Structured vs unstructured data — Integrate.io / MongoDB definition: predefined schema, every record consistent, sorting/filtering/querying straightforward

Claim: "Structured data is standardized, clearly defined, and searchable data, while unstructured data is usually stored in its native format." Structured data sits in predefined fields (a schema), so "every record follows a consistent format, making sorting, filtering, and querying straightforward."

Sources: Integrate.io, "Structured vs Unstructured Data," (accessed June 2026); MongoDB, "Structured Vs. Unstructured Data," (accessed June 2026).

Confidence: Industry-consensus. Note: these are data-platform vendors, but the definition is standard and corroborated by AWS documentation.

Why this matters for Candid: Establishes that "structured" is not jargon — it is a defined data-engineering concept. The "predefined-fields → queryable" line is the cleanest way to explain to a client why a PDF spec sheet is not equivalent to a structured catalogue.