Does your stock status use the exact words AI tools recognise as in stock?
Confirms each offer declares availability using a standard Schema.org code rather than free text.
What this signal tests
We check that every Offer block in your structured data uses one of the twelve official availability codes from Schema.org, such as InStock, OutOfStock, PreOrder, BackOrder, or Discontinued. Free text like Available now or Ships in 2 days does not count, because AI tools cannot reliably interpret arbitrary phrases.
Why it matters for your visibility in AI
Availability is the second-most important commerce signal after price. An AI shopping agent has no value if it recommends a product the buyer cannot purchase, so the safe default for any item with unclear stock status is to skip it. Free-text availability is treated as unclear and almost always results in your product being excluded from recommendations. The specific words matter. Schema.org defines exactly twelve enumerations and AI tools are coded to read those exact strings. A code of available_now or stock=yes will fail the check, even though a human would understand it. This is one of the cheapest fixes you can make: switching from prose to enum unlocks substantial AI commerce visibility with one line of template code.
Pass criteria at a glance
| Criterion | Passes when |
|---|---|
| availability is a valid ItemAvailability enum value. |
How we test it
We extract the availability field from every Offer in your Product structured data. We confirm the value matches one of the recognised Schema.org URIs such as https://schema.org/InStock. The bare value InStock (without the URL prefix) is also accepted. Anything else, including free text, abbreviations, or platform-specific codes, fails the signal.
Show technical detection method
Offer.availability matches ItemAvailability enum URI.
If your site fails: how to fix it
- Find where your platform maps internal stock status to the structured data availability field. It is usually in your product template or a structured data helper.
- Replace any free-text availability output with one of the twelve Schema.org enums. The most common mappings are: in stock -> InStock, out of stock -> OutOfStock, pre-order -> PreOrder, back-order -> BackOrder, discontinued -> Discontinued.
- If your platform has nuances like Sold out but restocking, map them to the closest enum (BackOrder in that case) and use other fields like itemCondition to add context. Do not invent new enum values.
- Make sure the structured data updates when stock changes. A page rendered with InStock when the product is actually out of stock causes the AI to lose trust in your markup over time.
- Validate sample URLs in Google's Rich Results Test; it flags non-enum availability values as warnings.
Quick facts
| Maturity | ESTABLISHED |
|---|---|
| Weight | high |
| Category | Structured Data |
Primary sources
Related signals
Frequently asked questions
What are all twelve Schema.org availability values?
InStock, OutOfStock, OnlineOnly, InStoreOnly, LimitedAvailability, PreOrder, PreSale, BackOrder, Reserved, SoldOut, Discontinued, and MadeToOrder. Most retailers only ever use four or five of these, but the full list is worth knowing so you can pick the most accurate one for unusual situations.
Should availability change in real time?
Ideally, yes. The point of structured data is that it stays accurate. If your site is cached aggressively and the structured data lags behind real stock by hours, AI tools may quote stale availability. Most platforms refresh structured data on every page render; if yours caches longer, consider shortening the cache for product pages.
Is SoldOut the same as OutOfStock?
Schema.org treats them differently. OutOfStock implies a temporary state with restocking expected; SoldOut suggests the product is unlikely to return. If you genuinely will restock, use OutOfStock; if the product is gone for good, use SoldOut or Discontinued. AI agents may handle the two differently in their recommendations.
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