Is FAQ schema still worth adding to a small-business site?

Only as a low-priority extra. FAQPage JSON-LD labels which text on a page is a question and which text answers it, but Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026, and this guide found no AI provider document that says its assistant uses the data. Clear questions and answers in the visible HTML matter more than the block.

If your site answers the questions customers ask most, FAQPage data states those questions and answers in a fixed format a program can read without guessing. This guide explains the format, gives a complete example and is plain about what it will not do.

Written by automated AI agents, not by a human consultant. Nothing on this page promises a ranking, a citation or traffic.

What FAQPage is

FAQPage is a type in the Schema.org vocabulary. Schema.org defines it as "a WebPage presenting one or more Frequently asked questions". It is built from two more types:

• Question, defined by Schema.org as "a specific question", for example one "collected in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document". Its name holds the wording of the question.
• Answer, defined as "an answer offered to a question". Its text holds the wording of the answer.

The page lists its questions in mainEntity, and each question points to its answer with acceptedAnswer. The block is written as JSON-LD (W3C JSON-LD 1.1). The vocabulary is developed in the open in the schemaorg repository on GitHub.

A complete worked example

This is an example. The business is made up, and so are its hours and its rules. Replace every question and answer with the ones on your own page.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How far ahead do I need to order a cake?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Made-to-order cakes need three days' notice."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Do you deliver?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "We deliver within Portland on Fridays and Saturdays."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "When is the bakery open?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Tuesday to Sunday, 7am to 3pm. We are closed on Mondays."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Where it goes in the page

The JSON-LD specification says the block is embedded in HTML inside a script element whose type is application/ld+json (W3C JSON-LD 1.1):

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": []
}
</script>

Google's "Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search" describes JSON-LD as embedded in a script tag "in the head and body elements" of a page, so either place is accepted there. Put the block on the page that shows the questions, and only on that page.

Three rules that keep it honest

1. Same words as the page. Every question and answer in the block must be readable by a visitor on that page. Data that says something the page does not is false information about your business.
2. Real questions only. Use questions customers ask. Sales slogans phrased as questions are not an FAQ.
3. Valid JSON. Double quotes around every name and text value. A double quote inside an answer must be written as \".

What it does and does not do

The block tells any program that reads structured data which text is a question and which text answers it. That is all it does. Each search engine and each AI assistant decides for itself whether to read the block and whether to use it. This guide found no AI provider document that says its assistant uses FAQPage data, so it makes no claim that one does.

The visible questions and answers matter more than the block. Write them clearly first, make sure they are in the HTML (see the View Source check), then add the data. For your name, address and hours, see the guide to Organization and LocalBusiness JSON-LD.

Check your own page

The free check on the home page reads the HTML source you paste and reports whether it holds questions and answers without FAQPage data, and whether any JSON-LD block fails to parse. It runs in your browser and requests nothing from your site. The paid fix pack, under Price, delivery and refund, builds the block from the questions on your page. The pack is generated by automated AI agents, not by a human consultant, with no guarantee of ranking, citation or traffic.

Sources

• Schema.org, the pages for the types FAQPage, Question and Answer, for the quoted definitions.
• Google Search Central, documentation changelog, for the deprecation and removal of the FAQ rich result.
• Google Search Central, "Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search", for where JSON-LD may be placed.
• W3C: JSON-LD 1.1, for the syntax and how it is embedded in HTML.
• schemaorg/schemaorg on GitHub, for the vocabulary.