FAQ Schema on a Therapy Website: What It Does Now That Google Dropped FAQ Rich Results

FAQ schema is FAQPage structured data: code that labels the questions and answers on a page so software can read them. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026, so the markup no longer changes how a therapy website looks in search. It is still valid schema.org, and harmless where it matches the FAQ your visitors can see.

Looking for the markup that describes the practice itself, the type that fits your license and the JSON-LD to paste? That is on schema markup for therapists.

If someone sold you FAQ schema as a way to take up more room in Google, that promise ended with the feature. What is left is a smaller and more honest job: an FAQ written for the people deciding whether to call you, labeled accurately. This guide covers what changed and when, what to do with markup already on your site, an example you can copy, and the ethics rules that apply to every answer you publish.

What Is FAQ Schema?

FAQ schema is the everyday name for FAQPage, a type in the schema.org vocabulary defined as a web page presenting one or more frequently asked questions. Each question on the page is marked as a Question, and the answer you wrote sits inside it as an Answer. Most sites write it as JSON-LD inside a script tag.

The schema.org FAQPage definition is one sentence long, and the Question type names the same use directly: a question “collected in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.” On a therapy website those are the questions a person asks before booking. What does a session cost? Do you take my insurance? Can we meet by video? What happens in the first appointment?

The markup is common. schema.org’s own usage figure, drawn from Google’s index, puts FAQPage on between 1 and 10 million domains. If your site was built from a template or runs an SEO plugin, check whether the markup is already there before you add any, because two FAQ blocks describing the same page is a mess you then have to untangle.

Is Google Removing FAQ Schema?

Google removed the FAQ rich result, the expandable questions that used to sit under a search listing. It did not remove the FAQPage type, which belongs to schema.org rather than to Google. The feature stopped appearing on May 7, 2026, and Google took its FAQ documentation down on June 15, 2026.

The change came in two steps. In August 2023, Google limited FAQ rich results to “well-known, authoritative government and health websites” and said that for all other sites the result would no longer be shown regularly. Google said sites may automatically be considered for it, depending on their eligibility. In May 2026, the Search Central changelog ended it for everyone: the feature “will no longer appear in Google Search starting May 7, 2026.” The old documentation address now forwards to that changelog.

Is FAQ Schema Still Relevant for a Therapy Practice?

FAQ schema is still relevant as an accurate label and no longer relevant as a visibility tactic. Google says it uses structured data to understand the content of a page, so correct FAQPage markup still describes your page. It will not change how your listing looks, and Google says its AI features need no special markup.

Both halves come from Google’s own pages. Its introduction to structured data says Google “uses structured data that it finds on the web to understand the content of the page.” Its guide to optimizing for generative AI features says “Structured data isn’t required for generative AI search, and there’s no special schema.org markup you need to add,” while still recommending structured data as part of an overall SEO approach.

For a solo practice that settles the cost question. Accurate markup on an FAQ you already have costs nothing to keep. Paying to add it, or giving it a Saturday afternoon, buys a label rather than a result. That time is better spent on the visible answers, because those are what a prospective client reads, and they are the text any search system has to work from.

Should You Remove FAQ Schema From Your Website?

Remove FAQ schema only where it is wrong. When Google narrowed the feature in 2023, it said you could drop the markup but did not need to, because structured data that goes unused “does not cause problems for Search.” Markup describing questions your visitors cannot see is different: Google’s guidelines say not to mark up content that readers cannot see.

Google’s general structured data guidelines put it plainly: “Don’t mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page,” and structured data “must be a true representation of the page content.” The same page describes the penalty for problem markup as a manual action that removes rich result eligibility, which Google says “doesn’t affect how the page ranks in Google web search.” Here is how that sorts the cases you are likely to find.

The QAPage row catches more sites than you would expect. QAPage is for a page built around one question where users can submit answers, like a forum thread. Google lists “An FAQ page written by the site itself with no way for users to submit alternative answers” as an invalid use, which describes every practice FAQ.

What Does a Good FAQ Look Like on a Therapy Website?

A good therapy FAQ answers the questions people ask before their first call, in their words, with the answer in the opening sentence. Each answer gives a fact the reader can act on: the fee, the session length, your insurance position, the states where you can see clients by video, and how to book.

The test for every answer is whether someone could decide to call you, or decide you are not the right fit, from that answer alone. The table below covers the six questions most practice FAQs need, with what each answer must state and what to leave out.

Put each question where the reader makes the decision it affects. The fee question belongs on your fees page, the video question on your telehealth page, and the first-session question on each service page. A short general FAQ page is fine for the practical questions that do not belong to any one service. If writing the answers is the hard part, the guide to therapy website copywriting covers how to say these things plainly.

The Ethics Rules That Apply to Your FAQ Answers

Your FAQ answers are advertising under your ethics code, whether or not they carry any markup. The APA code counts advertising and directory listings as public statements, and the APA, ACA and NASW codes all require accurate claims about credentials, services and results. Testimonial rules apply too, so client quotes do not belong in an FAQ.

