What is FAQ schema?
FAQ schema is markup that tells machines a page holds a list of questions and answers. Schema.org defines the type: "A FAQPage is a WebPage presenting one or more "Frequently asked questions"" (Schema.org, read 1 November 2026). Each question is a Question, "A specific question - e.g. from a user seeking answers online, or collected in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document", and its answer goes in acceptedAnswer (Schema.org).
Schema.org reports FAQPage on 1 to 10 million domains, based on Google's web index in August 2026.
Does Google still show FAQ rich results?
No. Google's documentation changelog tells the story (Google Search Central):
- September 2023: FAQ rich results were limited to "well-known, authoritative government and health websites".
- 8 May 2026: a deprecation notice. The feature "will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026."
- 15 June 2026: Google removed the FAQ documentation because "The FAQ rich result feature is no longer shown in Google Search results."
The old FAQPage documentation URL now redirects to that changelog. Guides that still promise FAQ dropdowns in Google results are out of date.
Is FAQ schema still worth adding for B2B SaaS?
For Google rich results, no. For AI answers, Google says "Structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special schema.org markup you need to add" (Google Search Central). Some SEO guides still say FAQ markup helps AI assistants. In the official docs we read, we found no page from an AI company that says so. Bing does say that "Clear headings, tables, and FAQ sections help surface key information" for AI answers (Bing Webmaster Blog). That is about the visible section, not the markup.
What still works is the FAQ itself. Questions phrased the way buyers ask, each with an answer that is complete on its own, are easy to quote. That goes for People also ask boxes and for AI answers. The markup is optional. If you keep it, it must match the visible text: Google's general guidelines say "Don't mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page."
How do you write FAQ schema?
- Write the questions and answers on the page first, where readers see them.
- Add a JSON-LD block with `@type` FAQPage.
- Put each question in `mainEntity` as a Question with a `name` (the question).
- Give each Question an `acceptedAnswer` of type Answer with a `text` (the answer).
- Validate the JSON, and update the markup whenever an answer changes.
What does that look like? (hypothetical example)
A hypothetical example: a payroll SaaS has a pricing page with five questions at the bottom, such as "Is there a setup fee?". Each answer is two sentences and stands alone. The FAQPage markup repeats those five questions and answers word for word. In Google it no longer adds a dropdown, but the text on the page is still there for searchers and AI answers to quote.
FAQ schema vs QAPage vs People also ask
- FAQPage is for a page with one or more frequently asked questions and their answers.
- QAPage is for a page focused on one question and its answers. Google describes Q&A pages as "one question followed by its answers" (Google Search Central). Schema.org points to it from FAQPage.
- People also ask is a Google search feature, not markup. You cannot add it with code.
- Both FAQPage and QAPage are types of schema markup, a form of structured data.
For how answer-first pages and third-party lists get quoted by AI assistants, see our guide to LLM SEO.