The symptom
- Schema has no
brandobject; Merchant Center flags *Missing brand*. - Brand only exists inside the product title or description text.
Why it matters
Assistants group and compare by brand ("best Mars Hydro grow light under €300"). Without a structured brand, your product cannot be placed in that comparison, and Google demotes listings of branded goods without the field.
How to check it yourself
- Rich Results Test → Product →
brand.name. - WooCommerce ≥ 9.6 has a built-in Brands taxonomy (Products → Brands). Is it populated?
How to fix it
- Use the native Brands taxonomy (or Perfect Brands / the
pa_brandattribute on older stores) and assign one brand per product; bulk-assign with Quick Edit or CSV import. - Rank Math and Yoast read the WooCommerce Brands taxonomy automatically; otherwise map the attribute in the plugin’s *Brand* setting.
- Map the same field to
brandin your product feeds.