You implemented FAQ schema across hundreds of pages, earned expanded FAQ rich results that doubled your SERP real estate, and watched organic CTR increase by 15-25%. Then Google’s August 2023 update restricted FAQ rich results to government and health authority sites, and your expanded results vanished overnight. By early 2024, even that narrow eligibility effectively disappeared. The HowTo rich result followed a similar path, dropping from mobile first and then from desktop by September 2023. The schema investment that once drove measurable CTR improvements now produces zero visible SERP benefit for most sites. The strategic question is not whether to mourn the loss but how to reallocate structured data resources toward formats that still generate returns.
The Current State of FAQ and HowTo Rich Result Eligibility by Site Category
After the 2023 restrictions, FAQ rich results effectively no longer display for any site category in standard search results. Google’s initial announcement limited eligibility to “well-known, authoritative government and health websites,” but observable SERP data through 2024 and into 2025 shows that even sites within those categories rarely receive FAQ rich result treatment.
HowTo rich results followed a staged deprecation. Google first removed HowTo from mobile SERPs, where the vast majority of searches occur. Desktop visibility was subsequently removed in September 2023. As of 2025, HowTo is effectively deprecated as a visible rich result type across all device categories.
The eligibility landscape for other schema types that commonly accompany FAQ and HowTo content remains intact. Product schema continues generating rich results reliably. Review and AggregateRating schema produce rich results under the updated self-serving review restrictions. Event schema generates rich results when properly implemented. BreadcrumbList schema produces enhanced URL display in search results. These types represent the active rich result portfolio available to most sites.
The practical implication is straightforward. Any schema strategy built around FAQ or HowTo rich results as primary visibility drivers needs reconstruction. The formats that generated the most dramatic SERP real estate gains between 2019 and 2023 are no longer functional for that purpose.
Evaluating Whether Retained FAQ Schema Provides Non-Visible Benefits
The loss of visible rich results does not necessarily mean FAQ schema has zero value. Three potential non-visible benefit pathways exist, though the evidence supporting each varies in strength.
AI Overview citation influence is the strongest emerging argument for retaining FAQ schema. Early data suggests that pages with FAQPage markup may appear in Google AI Overviews at higher rates than comparable pages without it. The structured question-answer format aligns with how AI systems extract and cite information. Pages with FAQ schema are reportedly cited in AI Overviews at rates approximately 3x higher than pages without the markup, though this correlation has not been isolated from confounding variables like content quality and topical authority.
Featured snippet extraction may benefit from FAQ schema’s structured question-answer format, even without visible FAQ rich results. The question-answer pair format mirrors the extraction pattern Google uses for paragraph featured snippets. A well-structured FAQ answer of 40-60 words under a question-format heading provides an ideal extraction candidate.
Voice search optimization represents a smaller but potentially valuable benefit. Voice assistants prioritize content with clear question-answer structures, and FAQ schema markup signals this structure explicitly. As voice search usage continues growing, this formatting advantage may compound.
The honest assessment is that these benefits are plausible but not definitively proven through controlled testing. The correlation between FAQ schema presence and AI Overview citation does not establish causation, and the featured snippet benefit may come from the content structure itself rather than the schema markup.
Redirecting Schema Investment Toward Rich Result Types With Active Visibility
Resources previously devoted to FAQ schema creation and maintenance should be redirected toward schema types that still generate visible SERP enhancements.
Product schema offers the highest immediate ROI for ecommerce and product-oriented content. Rich results showing price, availability, review stars, and shipping information directly influence click-through rates and appear consistently for product-related queries.
Review and AggregateRating schema generates star ratings in SERPs when implemented on eligible content types. The self-serving review restriction limits this to third-party review sites and pages featuring genuine user-generated reviews, but eligible implementations produce reliable CTR improvements.
Video schema (VideoObject) captures video carousel and video rich result positions for pages with embedded video content. Video rich results include thumbnails, duration, and upload dates that increase visual prominence in standard organic listings.
