What is structured output?
Structured output means you ask the model for a fixed shape, such as a list of fields, instead of a freeform essay. The next step in a workflow can read those fields.
In plain English
If you need a name, a time, and a yes or no, say so. A paragraph is hard to drop into a spreadsheet. A few labeled lines are easy. This is also how tool calling stays reliable: the tool expects specific blanks. Decide the fields with the person who types them today. If the office needs a town and a stair count, those are the fields. A pretty paragraph is not a field. Reject a result that is missing a required line instead of guessing. The next step, the job card or the sheet, should be able to consume the result without a human retyping it. Store the raw reply for a week. When a field looks cursed, you can see whether the model or the sheet mangled it.
How an owner would use it
When a draft will be copied into a form or a sheet, specify the labels. Tell the model to write UNKNOWN when a fact was not provided.
Common mistakes
Asking for JSON and then pasting the paragraph into an email anyway misses the point. Structured output is for the next step that needs fields. Do not trust a shape you did not check: models still fill UNKNOWN with a guess if you did not forbid it. JSON mode and a schema are stricter versions of this ask. If the next step is a person reading a draft, plain sentences are fine and a schema is overhead.
A worked example
A junk removal crew
Four fields for the lead card
This is an illustration, not a customer result. A web form note is a paragraph about a garage. The model must return name, town, what needs hauling, and whether there are stairs, or UNKNOWN. The workflow creates the job card from those four lines. A missing town stays missing.
Related terms
Prompts and guides
Questions owners ask
What is structured output?
It is an AI response forced into a set shape, such as labeled fields, so software or a person can use each piece without rereading an essay.
How do I use structured output?
List the fields you need and the word to use when a field is unknown. Map those fields into the sheet or the CRM.
What is JSON mode?
JSON mode tells the model to answer as structured data rather than prose. It is a switch some products offer on top of structured output. You still have to say which fields matter and what to do when one is missing.
Product guides are on AI apps for business.