What Google removing FAQ rich results means for your website

What actually changed

If you have ever searched Google and seen a result with a list of questions that expand when you click them, those were FAQ rich results. On 7 May 2026, Google switched them off across Search. The change was confirmed in a note at the top of Google's own FAQ structured data documentation.

The supporting tools are going away, too. The FAQ report in Google Search Console will be removed in June 2026, along with FAQ support in the Rich Results Test. The developer tools that read this data (the Search Console API) will follow in August 2026.

To be clear: the search results themselves still appear. The expandable questions and answers that used to sit underneath them are the ones that have disappeared.

Why did Google do this

Google has been quietly tidying up the results page for a while. Rich results are now reserved for a narrower set of content types where Google believes they genuinely help searchers. FAQ snippets, in Google's view, were no longer pulling their weight.

This is part of a wider shift. Search results are becoming cleaner, AI summaries are taking up more space at the top, and the rules for standing out are changing.

Does this hurt your website?

In most cases, no.

If you run a service business, the FAQ snippet is usually a small bonus rather than a major traffic source. You may see a small drop in clicks on pages that had it, but your rankings and overall visibility are not affected. This is a display change, not a ranking change.

The websites most affected are those that built a real chunk of their traffic strategy around FAQ snippets. For most of our clients, that is not the case.

Is FAQ schema dead?

No. It is still a valid Schema.org type, and Google may continue to use it to understand what your page is about.

There is also a quieter reason to care. AI tools and large language models still read FAQ schema, and more people every month are starting their searches in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and similar assistants. Clean, structured content helps you show up there, too.

So the schema is not pointless. It just no longer earns you a Google snippet.

What we recommend

For existing websites with FAQ schema already in place: leave it alone for now. There is no penalty and no urgency to remove it. If your site is built in Framer or Webflow, you do not need to touch anything inside the builder either.

For new websites, we no longer add FAQ schema by default. We will still recommend it in two cases:

• Your site is in a sector where Google still favours it, such as government or health.

• You specifically want to be more visible to AI and LLM-based search.

And one promise we will always keep: we will never tell you that the FAQ schema will earn you rich results. Those days are over, and we would rather be honest about it.

What to focus on instead

If you want your website to stand out in modern search, put your energy here:

• Clear page structure with proper headings, so people and search engines can both follow your content.

• Genuinely helpful FAQs written for your readers, even when they do not appear as a snippet. They still answer questions and convert visitors into clients.

• Other schema types that still earn rich results, such as LocalBusiness, Service, Review, and Breadcrumb (these mark up things like your business info, services, customer reviews, and site navigation).

• Fast loading times, accessible design, and content that answers the real questions your audience is asking.

These are the things that move the needle in 2026, with or without FAQ snippets.

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