What is FAQ schema?
FAQ schema is a block of structured data in a page's source, usually `JSON-LD` in the `FAQPage` format. It repeats the questions and answers that appear in the visible text in a form machines can attribute reliably. Nothing changes for readers: the block is invisible and replaces no content. It merely asserts to search engines that the page answers questions, and states which ones.
The reason nearly every agency recommended it no longer exists. Google used it to build the expandable answer box beneath a search result. In August 2023 that display was restricted to well-known, authoritative government and health websites; since 7 May 2026 it no longer appears at all. Google removed the documentation in June 2026, and support in the Search Console API ends in August 2026. `FAQPage` remains a valid schema.org type, and Google has always said unused structured data does not hurt Search.
In practice: existing markup may stay, extending it is not worth the effort, and it is certainly no reason to build a new page. What still carries weight is the visible structure that does the same job in HTML: the question as a heading in the customer's words, the answer directly underneath, every unit readable on its own. That is the shape search engines and AI answers lift as a passage, and it depends on no feature a vendor can switch off.
Why does FAQ schema matter?
This is the rare SEO measure with a hard expiry date: Google switched the FAQ rich result off on 7 May 2026 and ends support in the Search Console API in August 2026. Anyone still budgeting for the work is budgeting for output with no return. The questions themselves stay valuable, just not as markup.
FAQ schema in practice
- 01A shop leaves its existing `FAQPage` block in the source but drops the planned rollout across all product pages from the sprint.
- 02An agency finds a dashboard tile pulling a value from the Search Console API that disappears in August 2026, and removes the tile.
- 03Instead of new markup, the five most common customer questions each get their own subheading on the pricing page, with the answer in the first two sentences.
