If you added FAQ schema to your site sometime in the last few years hoping for the little expandable accordion under your listing, here's the update: it's gone. Google pulled the FAQ rich result from Search entirely as of May 7, 2026, following Search Console reporting for it in June and API support in August. The snippet you were chasing doesn't exist anymore, for anyone.
That's a real change, and it's a good excuse to ask a question most service businesses never get around to: what does schema markup actually do for you now? This is a cluster post in Content & AI Search, and it's the technical companion to the content pillar: the plumbing underneath the content, not the content itself.
What schema markup actually is
Schema markup is code, usually JSON-LD, sitting in a page's source that states facts explicitly instead of leaving them to be inferred. Your prose might say "we've been serving the valley for over twenty years and our customers love us." Schema says, in a format machines don't have to guess at: this is a LocalBusiness, this is the address, this is the phone number, this is the aggregate review rating, this is the price range. It's the difference between describing your business to someone and handing them your business card.
Prose describes your business to a reader. Schema states it to a machine. In 2026, you need both.
The FAQ rich result is dead. Read the fine print before you panic.
Google's own guidance is clear about the sequence: FAQ rich results were already restricted to "well-known, authoritative" government and health sites back in 2023, and as of May 2026 they're gone from Search entirely, for every site, no exceptions. If your FAQ section was earning that accordion snippet, it isn't anymore, and no amount of schema cleanup brings it back.
Here's the part worth sitting with, though: as of September 2026, Google says structured data isn't required for AI Overviews or AI Mode, and the FAQ markup is still valid, so nothing makes you remove it. What we keep, and what Microsoft says assistants can lift word for word, is the visible question and a short, direct answer on the page. That value didn't disappear with the rich result. It just stopped being visible in classic blue-link search, which is exactly where AI Overviews and zero-click search were already pulling attention anyway.
What still earns a visible rich result
Losing FAQ doesn't mean schema stopped mattering. Several types still produce real, visible enhancements in search results, and they're the ones worth your time:
- LocalBusiness (or a specific subtype). This is what feeds knowledge panel details and reinforces the facts behind your Google Business Profile: name, address, hours, service area.
- BreadcrumbList. A small enhancement, but a consistent one: it shows your site's structure directly in the result and follows Google's general structured data guidelines on nearly every page type.
- Organization and Person. These establish who's behind the content, which matters for E-E-A-T: a named author with real credentials, not an anonymous byline.
Stars in search come from your Google Business Profile and independent review platforms, not from markup on your own site. Google says a business that controls the reviews about itself is ineligible for star snippets, and that has been the rule since 2019. Put the work into earning reviews where Google, Yelp and the AI engines already look, and show your real rating in plain text on the page. Our review flow is where that work starts.
Why AI engines care about schema even when Google doesn't render it
Schema is not what gets you cited. Bing's webmaster guidelines say structured data may support clearer grounding but does not guarantee visibility, and it must match what is on the page. Google says it isn't required for AI Overviews. OpenAI, Perplexity and Anthropic haven't said either way. In Ahrefs' 1,885-page test (Ahrefs sells SEO software), adding schema didn't move AI citations. AI assistants that recommend local businesses lean on review volume and a consistent business profile across Google, Yelp and your website. In studies of local recommendations, the star score mostly affects the order of the businesses once they are in the answer, and the number of reviews decides who gets in. Review count gets you into the answer. Rating decides the order. Neither comes from markup on your own site.
So we write the answer where every engine can read it: in plain text on the page. That works in every engine. Markup works in some, and nobody has shown it wins. Schema is housekeeping for Google and Bing, and it is the most literal version of making your facts unambiguous. It's also why every page on this site, including this one, carries JSON-LD schema in its source, whether or not a visitor ever notices. The full playbook is in our Generative Engine Optimization guide.
Where to actually spend the hour
Don't chase every schema type schema.org documents; most don't apply to you and several, like FAQPage, no longer produce a visible result at all. Spend the time on LocalBusiness, Service and BreadcrumbList, verified with Google's Rich Results Test so you know they validate, not just that they're present. Skip AggregateRating markup for your own reviews: Google doesn't show stars for them. That's the schema doing real work in 2026, as housekeeping for Google and Bing, while the answers on the page do the work for every engine.
If you're not sure whether your site's structured data is helping or just sitting there unvalidated, that's exactly the kind of technical gap the Growth Blueprint surfaces alongside the rest of your SEO and content audit. Structure precedes scale, down to the markup.