foundingLocation

foundingLocation · Optional

Appears in

Organization

What is it?

foundingLocation identifies the geographic place where an organization was originally founded. It expects a Place object containing address information or coordinates. This is distinct from the organization's current headquarters: a company founded in a garage in Menlo Park but now based in San Francisco has Menlo Park as its foundingLocation and San Francisco as its primary location.

Why this matters for AEO

AI answer engines frequently respond to queries about organizational origins: "where was [company] founded?", "which companies were founded in Silicon Valley?", or "what is [company's] origin story?" A structured foundingLocation provides a precise, machine-readable answer to the first question and supports comparative queries about startup ecosystems and regional business history. When AI systems build knowledge graphs about organizations, founding location contributes to the narrative of company history alongside foundingDate and founder, creating a richer entity record that supports more specific answers.

What the specs say

Schema.org:foundingLocation expects a Place object. The place where the Organization was founded. The range is Organization. [Source: https://schema.org/foundingLocation]

Google: Not mentioned in Google's structured data documentation for Organization. [Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/organization]

How to find your value

The founding location is the city (and ideally address) where the organization first operated or was legally incorporated. Common sources:

• Company history page or about page
• Wikipedia article about the company
• Legal incorporation documents (which specify the state or country of incorporation)
• Press coverage of the founding

For companies with a well-known founding story, the city is usually sufficient. For organizations where the specific address is historically significant (Apple's garage, Amazon's Bellevue house), the full address can be included.

Format and code

City-level Place object (most common):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Apple Inc.",
  "url": "https://apple.com",
  "foundingDate": "1976-04-01",
  "foundingLocation": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "Los Altos, California",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "Los Altos",
      "addressRegion": "CA",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    }
  }
}

Full address (when historically specific):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Hewlett-Packard",
  "url": "https://hp.com",
  "foundingDate": "1939-01-01",
  "foundingLocation": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "HP Garage",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "streetAddress": "367 Addison Ave",
      "addressLocality": "Palo Alto",
      "addressRegion": "CA",
      "postalCode": "94301",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    }
  }
}

Country-level only (for founding locations where city is uncertain):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Spotify",
  "url": "https://spotify.com",
  "foundingDate": "2006-04-23",
  "foundingLocation": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "Stockholm",
      "addressCountry": "SE"
    }
  }
}

With geographic coordinates:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Airbnb",
  "url": "https://airbnb.com",
  "foundingDate": "2008-08-11",
  "foundingLocation": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "San Francisco, California",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "San Francisco",
      "addressRegion": "CA",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    },
    "geo": {
      "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
      "latitude": 37.7749,
      "longitude": -122.4194
    }
  }
}

Webflow implementation

Static pages

Add the JSON-LD in Page Settings > Custom Code on your about or company history page. foundingLocation is a historical fact and does not change after the initial setup.

CMS template pages

For company directories or databases, store foundingLocation city and country as separate CMS text fields and output them in a JSON-LD embed with the PostalAddress structure.

In Schema HQ

The foundingLocation field configures foundinglocation as a nested place object in the organization schema editor. enter city, region, and country to build the postaladdress structure. is supported

Real examples

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Amazon",
  "url": "https://amazon.com",
  "foundingDate": "1994-07-05",
  "foundingLocation": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "Bellevue, Washington",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "Bellevue",
      "addressRegion": "WA",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    }
  }
}

Related fields

• foundingDate
• founder
• location
• address
• name

FAQ

What if the founding location is disputed or unknown?

Omit the field rather than guessing. If the founding city is reasonably well-documented but the exact address is unknown, use city and country without a street address.

Is foundingLocation the same as headquarters?

No. foundingLocation is where the organization started. The current headquarters belongs in location or address. A company founded in Boston but now headquartered in Austin has two different values for these fields.

Can foundingLocation be a country rather than a specific city?

Yes. For organizations whose exact founding city is uncertain, or for international organizations where country-level specificity is appropriate, a country-only PostalAddress is valid.