FAQ schema in 2026: markup without the rich result

FAQ schema is FAQPage markup from the schema.org vocabulary, usually written as JSON-LD, that labels a page's questions and answers for machines. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026, so the markup no longer changes how a result looks there. It remains one of the structured data types a page can declare.

What FAQPage markup is

schema.org defines the type in one line: "A FAQPage is a WebPage presenting one or more "Frequently asked questions"". Each question is a Question with a name, and its answer is an Answer attached as acceptedAnswer.

This page carries such a block, built from the questions at its end. Shortened to one question, it reads:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "Is FAQ schema still worth adding?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "…"
    }
  }]
}

The full version is in the page's source, beside the other blocks this site declares.

What Google changed

Google withdrew the FAQ rich result in three steps, each recorded on its documentation updates page, checked on 2026-10-09.

The old documentation address now leads to that last entry. For most sites the expanded questions under a result had already gone in 2023; since May 2026 they are gone for every site. Which other rich results remain, and who decides when they show, is covered separately.

What the markup still does

The markup still describes the page accurately, and nothing in Google's announcements treats it as an error. What stopped is a display feature, not support for the vocabulary: FAQPage remains a schema.org type, and structured data in general is still part of Google's advice.

Google's guide to generative AI features in Search, last updated on 2026-07-10, puts the general position in two sentences: "Structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special schema.org markup you need to add. However, it's a good idea to continue using it as part of your overall SEO strategy, as it helps with being eligible for rich results on Google Search."

So the honest summary is narrow. In Google Search, FAQPage markup now earns no rich result and is not needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Whether other systems that read your pages use it is a question for their own documentation, and this page makes no claim about them.

Should you keep it or remove it

Keep it if it is correct, and remove it if keeping it costs effort. The markup does no harm when it matches the page, so there is no reason to strip working blocks in a hurry. There is also no reason to add new ones expecting a change in Google's results.

Two cases deserve a look. Markup generated by a plugin or template can drift from the visible text when the page is edited, and a block that disagrees with the page misleads every program that reads it. And markup added only to win the old rich result, on pages that are not really questions and answers, describes something the page is not; that is worth removing on its own merits.

This site keeps its own FAQPage blocks, and a check at build time fails if any block differs from the questions and answers a reader sees.

Not a reason to switch to QAPage

A neighbouring type, QAPage, still has a Google rich result, and it is tempting to relabel an FAQ to keep a richer listing. Google's QAPage documentation, last updated on 2026-09-08 and checked on 2026-10-09, rules that out. It describes Q&A pages as "web pages that contain data in a question and answer format, which is one question followed by its answers," and lists among the invalid uses "An FAQ page written by the site itself with no way for users to submit alternative answers."

The two types describe different pages. An FAQ is a set of questions the site answers itself. A Q&A page is one question that its users answer, as on a forum or a support community. Relabelling one as the other turns an accurate description into an inaccurate one, which is the opposite of what markup is for.

The rule that did not change

Structured data must describe what is on the page. A question in the markup should be visible on the page, and its answer should say the same thing in both places. That rule never depended on a rich result: it is what makes the markup a description rather than a claim.

The practical test is simple. Read the questions in the markup, then find each one on the page. If any is missing, or if the answer differs, fix the page or the block until they agree, and repeat the test whenever the page is edited.

What enrichment writes, and what it does not

AI SEO enrichment does not write FAQPage markup. Where a page is missing JSON-LD, it fills the blocks that describe the organisation, the site, the breadcrumb and the type of page, all derived from the page and the brand profile. Questions and answers are content a person writes; a block that invented them would describe a page that does not exist.

What the filled blocks contain, and why a broken block is worse than none, is covered on the parent page about structured data; the whole set of tags enrichment fills is described under AI SEO.

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