What is FAQ Schema (FAQPage)?
Definition
FAQ schema is structured data that marks up a page's frequently asked questions with schema.org's FAQPage, Question and Answer types; every question and answer must match text visible on the page. In 2023 Google limited FAQ rich results to well-known, authoritative government and health sites, and from 7 May 2026 it stopped showing this rich result type in Google Search altogether.
Also known as: FAQPage, FAQ markup, FAQ structured data, FAQ rich results
A short history of FAQ rich results
FAQ markup was once hugely popular because it added expandable questions under a search result and made the listing much taller. As a result, FAQ blocks were bolted onto almost every kind of page, often with no real need. Google's position changed step by step:
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2023 | FAQ rich results limited to well-known, authoritative government and health websites. |
| 8 May 2026 | Google announced the feature's deprecation: it would no longer appear in Google Search starting 7 May 2026. |
| 15 June 2026 | The FAQ rich result documentation was removed from Search Central. |
In short, adding FAQPage markup today has no visual payoff in Google. FAQPage itself remains a valid schema.org type; the markup doesn't become "broken", Google has simply retired the rich result it used to generate from it.
How the markup is structured
A FAQPage carries a list of Questions in mainEntity. Each Question's name holds the question text, and its acceptedAnswer is an Answer with the reply in text:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How long does setup take?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Standard setup is completed within two working days of payment."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Can I cancel early?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Yes, with 30 days' written notice."
}
}
]
}FAQPage, QAPage and a real FAQ section
FAQPage is for pages where the site owner writes both the questions and the answers: there is one authoritative answer and the organisation provides it. Forums and community pages, where users ask and other users answer, call for the QAPage type instead. Google's Q&A rich result is still listed in its gallery of supported features. Mixing the two up, for instance marking a forum thread as an FAQPage, misdescribes the content.
Is there any value without the rich result?
The honest answer: in Google Search there is no visual gain, and how other systems use this markup isn't publicly documented. Writing new FAQ sections purely to carry markup no longer makes sense.
A well-written FAQ section, however, keeps its value as content. Short, clear answers that stand on their own help readers and improve answer extractability: AI-powered search systems and features like People Also Ask can more easily match passages that are already shaped as questions and answers. The value comes from the question-and-answer format of the content rather than from the markup. Whether to keep existing, accurate markup is a maintenance decision.
The visibility rule still applies
Google's general structured data guidelines cover all markup: don't mark up content that readers can't see. Questions that don't appear on the page, answers that aren't even inside an accordion, or advertising copy dressed up as questions all break that rule. The GEO Checker verifies whether the questions in FAQ markup are visible on the page and flags questions without answers.