FAQ rich results were the expandable questions and answers that appeared right in Google Search — and Google ended them on May 7, 2026. FAQPage markup remains valid, though, and per Google’s public documentation it is still processed to understand the page; structured questions and answers can also be useful to AI systems. What ended is the display feature, not the value of structured data. This article covers what exactly happened, why the markup is worth keeping in most cases, and when to remove it instead.
What exactly happened
FAQ rich results were a type of rich result: expandable questions and answers from a page’s FAQ section, shown under the link in Search. Per Google’s public Search Central documentation, that feature is being retired — and it is happening in three phases.
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FAQ rich results left Search
Google added a deprecation notice to its FAQ structured data documentation and the expandable questions and answers stopped appearing in results. This change has already happened.
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FAQ report and testing tool removed
The FAQ report disappeared from Search Console, along with FAQ support in the Rich Results Test. That started the retirement of the tooling around FAQ rich results.
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End of API support (coming)
Per Google's announced timeline, FAQ support in the Search Console API is set to end in August 2026. As of this article's publication date, that step has been announced but has not happened yet.
Why FAQPage markup still makes sense
Even without the rich result, a structured FAQ section has value — the value just moved somewhere else.
What FAQPage still does after the end of rich results
- Google still processes it Per its public documentation, Google still processes FAQ markup to understand what a page contains.
- AI systems process it A structured set of questions and answers can also be processed by AI systems and their crawlers.
- Easy to lift into an answer Clearly separated question–answer pairs are easier to use in AI answers and in [short citations](/blog/how-ai-cites-sources/).
- Better structure for users A well-built FAQ section answers real questions — that has value regardless of any feature in the search results.
- No risk when it matches According to Google, unused markup does not hurt Search as long as it matches the visible content.
Keep it or remove it? A decision framework
There is no blanket answer. It comes down to whether the FAQ section genuinely helps, or whether it only ever existed to earn a nicer result.
| Aspekt | Keep it | Consider removing it |
|---|---|---|
| Match with content | The markup accurately describes the questions and answers visible on the page | The markup points to content that is no longer on the page |
| Usefulness | The FAQ section genuinely answers what users ask | The FAQ was thin and added only for the rich result |
| Readability for AI | You want AI systems to have a cleanly structured Q&A | The Q&A on the page does not really make sense for readers |
| Risk | None — consistent markup is safe | A mismatch between markup and content is a needless risk |
It fits a broader shift in structured data
The end of FAQ rich results is not an isolated event. HowTo lost its rich result earlier, and Google keeps repeating that AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special structured data. The direction is consistent: structured data is meant to help systems understand content, not to decorate the result.
That does not mean structured data is losing its point. Quite the opposite — when it accurately describes visible content, it helps Google and AI alike. Which types to deploy and how is covered in the article on structured data for AI.
The most common mistakes
Deleting every FAQ across the board
The end of rich results is not the end of FAQs. Panic-deleting working FAQ sections costs you content that still helps users and AI systems.
Leaving markup with no content
If you take the FAQ section off a page but leave the markup, you create a mismatch between structured data and content. That is a needless risk.
Waiting for rich results to come back
Google’s public documentation frames the change as a retirement, and as of summer 2026 nothing publicly suggests FAQ rich results are coming back. Building a strategy on the feature returning wastes time — put that energy into content and AI visibility instead.
Treating markup as a silver bullet
The thing that mattered was never the structured data itself, it was the content. Markup alone, without useful answers, never delivered visibility, and after the end of rich results that goes double.
What to take away
- Google ended FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026 — the expandable questions are gone from Search results.
- FAQPage markup remains valid — per Google, both Google and AI systems still read it.
- What ended is the display feature, not the value — the point was never the structured data, it was the content.
- Keep the markup when it matches the visible questions and answers; remove only thin or mismatched FAQs.
- The retirement runs in three phases — rich results (May), the GSC report (June), and API support (August 2026, still to come).
- The priority is shifting from decorating search results toward clear structure and citability in AI.
Not sure which structured data to keep, adjust, or remove? An AI SEO audit from Sniper Design walks your structured data and FAQ sections, checks that the markup matches your content, and tells you what still helps your visibility in AI and what is just dead weight. If you would rather start on your own, the wireframes we work from lay out pages with the question-and-answer structure AI reads well.
For transparency: the description of the change draws on public Google Search Central documentation and analyses available as of summer 2026; the timeline follows the steps Google has announced, part of which (August 2026) had not happened as of this article’s publication date. How the content on this site is produced is described on the author page.
