FAQ schema markup in 2026: is it still worth adding?

FAQ schema markup no longer gets you the dropdown questions under your result in Google. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026, and removed the documentation for them on June 15, 2026, according to its Search Central updates page. FAQPage markup is still valid schema.org code and does no harm, but if you were adding it for the extra space in search results, that reason is gone.

That changes the advice in most guides you’ll find, many of which still promise bigger listings and more clicks. This guide covers what changed and when, what the markup can still do for you, when it’s worth keeping, and a JSON-LD example if you decide to use it.

What happened to FAQ rich results

FAQ rich results were the expandable questions that used to appear under a page in Google, sometimes doubling the space a result took up. They went away in two steps.

In August 2023, Google limited FAQ rich results to “well-known, authoritative government and health websites”. For most business sites, the dropdowns had already gone by then. The May 2026 change removed them for everyone else too. Google’s entry for May 8, 2026 reads: “This feature will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026.”

If you’re seeing an FAQ rich result in a report or a tool, check the date. Anything after May 2026 is old data or a tool that hasn’t caught up.

What FAQ markup still does

Removing a rich result is not the same as Google ignoring the code. Google’s general guide to structured data says it “uses structured data that it finds on the web to understand the content of the page”. FAQPage is still a valid type on schema.org, so other search engines and tools can still read it.

What it no longer does is change how your result looks in Google. There’s no visual payoff, and nothing to measure in Search Console.

What about AI search?

You’ll see FAQ schema sold as the way to get into AI Overviews and AI answers. Google says otherwise. Its guide to AI features and your website states: “There’s also no special schema.org structured data that you need to add.” A page needs to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and that’s all.

What does help with AI answers is the thing FAQ markup was always wrapping: clear questions with direct, short answers in the visible text of the page. That’s useful with or without the code around it. Our guide on how to optimize content for AI search covers what actually makes a page easier to cite.

Should you keep it, add it or remove it?

It depends on how the markup got there.

The last row is the only case where removing it is urgent. Google’s AI features guide lists “making sure your structured data matches the visible text on the page” as a best practice. Hidden questions that exist only in the code were never a good idea.

For what it’s worth, this site still adds FAQPage markup. Every article ends with an FAQ, and the blog template turns those questions into markup automatically, so it costs nothing. I wouldn’t spend an hour adding it by hand to old pages.

A JSON-LD example

If you do add it, this is the structure. It follows the FAQPage and Question types on schema.org. Put it in a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag anywhere in the page.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How much does a water heater repair cost?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Most repairs cost between $150 and $450, depending on the part."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Do you charge a service call fee?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Yes, $89, which we take off the bill if you go ahead with the repair."
      }
    }
  ]
}

The business and prices in that example are made-up. Three rules for your own:

1. Every question and answer must be on the page. Copy the text from the visible FAQ, don’t write a separate version.
2. One question per Question. The name is the question, acceptedAnswer.text is the answer.
3. Use FAQPage only when you wrote both the questions and the answers. A forum thread where users post answers is a different type, QAPage.

Rule 1 matters most. If you change the visible FAQ, the markup must change with it, which is why automatic markup from your template beats hand-written code.

How to check your markup

Don’t rely on Google’s Rich Results Test for this: it checks markup against rich results Google shows, and the FAQ one is gone. Use the Schema Markup Validator instead, which checks any schema.org type against the vocabulary. Paste a URL or the code and look for errors on the FAQPage item.

Then check the bigger picture. If you’re looking for structured data that still earns something visible in Google, LocalBusiness for a local business is the one most small sites are missing. Our free local business schema generator writes it for you, and the technical SEO checklist covers where structured data fits among everything else.

FAQ

The short version

FAQ schema no longer changes how you look in Google. Keep it if it’s already there and accurate, don’t pay for it or sell it on the promise of rich results, and put your effort into clear answers on the page instead.

// written byLiam FraserSEO specialist with 3 years of experience. Liam writes about what works in local, technical and AI search.About SerpSurfers →