CriticReview Schema — Markup for Professional Reviews
CriticReview marks up a review by a critic or publication. Google retired its critic review feature in 2021; for review snippets, use Review markup instead.
Generate CriticReview JSON-LDLooking for review stars in Google? Use the Review schema generator. Google's review snippets are documented for Review markup; the critic review feature was retired.
Why critic review markup confuses people
- Older tutorials still promise a critic review rich result that Google retired in June 2021.
- Site owners assume the retirement also ended review snippets. It did not.
- The rating scale is out of 10 or 100, but bestRating is missing, so it reads as a 1 to 5 scale.
- Casual customer reviews are marked as CriticReview instead of Review or UserReview.
How SwiftSchema helps
The generator below builds a CriticReview with the critic as author, the publication as publisher, the item reviewed with its type, and a rating with its scale.
This page explains what Google retired and what still works, so you can pick CriticReview or Review for the right reason.
What is CriticReview?
Schema.org defines CriticReview as a more specialized form of Review "written or published by a source that is recognized for its reviewing activities", such as online columns, travel and food guides, TV and radio shows, blogs, and other independent sites. For casual customer or visitor reviews, schema.org suggests UserReview.
CriticReview is a subtype of Review, so it uses the same properties: author, itemReviewed, reviewRating, reviewBody, datePublished, and publisher.
What Google retired, and what still works
On June 10, 2021, Google deprecated its critic review documentation. Google's note says it tested critic review markup with a group of site owners and "ultimately found that it wasn't useful for the ecosystem at scale."
The same note says:
- The deprecation doesn't affect any other features on Google Search that use review markup. Review snippets still work.
- You can leave the markup on your site so that search engines can better understand your page.
So CriticReview is still valid schema.org, but it no longer has a dedicated Google feature. If you want stars in search results, follow Google's review snippet requirements for Review markup, including a supported item type. The Review guide covers them.
Properties
| Property | Notes |
|---|---|
author | The critic: a Person, or an Organization for an unsigned editorial review. |
itemReviewed | The item, with its specific @type (Movie, Book, Product, Restaurant) and name. |
reviewRating | A Rating with ratingValue. Add bestRating and worstRating when the scale isn't 1 to 5. |
publisher | The publication or outlet. |
datePublished | The publication date, in ISO 8601 format. |
reviewBody | The review text, or the summary shown on the page. |
headline | The review's title. |
How to build one here
- 01
Enter the review headline, URL, and publish date.
- 02
Enter the critic as the author, and the outlet as the publisher.
- 03
Enter the reviewed item’s type, such as Movie or Book, and its name.
- 04
Enter the rating, and the best and worst ratings if your scale isn’t 1 to 5.
- 05
Copy the JSON-LD and check it in the Schema Markup Validator.
Ready to build the markup?
Critic, item, rating, and scale.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a critic review rich result. Google retired it in 2021.
- Removing review markup entirely. Review snippets still work; only the critic review feature was retired.
- A missing scale. A score of 8.2 out of 10 needs
bestRating: 10. - The wrong subtype. Use CriticReview for professional reviews and UserReview or Review for customer reviews.
- A vague item type.
CreativeWorkis valid, butMovieorBooksays more. - Markup that doesn't match the page. The critic, rating, and item should match what readers see.
Required properties
author.nameitemReviewed.namereviewRating.ratingValue
Recommended properties
datePublishedreviewBodypublisher.namereviewRating.bestRatingreviewRating.worstRating
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "CriticReview",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Casey Critic"
},
"datePublished": "2025-05-04",
"reviewBody": "A deft exploration of structured data’s impact.",
"reviewRating": {
"@type": "Rating",
"ratingValue": "4",
"bestRating": "5"
},
"itemReviewed": {
"@type": "Movie",
"name": "SwiftSchema: The Markup"
}
}{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "CriticReview",
"headline": "Sharp, practical advice",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Casey Critic",
"url": "https://critics.example.com/casey"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Critics Journal"
},
"datePublished": "2025-05-04",
"reviewBody": "A deft exploration of structured data’s impact.",
"reviewRating": {
"@type": "Rating",
"ratingValue": "8.2",
"bestRating": "10",
"worstRating": "0"
},
"itemReviewed": {
"@type": "Movie",
"name": "SwiftSchema: The Markup",
"url": "https://example.com/films/swiftschema"
}
}FAQs
Does Google still show critic reviews?ShowHide
No. On June 10, 2021, Google deprecated its critic review documentation, saying it had tested the markup with a group of site owners and found it wasn't useful for the ecosystem at scale.
Should I remove CriticReview markup?ShowHide
You don't have to. Google said you can leave the markup on your site so that search engines can better understand your page. CriticReview is still a valid schema.org type.
Do review snippets still work?ShowHide
Yes. Google said the deprecation doesn't affect any other features on Google Search that use review markup. For review snippets, follow Google's Review documentation; see the Review schema guide.
CriticReview, Review, or UserReview?ShowHide
Schema.org defines CriticReview as a Review by a source recognized for reviewing, such as a column, guide, show, or independent site, and suggests UserReview for casual customer or visitor reviews. Both are subtypes of Review.
What should a CriticReview include?ShowHide
The critic as author, the item reviewed with its type and name, and a reviewRating with ratingValue. Add bestRating and worstRating when the scale isn't 1 to 5, plus the publisher and datePublished.