Structured data (JSON-LD) vs Open Graph: they serve different purposes and you need both
Open Graph tags and JSON-LD structured data solve different problems. OG tags control how your page looks when shared on social media (the preview card). JSON-LD structured data tells search engines what your page is about (article, product, recipe, event) and can enable rich results like star ratings, recipe cards, and FAQ accordions in Google Search. You need both because they feed different systems.
How this is calculated
OG tags are consumed by social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, messaging apps). JSON-LD is consumed by search engines (Google, Bing) and sometimes by voice assistants (Siri, Alexa). They don't conflict because they're read by different consumers. A common mistake is thinking OG tags help SEO. They indirectly help by making shared links more attractive (higher click-through from social → more traffic → better rankings), but Google has explicitly stated it does not use OG tags as a ranking signal. JSON-LD does directly influence search appearance. For a well-optimized page, include both: OG tags for social, JSON-LD for search.
Verdict
OG tags for social previews. JSON-LD structured data for search engine understanding. They're complementary, not competing. Every public page should have both. Use Google's Rich Results Test to validate your JSON-LD and the Facebook Sharing Debugger for OG.
