Schema guarantees nothing, and why you write it anyway
Markup is a description, not a contract. Google states that structured data does not guarantee that features consuming it will appear, and the FAQ rich result shows what happens when a feature is withdrawn: the markup stays, the display goes. Price the work accordingly.
The sentence that bounds the topic
Google's own documentation says that you must include all required properties for an object to be eligible for an enhanced display, and that structured data does not guarantee the feature will appear. Eligibility is the strongest word available, and it is not a promise.
That single sentence should decide how a markup proposal is priced. Work that makes your pages unambiguous is worth doing. Work sold on a specific appearance in search is being sold against something the supplier does not control.
What the last three years actually delivered
Take the clearest example. FAQ markup was restricted to authoritative government and health sites on 14 September 2023 and the feature was removed entirely by 15 June 2026. Anyone who bought FAQ markup for the boxes paid for a display that lasted a few years. The markup on those pages is unchanged and still valid.
Set that against the parts that did not move. Required properties are still required: for a local business that is 2 of them, name and address, with about 4 recommended ones worth adding. All 3 formats remain equally acceptable. And for AI Overviews and AI Mode Google states there are no additional requirements and no special schema.org structured data to add.
So the durable part of the work is the part nobody sells: being consistent and complete. The volatile part is the part every proposal leads with.
| Element | Status | Effect on your work |
|---|---|---|
| Required properties | Unchanged | Still the first thing to get right |
| Rich result eligibility | Never guaranteed | Cannot be bought |
| FAQ rich result | Withdrawn 2023 to 2026 | Markup stays, display gone |
| Format choice | All three accepted | Not a decision worth billing for |
| AI features | No special data needed | Nothing to add |
How to buy markup sensibly
Ask what the markup describes rather than what it is supposed to trigger. Name, address, opening hours, services, prices: those are facts about you and they stay useful when a display disappears.
Refuse any quote that prices a rich result. Nobody can sell you an appearance that Google explicitly declines to guarantee, and a supplier who promises one has told you how carefully they read the documentation.
The same test works in reverse. Ask what happens to the work if the display is withdrawn next year. If the answer is that your address, hours and services stay machine readable, the money was spent on something durable. If the answer is a shrug, you were buying a display, and the FAQ history tells you what those are worth.
Questions and answers
So is structured data pointless?
Why did my rich result disappear?
Do I need markup for AI Overviews?
What should markup cost?
Sources
- Google Search Central, Intro to structured data Eligibility rather than guarantee, and the equivalence of the three formats
- Google Search Central, AI features in Google Search No additional requirements and no special structured data for AI features
