What does this problem actually mean?
It means each location URL repeats the same questions and answers even when those answers are not true for that site, so the FAQ block is template filler rather than local help.
Shared questions are fine when the answer is company-wide and accurate. Copied parking, hours or “do you serve [this suburb]” answers that only swap the city name send people to the wrong site. That is a support-content failure. It is not a documented path to extra Search features.
Is this the same as using the same service copy on every location?
No. Duplicate body copy about the service itself is a different overlap. Identical FAQ blocks are the Q&A section, including answers that should be site-specific.
Service paragraphs reused across branches are covered in whether using the same service content across every location is a problem. Locations competing for the same queries is why business locations can compete with each other in Google Search. A location page that never proves it operates there is why a location page is not convincing that you operate there. This article stays with the FAQ block.
Same
Is the answer identical everywhere? A national warranty can be the same. Parking almost never is.Local
What must change by site? Hours, access, who is on site, which services this branch offers.Rich
FAQ rich results in Search? Google’s May 2026 changelog: the FAQ rich result is no longer shown.Yes
Write useful visible Q&A Ordinary HTML is enough. Do not add FAQPage markup to chase snippets.Next
Do not clone 20 generic questions Volume is not evidence the page helps this visitor.
Do location-page FAQs still earn FAQ rich results in Google Search?
No. Google no longer shows the FAQ rich result feature in Google Search.
Search Central’s documentation updates record that the FAQ rich result feature was deprecated in the changelog in May 2026 (no longer appearing in Search from 7 May 2026), and that the FAQ rich result documentation was later removed because the feature is no longer shown. FAQPage markup is not documented as a ranking factor. Do not add Q&A blocks, or structured data, to chase a snippet Google has retired. Source: Google Search documentation updates.
Which FAQs can be shared across location pages?
Share a question only when the answer is actually the same at every site you attach it to.
Typical shared answers: payment methods if they are identical, cancellation or deposit rules that apply company-wide, warranty or insurance wording that does not change by branch. Even then, one sentence of confirmation (“this applies at all our sites”) is clearer than hoping the reader notices the template. If a policy differs at one clinic or depot, that question is no longer shareable.
Which FAQs must differ by location?
Any answer that depends on the building, diary, catchment or equipment at that site must be written for that site.
Parking, public-transport access, opening hours, which postcodes that team covers, whether a treatment room or a particular machine exists on site, and how to find the entrance are local facts. Copying another branch’s parking answer is the same class of error as putting the wrong hours on the page. Write the true answer or omit the question.
Should I add FAQPage structured data for these questions?
Not as a way to earn FAQ rich results in Google Search, and not because markup is a ranking factor — Google does not document FAQPage structured data as either.
Visible Q&A that helps a customer can stay on the page as ordinary HTML. This article does not add FAQPage structured data. If leftover FAQ markup exists from when the rich result still appeared, removing it is an implementation choice; unused structured data is not documented as a ranking penalty, and adding new FAQ markup will not restore a feature Google has withdrawn. See the documentation updates linked above.
Shared versus location-specific FAQs
| Question type | Can it be identical? | What must be true | Typical mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment, deposits, company cancellation policy | Yes, if the rule is the same everywhere | The policy really does not vary by site | Copying it when one branch takes cash only |
| Parking and access | No | The answer matches that building | Reusing another site’s car-park instructions |
| Hours and how to book this site | No | Hours and booking path for that location | One set of hours pasted on every URL |
| Catchment / “do you come to…?” | No, unless every site has the same travel rule | What that team actually covers | Every page claiming the same list of towns |
| On-site equipment or rooms | No | What exists at that premises | Advertising a scanner or bay that is only at head office |
What should I not do?
Action checklist
- Inventory FAQ blocks on location URLs. Split company-wide policies from site-specific facts.
- Rewrite or remove answers that would be false for that premises.
- Keep shared policy answers only where they are identical and labelled as such.
- Do not implement FAQPage structured data on location pages to win a retired Search appearance.
- Make sure hours, parking and catchment in the FAQs match the visible page body and the Business Profile.
- Re-read each location URL as a customer. Identical questions are fine; identical untrue answers are not.
When professional help makes sense
Help is useful when a CMS injects one FAQ component onto every location template, when answers contradict the Business Profile, or when markup was added only for a rich result that Search no longer shows. Unique FAQs do not guarantee rankings or snippets.
Sources and further reading
- Google Search Central: Search documentation updates (FAQ rich result no longer shown)
- Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
- Google Search Central: Google Search Essentials
Every location page repeating the same FAQs?
Otepsphere can review which questions are genuinely company-wide and which must be written per site — without adding FAQ markup to chase a Search feature Google no longer shows.
Contact OtepsphereWho writes this
This page is published by Otepsphere, a specialist Local SEO consultancy. A named founder biography, photograph and professional profiles will be added here only when they have been verified. Until then, treat Otepsphere as the responsible organisation rather than a fictional expert.