Not all schema types trigger rich results. The types with the highest proven impact include: FAQPage (creates expandable FAQ dropdowns in search results), Product (shows price, availability, and rating stars), Review/AggregateRating (adds star ratings), HowTo (displays step-by-step instructions), and Event (shows date, location, and ticket info).
BreadcrumbList is a foundational schema that improves how your URLs appear in search results by showing a clear page hierarchy instead of raw URLs. Article schema helps Google understand your content for Top Stories and other editorial features.
For local businesses, LocalBusiness schema can trigger the Knowledge Panel and improve visibility in Google Maps. Organization schema establishes your brand entity in Google's knowledge graph. The key is to start with schemas that match content already on your page rather than adding markup for content that does not exist.