Do You Still Need FAQ Structured Data? What to Review After Google Retired It

“We have FAQ structured data, but does it still do anything?” “Should we add more for AI search?” Sites using FAQPage may face questions like these.

There is no longer a reason to add FAQPage markup to get Google’s dedicated FAQ display. That does not mean removing FAQ content that helps customers. This article explains how FAQ, Q&A and HowTo are treated now, and how to decide whether to keep existing markup. Information was checked on September 23, 2026.

What is FAQ structured data?

FAQ structured data is markup that tells machines, in a defined format, that a page contains frequently asked questions. The type is FAQPage. Schema.org, which publishes a shared vocabulary of these type names, defines it as a web page presenting one or more frequently asked questions.[1]

The Schema.org page consulted showed a development-version notice and version V30.1 (September 16, 2026).[1]

Keep three things separate: the FAQ text people read, the FAQPage markup for machines, and the dedicated FAQ display Google used to show in search results. The existence of the FAQPage type is a different matter from whether Google uses it for a special display.

What changed when FAQ rich results ended

Google’s dedicated FAQ display, FAQ rich results, stopped appearing in search results from May 7, 2026. Google announced this in its May 8 documentation update and removed the documentation itself on June 15.[2]

What ended was Google’s display. The notice does not ask sites to remove FAQ content or FAQPage markup across the board.[2]

How should Q&A and HowTo structured data be handled?

Q&A and HowTo are in a different state from FAQ, so decide type by type.

Q&A (QAPage) is for pages with one question followed by its answers, such as a forum where users ask and others answer. Google says these pages can still be eligible for a rich result.[3] In March 2026, Google also added supported properties for QA Page markup.[2]

HowTo does not appear in Google’s list of supported structured data features as of September 23, 2026. Neither does FAQ. Q&A does appear on the list.[4] The 2026 documentation updates we checked do not say when HowTo display ended, so we could not confirm the date.

Type	Suited to	Google’s supported list (Sept 23, 2026)
FAQPage	Pages where the site provides questions and answers	Not listed (display ended May 7, 2026)[2]
QAPage	Pages where users answer one question	Listed[3][4]
HowTo	Step-by-step instruction pages	Not listed (end date unconfirmed)[4]

Most company FAQ pages are written by the business itself. That is the FAQPage pattern, not QAPage. Rewriting an FAQ as QAPage to chase a display would not match what the page actually is.

Should you add FAQ structured data for AI search?

You do not need to add FAQPage for AI search. Google says there are no additional technical requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special schema.org structured data is needed.[5]

The Google documentation we checked does not say FAQPage makes AI citation more likely.[5] We have not checked how other AI services treat FAQPage.

If you want to spend time, spend it on the answers. Imagine a fictional shop whose FAQ only says “Shipping varies by region.” Rewriting it as “Shipping to Honshu is ¥660 including tax, free on orders of ¥5,500 or more” lets customers calculate what they will pay. The figures are illustrative.

For background on AI Overviews, see “SGE Is Now AI Overviews. Do Your Earlier Efforts Still Work?”

Should you keep or remove existing FAQ structured data?

If the markup existed only for Google’s FAQ display, it is a candidate for cleanup. If other systems use it, keep it and make it match the page.

Google notes that properties Google Search does not require may still be useful for other search engines and services.[6] So you cannot say it must be deleted simply because Google’s display ended. First ask your site maintainer why it was added.

What you find	Next step
Added only for Google’s dedicated display	Stop adding new markup; consider cleaning up existing markup when convenient
Used by another system	Keep it and keep it identical to the visible answers
Purpose unknown	Do not delete yet; ask the maintainer what uses it

If you keep it, consistency matters most. Google says not to mark up content that readers cannot see and to provide up-to-date information.[7] If you fix the shipping price in the text but an old amount remains in FAQPage, the two explanations conflict.

Start by asking your site maintainer what your FAQPage markup is used for.