The rules are short enough to read in full, and each one maps onto a specific FAQ answer:

• Psychologists. APA Standard 5.01 lists “paid or unpaid advertising” and “directory listings” among public statements and bars false, deceptive or fraudulent statements about your credentials, your services, your fees, and the “results or degree of success” of your services. Standard 5.05 bars soliciting testimonials from current therapy clients.
• Counselors. The ACA Code of Ethics requires credentials to be stated accurately in advertising (C.3.a), bars soliciting testimonials from current clients, former clients, or anyone vulnerable to undue influence (C.3.b), and bars calling yourself “Dr.” in a counseling context when your doctorate is not in counseling or a related field (C.4.d).
• Social workers. NASW Standard 4.06(c) requires accurate representations of your credentials, the services you provide, and the “results to be achieved,” and 4.07(b) bars soliciting testimonial endorsements from current clients.

If you are an LMFT, read your association’s code the same way, and whatever your license, read your state board’s advertising rule as well. In an FAQ, those rules translate into three edits. Answer “How many sessions will I need?” with what the number depends on, not a figure you could not defend to a board. State your license exactly as it is issued. And keep “what clients say” quotes out of the answers entirely. The reasoning behind that last one, and what you can do about reviews within these limits, is in the guide to getting more Google reviews as a therapist.

Can You Provide an Example of FAQ Schema?

Here is FAQ schema for a solo practice with three questions. The text in the markup matches the text on the page word for word, which is the rule that matters most now. Place it in a script tag of type application/ld+json, change the facts to yours, and delete any question your page does not show.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How much does a session cost?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "A 50-minute session is $180. I am out of network with insurance plans and can provide a superbill for out-of-network reimbursement."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Do you offer video sessions?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Yes. I see adults by secure video anywhere in Oregon, where I am licensed."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How do I book a first appointment?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Use the booking form on this page or call the office. I reply within two business days."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Every property in that block is defined in the vocabulary. FAQPage takes its questions through mainEntity, a property it inherits from CreativeWork. Question carries an Answer through acceptedAnswer, and the Answer holds your words in text. The practice and its facts are invented; the structure is not.

To see what your own site already emits, open the page, view the source, and search for FAQPage. Then paste the address into the validator that schema.org links from the Validate item in its top menu, and read what it reports. Skip Google’s Rich Results Test for this check. Google’s help page for the test says it shows which rich result types it found on the page, and the FAQ result is no longer one of them.

Does AI Search Use FAQ Schema?

For Google, FAQ schema is not a requirement for appearing in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Google’s guide to its generative AI features says structured data isn’t required for generative AI search and that there is no special schema.org markup to add. That statement covers Google Search. It does not speak for other AI tools.

What holds across all of them is simpler. When any system quotes your page, it quotes the visible words. An answer that opens with the fact, names the subject instead of saying “it”, and makes sense without the question above it is easier to lift accurately than a paragraph that warms up first. The guide to AI search for therapists covers what is measurable about how those tools choose sources.

A 20-Minute FAQ Schema Check You Can Do This Week

This works on any platform and needs no developer. Do it once, write the date down, and repeat it whenever you change fees, add a license, or switch themes.

• Find it. Open your FAQ page in a browser, view the source, and search for FAQPage. Repeat on your homepage and one service page, because some themes add the same block to every page.
• List it. Copy every question in the markup into a document.
• Match it. Mark each question that appears on that page with the same answer. Delete or fix every entry without a mark.
• Read each answer as an ad. Cross out promised results, loosely stated credentials, and any client quote.
• Move misplaced questions. Fee questions go to the fees page, video questions to the telehealth page.
• Check the bill. If anyone charges you for FAQ schema as a visibility service, ask what it does now that the feature is gone.
• Validate. Run each page you changed through the schema.org validator and fix anything it flags as an error.

Markup sits on top of a site that search engines can already crawl and read. If you have not checked that layer, the technical SEO checklist for therapist websites comes first.

FAQ

Will removing FAQ schema hurt my rankings? Google said in 2023 that FAQ markup it no longer uses “does not cause problems for Search” and has no visible effect, so removing accurate markup is optional. Do remove entries that describe questions your page does not show, because those break Google’s structured data guidelines.

Is FAQ schema the same as Schema Therapy? No. FAQ schema is website code from the schema.org vocabulary. Schema Therapy is a psychotherapy approach. The two share a word and nothing else.

Do I need a plugin to add FAQ schema? No. You can paste a JSON-LD block like the example above into the page. If an SEO plugin already generates FAQ markup, use one source only, so the page never carries two FAQ blocks that disagree.

How many questions should a therapy FAQ have? There is no required number. Use the questions prospective clients actually ask on consultation calls, answer each in a few sentences, and stop. Six well-answered questions do more for a reader than twenty thin ones.

Can my FAQ answers mention what past clients said? Keep client quotes out. The APA, ACA and NASW codes restrict soliciting testimonials, and an FAQ answer is a public statement about your services under the APA code. Describe your approach in your own words instead.

External Resources for Therapists

• Google Search Central: Latest Documentation Updates (FAQ rich result deprecation)
• Google Search Central Blog: Changes to HowTo and FAQ Rich Results
• Google: General Structured Data Guidelines
• Schema.org: FAQPage Type