Direct answer
An organisation publishes its own website. The site therefore provides strong evidence of what the organisation says, but not that those statements have been verified from outside. It may be an official first-party source; it is not an independent source.
In plain language
A person can write, 'I am an excellent swimmer,' on their CV. That proves the person made the claim. A race result or an independent official's record can verify the performance separately.
Why this matters
It is a mistake both to dismiss your own site and to treat it as sufficient for every claim. It is important for first-party information such as identity, contact details, services and policies. Claims of superiority or independently measured success need further evidence.
Do not confuse
- An official source is not necessarily an independent source.
- Describing your service and proving that it is superior are different tasks.
- Correct structured data does not turn a self-declaration into independent evidence.
What should you do?
- Distinguish statements from verified facts on your site.
- Publish identity and current service information clearly.
- Add outside sources for awards, leadership, 'best' and success claims.
- Disclose commercial relationships and paid content.
- Do not present past achievements as current capacity.
How do you audit it?
- Is this the organisation's own statement?
- Is it a superiority claim requiring independent verification?
- Is the outside source genuinely independent?
- Is the source current and within the same scope as the claim?
- Does the structured data make a stronger claim than the visible text?
Limit
This rule does not make an organisation's own website unimportant. The site is the primary surface for canonical identity and first-party facts.
Remember in one sentence
Your site proves what you say, not that everything you say is true.
Sources for this record
- S05Google Search Central, *Introduction to Structured Data*Provider documentation
- S06Google Search Central, *General Structured Data Guidelines*Provider documentation
- S08Schema.org, *Data Model*Standard and community vocabulary