FAQ Rich Results Are Gone From Google. Here's What Your Store's FAQs Should Do Now
Google stopped showing FAQ rich results, the expandable questions under a search result, on 7 May 2026, and removed the documentation for the feature on 15 June 2026. For Shopify brands that added FAQ markup to win that extra space, the reward is gone. The questions themselves still matter: an AI assistant answering "is this jacket waterproof enough for Scottish winters?" needs a clear answer from somewhere, and your FAQ can be that answer.
This article covers what changed, which questions a store's FAQs should answer, how to write answers an assistant can use without the rest of the page, and what to do with existing markup and feeds.
What exactly changed in 2026?
On 8 May 2026 Google added a deprecation notice to its FAQ rich result documentation, stating the feature would no longer appear in Google Search from 7 May 2026. On 15 June 2026 it removed that documentation because the feature "is no longer shown in Google Search results". FAQPage remains a valid schema.org type; it simply no longer changes how a result looks.
The same month, Google published a guide to its generative AI features that is blunt about markup: "Structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special schema.org markup you need to add." Put together, the message for a store is that visible, well-written answers matter and decorative markup does not.
Do FAQs still matter for AI answers?
Yes, as visible content that answers real buying questions. AI answers are assembled from passages that answer sub-questions, and a good FAQ is a set of ready-made, self-contained answers about your products and policies. What no longer matters is whether those answers are wrapped in markup that Google used to display.
Google describes how its AI Overviews and AI Mode use "query fan-out", issuing related searches across subtopics to build one answer. A shopper's question about a rain jacket can fan out into waterproof rating, breathability, fit over layers and returns. Google has also added an optional question_and_answer attribute to Merchant Center, "primarily intended for use in conversational experiences such as AI mode", which shows where Google intends product questions and answers to be used.
Which questions belong in a store's FAQs?
The questions your customers actually ask before buying, placed where they are asked: product questions on product pages, policy questions on shipping and returns pages, brand questions on your about page. Your support inbox, your reviews and your returns reasons are the best source list you have.
| Page | Questions worth answering |
|---|---|
| Product page | How does it fit? What is it made of? How do I wash it? Will it work with the thing I already own? How does it differ from your other model? |
| Shipping and returns | How long does delivery take to my country? Are duties included? How long do I have to return it, and who pays? |
| About or materials page | Where is it made? What does the warranty cover? What does your certification actually certify? |
How do you write an answer an AI can use without context?
Write every answer so it still makes sense if it is the only thing a shopper sees. Name the product, answer in the first sentence, give the specific number or condition, and leave out references to the rest of the page. An answer that begins "As mentioned above" or "It depends" forces an assistant to guess.
- Weak: "Yes, it runs a bit small, so keep that in mind."
- Strong: "The Harbour rain jacket runs small across the shoulders; if you are between sizes or wear it over a fleece, order one size up. Exchanges are free within 30 days."
The example product is invented to show the pattern. Two more rules help. Keep prices out of FAQ answers, since they change and belong on the product itself; Google's Merchant Center guidance for product Q&As says the same. And make sure every answer is visible on the page: questions that exist only in markup help nobody.
Should you keep FAQPage markup, and what about feeds?
Keep FAQPage markup only where it mirrors questions and answers that are visible on the page, and stop adding it in the hope of a search feature that no longer exists. If you manage a Google Merchant Center feed, the product-level question_and_answer attribute is the place to supply product questions for AI Mode.
Google's rules for that attribute are specific: it is optional; each product can carry up to 30 question and answer pairs; each question and each answer can run to 1,000 characters, with 10,000 characters in total; answers should be factual product information, not time-sensitive details like pricing; and they should not repeat what is already in your title, description or product highlights.
A 30-minute FAQ audit for your top products
Open the product pages and policy pages that matter most commercially and test each answer against five questions. Any answer that fails one of them is worth rewriting before you touch markup, feeds or anything technical.
- Standalone: does the answer make sense copied into a blank document?
- Direct: does the first sentence answer the question?
- Specific: does it include the number, condition or limit a shopper needs?
- Real: is the question phrased the way customers ask it, not the way a keyword tool would?
- Current: is it still true after your latest change to products, shipping or returns?
If your help and policy pages are blocked from crawlers, none of this reaches an assistant. The three access checks in this article take five minutes.
FAQ
Did Google remove FAQ rich results for every site?
Yes. Google's documentation states that the FAQ rich result feature is no longer shown in Google Search results, and the notice dates the change to 7 May 2026. There is no category of site that still gets the expandable FAQ display.
Should I delete FAQPage markup from my Shopify theme?
There is no need to rush. FAQPage is still a valid schema.org type, so markup that accurately mirrors visible questions and answers can stay. Remove or fix markup that describes questions no longer on the page, because it no longer earns anything and can drift out of date.
Where do product questions go in Google Merchant Center?
In the optional question_and_answer attribute, which Google says is primarily intended for conversational experiences such as AI Mode. Each product can have up to 30 pairs, with factual product information and no pricing.
How many questions should a product page have?
As many as your customers genuinely ask, which for most products is three to six. Five precise answers about fit, materials and care do more than fifteen generic ones.
Sources
- Google Search Central, documentation updates (FAQ rich result deprecation notice, 8 May 2026; documentation removed, 15 June 2026)
- Google Search Central, FAQ rich result documentation (status notice)
- Google Search Central, Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search (May 2026)
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website (query fan-out)
- Google Merchant Center Help, Question and answer [question_and_answer]
