Google Gives 3 Reasons Why FAQ Schema Won’t Show In Search

Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller offers three possible reasons why your FAQ schema markup isn’t generating rich snippets in search results.

This information is shared during the Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout recorded on January 28.

A question is submitted from a site owner asking why Google isn’t showing rich results for webpages where FAQ schema markup has been implemented.

They note that Google Search Console isn’t showing any technical errors with the markup, and are wondering if there could be non-technical reasons why rich results aren’t showing.

The site owner is concerned this could be an indication that Google doesn’t trust the content on their website.

Could that be the case?

Here’s Mueller’s response, including the three reasons why Google won’t display rich results in SERPs.

Why Is Google Not Showing FAQ Rich Results In Search?

FAQ rich results, like other types of rich results, will only display in Google Search if several conditions are met.

Mueller states:

“FAQ rich results are essentially similar to other types of rich results in that we have several levels that we take into account before we show them in the search results.”

Level One: Technically Correct

First, the FAQ markup must be implemented correctly on a technical level.

You can use Search Console to determine if there are any errors with how the markup is applied.

As Mueller says, that’s likely not the case here, as the site owner noted there were no errors found in Search Console.

“On the one hand they need to be technically correct. It sounds like these are technically correct.”

Level Two: Compliant With Policies

In addition to the markup being technically correct it has to comply with Google’s structured data policies.

When it comes to FAQ markup the only major policy to follow is making sure the questions and answers are visible on the page.

Mueller continues:

“On the other hand they need to be compliant with our policies. I don’t think we have any kind of significant policies around FAQ rich results other than that the content should be visible on the page.”

Level Three: Trustworthiness

If the markup is technically correct, and in compliance with Google’s policies, that leaves one question: Does Google trust the content?

In this case, Mueller says it’s probable that Google isn’t fully convinced of the website’s quality, and therefore doesn’t trust it enough to display FAQs in search results.

“And the third issue that sometimes comes into play here is we need to be able to understand that this website is kind of trustworthy in that regard that we can trust this data to be correct.

And that is sometimes something where, from a quality point of view, we’re maybe not convinced about a website and then we wouldn’t show it. But those are the three steps that I would look at.

Like, technically correct. Is it compliant with our policies? And then, if that’s all correct, then I would think about like well what can I do to significantly improve the quality of my website overall?”

In summary, the three possible reasons why Google isn’t displaying FAQ snippets in search results are:

1. The markup isn’t implemented correctly from a technical standpoint.
2. The way the markup is used isn’t in compliance with Google’s policies.
3. Google doesn’t see your website as high quality, and doesn’t trust it enough to display rich results.

Hear Mueller’s full response in the view below:

Featured Image: Screenshot from YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral, February 2022.