Event schema generates date, time, and location rich results for time-bound events. The rich result is highly visible and directly actionable for users, producing strong CTR gains for event-oriented content.
The reallocation framework prioritizes schema types based on three criteria: the percentage of your content portfolio eligible for the schema type, the reliability of rich result generation for that type, and the CTR impact of the rich result format. Product and Review schema typically rank highest on all three criteria for commercial sites. Video and Event schema rank highest for media and event-oriented publishers.
The HowTo Schema Exception: Where Visual Rich Results Still Appear
Despite the general deprecation of HowTo rich results, there are edge cases worth monitoring. Google’s initial restriction removed mobile display first, then desktop. However, the structured data documentation for HowTo has not been removed, and Google has not formally deprecated the HowTo rich result type.
In practice, HowTo rich results no longer appear with meaningful frequency on any device type as of 2025. The documentation remains in place, which could indicate that Google is retaining the option to restore the feature or that the documentation simply has not been updated to reflect the current display behavior.
For sites with genuine instructional content, the HowTo schema investment decision should be evaluated similarly to FAQ schema: the markup itself does not cause harm, the maintenance cost is low if the CMS template handles generation automatically, and the structured step-by-step format may provide indirect benefits for passage extraction and AI citation. However, the expectation of visible rich results from HowTo schema should be zero for planning purposes.
The one area where instructional structured data retains clear value is Recipe schema, which continues generating rich results reliably. Recipe is technically a specialized form of instructional content with its own schema type and rich result format. Sites with recipe content should invest in Recipe schema rather than HowTo schema for that content.
Decision Framework for Removing Versus Retaining Legacy FAQ Markup
The keep-or-remove decision for existing FAQ schema depends on three variables: maintenance cost, potential indirect benefit, and content authenticity.
Remove FAQ schema when the content does not genuinely represent frequently asked questions (the FAQ markup was applied purely for rich result capture), the CMS implementation requires manual maintenance per page, or the FAQ content duplicates information already present in the page body without adding genuine question-answer utility.
Retain FAQ schema when the content genuinely serves an FAQ purpose (real questions from real users with authoritative answers), the CMS template generates FAQ markup automatically from structured content fields (near-zero maintenance cost), and the FAQ content adds unique value that the rest of the page does not provide.
Pause and monitor when the site operates in a niche where AI Overview citation rates are high and the potential indirect benefit of FAQ schema is material to the business model. In this case, retain the schema with minimal maintenance investment and reassess quarterly based on AI Overview citation data.
The principle guiding the decision is content authenticity. Google’s 2023 restriction was partly a response to widespread FAQ schema misuse, where sites fabricated question-answer pairs solely to earn SERP real estate. Retaining genuinely useful FAQ content with schema markup aligns with Google’s quality expectations. Retaining fabricated FAQ content that exists only as a schema vehicle does not.
Does retaining FAQ schema hurt a site if it no longer generates visible rich results?
Retaining accurate FAQ schema on pages with genuine question-answer content causes no harm. Google does not penalize sites for implementing valid schema that does not produce rich results. The markup continues contributing to entity understanding and may support AI Overview citation. The only scenario where removal is warranted is when the FAQ content itself is fabricated or does not match visible page content, which constitutes a structured data accuracy violation.
Can FAQ content still capture featured snippets even without FAQ rich result visibility?
Yes. The question-answer format that FAQ content provides is structurally ideal for paragraph featured snippet extraction. A concise 40-60 word answer directly beneath a question-phrased H2 heading matches Google’s featured snippet extraction pattern regardless of whether FAQ schema is present. The content format drives snippet eligibility; the schema is not a factor in featured snippet selection.
Is there any indication Google will restore FAQ rich results for non-government, non-health sites?
No public signals suggest restoration. Google has not removed the FAQ structured data documentation, which some interpret as leaving the option open. However, the restriction was a deliberate response to widespread schema misuse, and the trend across 2024-2025 shows even qualifying government and health sites rarely receive FAQ rich results. Planning should assume permanent deprecation for non-qualifying sites.
