Google has updated the first paragraph of its Organization structured data search developer documentation. Google said the update is to clarify “that some properties can influence which logo is shown, while others are used behind the scenes.”
As a reminder, organization structured data is information about your organization, such as your logo, legal name of the organization, address, contact information, and company identifiers. This information can show up in knowledge panels and other visual elements, such as attribution.
The new paragraph says:
Adding organization structured data to your home page can help Google better understand your organization’s administrative details and disambiguate your organization in search results. Some properties are used behind the scenes to disambiguate your organization from other organizations (like iso6523 and naics), while others can influence visual elements in Search results (such as which logo is shown in Search results and your knowledge panel). If you’re a merchant, you can influence more details in your merchant knowledge panel and brand profile, such as return policy, address, and contact information. There are no required properties; instead, we recommend adding as many properties that are relevant to your organization.
Compare that to the old version, which reads:
You can use organization structured data to let Google know about your organization’s administrative details, for example, logo, address, contact information, and business identifiers. Google can make use of this markup in knowledge panels and other visual elements (such as attribution), which helps users to find your organization’s details on Google Search.
Here is a screenshot of the new one:
And the old one:
