Are FAQs still worth it? How to write questions Google and AI will pick up
Below the most important pages of the language training company where I do the marketing, there is a block of frequently asked questions.
I deliver each block in two parts. The first part is the questions and answers for the page. The second is a separate piece of code that tells search engines there are questions and answers on that page.
No visitor ever sees that second part. It's also the part marketers argue about most, because since 2023 Google has hardly shown those expandable questions in the search results anywhere.
So why would you still spend time on FAQs?
The short answer: because they still work, just for a different reason than before. A clear question with a direct answer is exactly the kind of text that search engines and AI tools easily understand and pick up.
The layout in the search results has become a side issue. The answer itself is what matters.
It's about the text, not the code
That sounds odd coming from someone who delivers that code every single time. Yet the code only does something if the text underneath it is good.
Google itself requires structured data to match the visible text on the page. Put weak questions in the code and you still have weak questions, only now they're machine-readable.
So most of the time doesn't go into the code, but into the question. Which questions do people really ask, and how do you answer them so they can move on after one paragraph?
What changed in 2023
In August 2023 Google announced that expandable FAQs in the search results would only appear for a small group of authoritative government and health websites. For an ordinary business owner, the visible effect disappeared overnight.
Many marketers concluded that FAQs were dead. I think that's too quick. Those expandable questions were one way an FAQ paid off, not the only one.
A clear question with a short answer is still the kind of text Google chooses for a featured snippet, and that AI tools can use without any effort.
On top of that, people simply read them. Anyone in doubt scrolls to the questions to see whether their objection is among them.
What AEO actually asks of you
AEO stands for answer engine optimisation: making sure a search engine or AI tool uses your text as the answer, instead of just showing a link.
That can be a featured snippet, an AI Overview in Google or an answer in ChatGPT or Perplexity with your site as the source. In SEO isn't dead I explain the difference with SEO and GEO.
What AEO asks for is actually old-fashioned: answer the question that was asked, straight away, in plain language. An FAQ is the purest format for that.
The questions nobody asks
Anyone who has ever written an FAQ knows the temptation. "Why choose us?" "What makes us unique?"
No customer ever types that into Google, and no chatbot is going to quote it. Good questions come from here:
Sales or customer service. Which questions do they get every week? Write them down the way they're asked.
Your inbox. Search customer emails for question marks. Often everything is already there.
People also ask. Search for your topic in Google and see which questions appear below it.
AI itself. Ask ChatGPT what questions your target audience has about your topic. Use that as a starting list, because it happily makes up questions nobody asks.
Write the question the way a customer would type it. "How much does language training for a team cost?" works better than "Rates".
The answer starts in the first sentence
This is where most FAQs go wrong. A few rules I stick to myself:
The first sentence is the answer. If it's a yes-or-no question, start with yes or no.
Keep it short. Two to four sentences, roughly forty to sixty words.
Make it readable on its own. An AI tool cuts your answer loose from the page. "As described above" then means nothing anymore.
Be specific. "Within two working days" gets picked up, "as soon as possible" doesn't.
One question, one topic. If you answer three questions in one answer, you've answered none of them as far as a search engine is concerned.
The code, in short
The code is called FAQ markup: a piece of JSON-LD of the type FAQPage, containing the same questions and answers as on the page.
In WordPress you add it with an SEO plugin or a plugin for code snippets. In Wix you can do it via a page's advanced SEO settings.
Then test it with Google's Rich Results Test . You can read more about how structured data works in my article on schema markup.
Where it goes wrong
Questions that are really advertising.
Answers that start by repeating the question.
Thirty questions nobody gets through. Eight to ten strong questions per page is usually enough.
The same FAQ on every page, while every page raises its own questions.
An answer that ends with "get in touch with us". That's not an answer, that's a referral.
What an FAQ doesn't do
An FAQ is not a secret entrance to AI answers. Google says no special schema markup is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
An FAQ helps because it's good text in a clear format, not because the code forces anything.
Your next FAQ is already in your inbox
The best FAQ is a sales conversation that has already taken place. If your sales team answers the same question every week, that's not an annoyance, it's your next FAQ.
Frequently asked questions
Do FAQs still work for SEO?
Yes. Since 2023 Google rarely shows expandable FAQs in the search results, but clearly written questions and answers are still used for featured snippets and as a source by AI tools.
How long should an FAQ answer be?
Two to four sentences, about forty to sixty words. Start with the direct answer and then add only the explanation that's needed.
Do I need FAQ schema?
It's not mandatory, but it helps search engines understand that your text consists of questions and answers. Do make sure the same questions are visible on the page.
You can read more about being found in Google and AI under SEO, AEO and GEO.
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