Google Changes How Questions & Answers Appear in Search

Is Q&A disappearing from Google?

It's too soon to tell, but a shift is happening.

What's not changing (yet)?

Brands can still manage their Google Business Profile (GBP) to keep listings information up-to-date and help customers discover their brand or location(s).

Brands can continue to update their GBP on Google Search or Maps.

But…

The Q&A feature is now only available for certain business categories and geographical regions.

Also, hyper-specific local searches don't reveal Questions & answers to customers.

Take a look at these local searches in Google Search for Dunkin'. In this first search, the location is higher-level: "dunkin lexington ky". When the second location on Versailles Rd. is clicked, notice the two (2) Questions & answers that appear.

But something different happens when you search directly for "dunkin versailles rd lexington" — no Q&A appears:

What does this mean for brands and brand visibility?

It's time to double down on managing listings so you keep location-level attributes complete, accurate, and up to date.

Brands must make every effort to avoid publishing misinformation and reduce reliance on scraped data. At the same time, optimizing your Google Business Profile and all your listings at scale is key to showing up in both traditional and AI search results. Meanwhile, building local landing pages with FAQ schema and other best practices can also drive your visibility everywhere customers search.

Yext can help — and make it easy. Discover Yext Listings.

Stay on top of the trends in how people search today. The Search Shift