Google Search Drops FAQ Rich Results in Search & Search Console: What This Means Moving Forward

Google has a long history and reputation for introducing new search features, developing them, scaling them back, and then taking them away when they see it serves no purpose in improving search quality, is being abused, or doesn’t align with current priorities. The results of such changes by Google trickle down to all businesses focused on improving their online presence and SEO. So, with the latest news that Google is dropping the FAQ rich results in Search and Search Console, what does this mean for you?

Let’s break it all down, taking it back to the very start back to 2023.

August 2023: The First Announcement

With summer in full swing, Google made waves with its first announcement regarding its plans for FAQ schema. The search giants restricted visibility, allowing only authoritative government and health websites to appear for FAQ rich results. What had previously been a quick and easy SEO win for so many businesses was stripped away in an instant. It was during this time that Google made it clear that any FAQ markup was not for advertising or promotional purposes, which could explain why they allowed it for certain types of businesses but not others.

However, this is no longer the case for these companies and well-known sources. This latest update has ended FAQ rich results for them, three years on. Like so many before them, they are having to rethink how they are using FAQ schema. Google has regularly removed support for rich results over the years, so this won’t have come as a surprise to industry experts that this was the latest in Google’s moves to improve upon their search service.

May 2026: Update on FAQ Rich Results

Fast forward to May 7^th, 2026, and Google announces that, as of that date, FAQ rich results will no longer appear in Google Search. They have not provided an explanation for why they are removing it entirely, so we can only make educated guesses that it was being overused, that SERPs were getting cluttered, or that Google is leaning more towards the future possibilities AI presents. As search continues shifting towards AI-generated responses, businesses are investing more heavily in AI SEO services to improve visibility across AI Overviews, generative search tools, and evolving search experiences.

Despite this removal on the 7^th May, however, not everything happens at once. There are two other key dates to keep in mind:

• June 2026: Google will remove the FAQ search appearance filter, stop reporting on FAQ, and end Rich Results Test support.
• August 2026: Three years on to the month, Google will remove support for FAQ rich results in the Search Console API.

By stretching out this removal, you have time to adjust your API calls and make any necessary changes. This is also a good opportunity to carry out regular a SEO auditing to identify outdated schema implementations, technical SEO issues, and new opportunities tied to AI-focused search optimisation.

What Should Your Next Steps Be?

The key is not to panic or rush to alter anything on your website. For most businesses, this latest removal won’t impact them, as explained by John Mueller, of Google, who posted on Bluesky:

“It was only used for a tiny set of site types (as documented), so for most, this doesn’t result in changes in Search.” He went on to say that “If a site had the markup & wasn’t one of those types, it was already being ignored. No need to change anything, but if you did it for search, you can remove the markup if you want.”

So, if your site has FAQ structured data, it won’t cause problems for you on Search moving forward. Right now, FAQPage is still a valid schema markup, but what might confuse many is the timing of all this. Many SEO experts and consultants worldwide have been pushing AI recommendations, including promoting the use of the FAQ schema to make it easier for AI systems to dissect.

Our Head of SEO, James King, had this to say on the news:

“This is interesting in terms of timing. There’s been the rise of AI Overviews and AI Mode since late 2024. Where users can use AI and ask ongoing follow-up questions in real-time – that’s tailored to the user’s original search query. Equally, Google’s been starting to limit the use of Rich Snippets, to make way for Google AI and more personalised search.

On the flip side, there’s a conversation about how FAQ Schemas benefit AI chatbots in finding FAQ-related information. Google mentioned that unused structured data doesn’t cause problems for Search, and FAQPage is still a valid Schema.org type. As time goes on, it’ll be worth testing whether FAQ structured data continues to have an impact in the world of AI in the coming weeks and months. We will have to watch this space.

To see which Schema Code Google uses and currently supports in the search results, excluding the FAQ schema, have a look at the Structured data markup that Google Search supports.”

It is important to note that Google hasn’t confirmed the end of FAQ rich results is to make way for an AI future, but the timing has resulted in experts around the world, including right here at Click Intelligence, to speculate and hazard a well-educated guess that the future is looking very AI-generated search heavy. Google isn’t stopping the conversation, and we can only take that for what it is.

Moving Forward: Our Recommendation

Although the FAQ rich result era is coming to an end, that doesn’t mean FAQ schema is null and void – quite the opposite. As John Mueller said, you can remove the markup if you wish, but if you don’t, no harm will come to you. Reading between the lines of what John Meuller has said: what you need to focus on instead is using your FAQs to become visible in AI-powered search results.

Although we can’t be certain that AI is the future, it is what is happening right now, and you don’t want to be invisible or miss out on opportunities while your competitors take advantage of this. We recommend using your FAQs in the following ways:

• Create FAQ Hubs: Dedicated FAQ pages for certain topics or themes help LLMs and improve your chances of showing up in AI searches.
• Write for Users First: Avoid the filler and answer the questions straight away. The businesses writing the most genuinely useful FAQs will come out on top.
• Do Not Advertise: Google stated this three years ago, and it still holds true today. FAQ schema is not for advertising or promotional content purposes. Internal linksHyperlinks, also known as links, are the connection points on a webpage that take you to other webpages. and CTAs can do the work for you. Yes, the Q&A format can be used to help customers on landing pages, but do not be tempted to apply schema to them.
• Single Answer Per Question: Google only wants clear, official answers, not opinions or differing responses. If a question doesn’t have one definite answer, do not apply schema markup to it. Save these for blog articles, forum discussions, and comparison pieces.
• Answer questions that also directly include the answers into the copy: The Large Language Models (LLM) are constantly searching the web for new information. When content is written that directly answers the question, this helps the LLMs understand the content and is more likely to show your information in the Generative Engines such as ChatGPT, Claude etc.

Although your FAQ schema will no longer work for Google’s rich results, it could still help AI systems, so ensure you monitor your performance with it. If you feel you need help with this, using the FAQ schema correctly, or you want more advice on what this latest update means, get in touch with us today.

Our team is here to help you stay ahead of these latest search changes, adapt your SEO strategy, and prepare you for the future.