works with Google’s event search, Google says you can keep posting there.

How to do it

Give each event its own page with a unique web address. Google says the page should focus on one event, not a list of many.
Put the event facts on the page where visitors can see them: name, date, start time, end time, address, price, and how to sign up.
Add event markup with the required fields: name, start date, and location with the street address.
Add the recommended fields that apply: description, end date, image, organizer, event status, and ticket details.
For a multi-day event, Google says to list both the start and end dates.
If separate sessions have their own tickets, give each session its own event entry.
If you use a website builder, check for an events feature or plugin that adds the markup for you.
Test the page before you share it (see 19.6.6 Testing Structured Data).
If plans change, update the page and the markup right away (see the steps below).

If the event is canceled, postponed, or moved:

Canceled. Change the event status to canceled. Google says to keep the other details, including the original start date, the same.
Postponed with no new date yet. Change the status to postponed and keep the original start date until you know the new one.
Rescheduled. Change the status to rescheduled and update the start and end dates. You can add the previous start date too.

Don’t delete the start date. Google says it’s needed to identify the event.

What proof to keep

A list of event pages with their dates and status
Rich Results Test results for each event page
Notes on any status changes and the date you made them

Keep these in your marketing records folder.

Common mistakes

Marking up a sale as an event. Google says not to mark up coupons, short-term promotions, or business hours as events.
Putting many events on one page with one block of markup. Each event should have its own page.
Using the venue name as the event name. “Main Street Hall” isn’t the event. “Saturday Woodworking Clinic” is.
Deleting a canceled event page. Mark it canceled instead so anyone who finds it knows.
Marking up online-only webinars. Google says virtual experiences with no physical place aren’t supported in event results.
Forgetting to update the time zone or date format. Test after every edit.

When to get help from a pro

Your web developer: if your site has no events feature or the markup shows errors. Questions to ask:

Does each event get its own page with event markup?
When I mark an event canceled on the site, does the markup change too?

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short story or lesson here. For example, a client who hosted a community event and how they promoted it, or whether you plan to hold any in-person events for SiteSmarty.]

If you’d rather have this done for you, SiteSmarty can add and check event markup on websites it manages.

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: whether SiteSmarty hosts any public in-person events, and how I set up the event page]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: event page and its Rich Results Test result, or a note that this doesn’t apply yet]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

Can I use event schema for a sale? No. Google says sales, coupons, and short-term promotions aren’t events.

Do online-only events qualify? Not for Google’s event results. Google says events must take place in a physical location.

What fields does event markup need? Google requires the event name, the start date, and the location with a street address.

What do I do if my event is canceled? Change the event status to canceled and leave the other details as they were.

Does event markup guarantee my event shows in Google? No. Google says it doesn’t guarantee structured data will show in results, even when the test passes.

Audit check

Question: Does every public in-person event have its own page with accurate event markup, and is the status kept current?
Pass looks like: One page per event, with name, start date, and location in the markup matching the page. Canceled or moved events show the right status. No sales or business hours marked as events.
Fail looks like: Promotions marked as events, several events on one page, online-only events marked up, or past or canceled events still shown as scheduled.
Evidence to collect: The event page list, Rich Results Test results, and the status change notes.

Where this fits

Do this first: 19.6.1 Local Business Structured Data

Do this next: 19.6.6 Testing Structured Data

Sources

Google Search Central, "Event (Event) structured data" (checked October 16, 2026)
Google Search Central, "General structured data guidelines" (checked October 16, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.