Google May Have Killed FAQ Rich Results But Not FAQ Schema
Key Takeaways:
FAQ rich results stopped appearing in Google Search as of May 7, 2026. Google updated its documentation without publishing a blog post or explanation
The FAQ search appearance, rich result report, and Rich Results Test support will be removed in June 2026
Search Console API support for FAQ data will be removed in August 2026
Google confirmed it will still use FAQ structured data to better understand pages even though the visual feature is gone
AirOps research shows pages with FAQPage schema are 3.2x more likely to appear in Google AI Overviews
The expandable FAQ dropdowns that appeared below search results for years are officially gone.
Google updated its Search Central structured data documentation on May 7 with a deprecation notice. No blog post. No press release. Just a quiet note at the top of the FAQ page.
The notice reads: "As of May 7, 2026, FAQ rich results are no longer appearing in Google Search. We will be dropping the FAQ search appearance, rich result report, and support in the Rich results test in June 2026."
Search Engine Land broke the story on May 8. Search Engine Roundtable covered it on May 11 after Glenn Gabe confirmed on X that the results are gone for all sites, including government and health domains.
This was a slow death that started in 2023
FAQ rich results launched in 2019. For several years, they were one of the most popular structured data features in SEO. Adding FAQ schema to a page could expand its listing in search results, pushing competitors further down the page.
In August 2023, Google restricted FAQ rich results to "well-known authoritative government and health websites." For most of the web, the visual feature disappeared nearly three years ago.
The May 2026 update removes it for everyone. Even the CDC and government sites that kept the feature after 2023 no longer see it.
John Mueller addressed the change on Bluesky on May 9: "It was only used for a tiny set of site types. If a site had the markup and wasn't one of those types, it was already being ignored. No need to change anything."
The removal timeline runs through August
Google is phasing this out in three stages:
May 7: FAQ rich results stop appearing in Search (already done)
June 2026: FAQ search appearance filter, rich result report, and Rich Results Test support removed from Search Console
August 2026: FAQ rich result support removed from the Search Console API
For SEO teams with dashboards pulling FAQ appearance data, the June and August dates matter. Any reporting workflow that depends on FAQ metrics needs to be updated before those tools go away.
Do not remove your FAQ schema
This is the most important detail and the one most coverage has missed.
In the same documentation update, Google included one sentence: the company will continue using FAQ structured data to better understand pages. The visual rich result is gone but the underlying markup still informs how Google reads and classifies content.
Research from AirOps found that pages with clean structure paired with FAQPage schema earn 2.8x higher AI citation rates than poorly structured pages. Launchcodex reported that pages with FAQ schema are 3.2x more likely to appear in Google AI Overviews.
That makes FAQ markup more valuable for AI visibility than it ever was for traditional rich results. The visual dropdown occupied a few extra lines in search results. An AI Overview citation drives real traffic.
What this means for content strategy
The practical shift is straightforward. FAQ schema is no longer a SERP enhancement tool. It is an AI citation tool.
For content teams still creating FAQ sections on landing pages: keep doing it. The content itself helps users and helps Google understand your page structure. The schema gives AI systems structured question-and-answer pairs to reference.
For pages that had FAQ markup solely for the rich result benefit: the visual payoff is gone, but the content structure still serves a purpose. FAQ sections answer specific questions clearly. AI systems cite content that does exactly that.
For technical SEO teams: stop monitoring FAQ rich result performance in Search Console (it will disappear in June anyway). Start monitoring whether your FAQ content appears in AI Overviews. Tools from Semrush, Ahrefs, and others are building AI citation tracking features that can replace the old FAQ reporting workflow.
Other search engines may still process FAQ schema for their own purposes. Bing, DuckDuckGo, and other engines have their own structured data implementations. Removing the markup eliminates any chance of benefiting from those systems.
The FAQ rich result had a good run from 2019 to 2023 for most sites, and 2019 to 2026 for the lucky few. The structured data behind it has a longer future ahead.
Disclaimer:This article is AI-assisted content and may contain errors. Details are from Google's Search Central documentation update (May 7, 2026), SEJ (May 8), Search Engine Land (May 8), Search Engine Roundtable (May 11), and Glenn Gabe's confirmation on X. Citation statistics from AirOps and Launchcodex are independent research. Google features change frequently.