FAQ authoring standards

Clione applies a small set of rules to the FAQs you write and the ones it generates with AI. They aren't arbitrary: this page explains each rule and why it exists.

What schema.org actually requires

Google's requirements for FAQPage structured data are short:

Each Question must include the entire text of the question.
Each Answer must include the entire text of the answer.
Each question has a single answer.
The markup must match the visible content on the page — never mark up text users can't see.

There's no sentence count, character limit or length requirement in Google's guidelines or in schema.org.

Sources:

Why FAQ schema still matters

Google no longer shows FAQ rich results in Search (background). That ended the old reason for FAQ schema — expandable snippets in the results page — but not the current one. FAQPage schema is still:

A valid schema.org type. Google says unused structured data does no harm.
Read by AI answer engines and their crawlers — the consumers Clione is built for, which cite structured data when they generate answers.
The clearest way to make a page's FAQ content machine-extractable. A model that finds a clean Question/Answer pair is far more likely to cite it directly than to paraphrase the surrounding HTML.

In short: the audience moved from search snippets to answer engines (AEO). The schema is the same.

Clione's rules

Because the formal spec says nothing about length, Clione applies AEO best practice. An error blocks the FAQ from being saved; a warning is shown but doesn't block it.

Questions

Rule	Value	Severity
Required	yes	error if missing
Minimum length	8 characters	error below
Maximum length	200 characters	warning above
Reads as a question	starts with what / how / why / when / where / who / which / does / do / can / will / is / are / should / may / could (English) or qué / cómo / por qué / cuándo / dónde / quién / cuál / cuáles / puedo / puede / sirve / funciona / cuánto / cuánta (Spanish), or contains `?`	warning if neither

The question check is only a warning because some legitimate FAQ headings work without a question mark ("Shipping to the EU"), even if most don't.

Answers

Rule	Value	Severity
Required	yes	error if missing
Minimum length	30 characters	error below
Soft maximum length	500 characters	warning above
Hard maximum length	1,200 characters	error above
Target sentence count	1–3 sentences	warning above 5
Sweet spot	150–400 characters	guidance

Why these numbers

30 characters minimum. Below that, the answer is "Yes.", "No." or "It depends." — there's nothing for a model to cite.
500 soft / 1,200 hard maximum. The retrieval systems behind AI assistants split text into chunks; past the soft maximum your answer starts being cut mid-sentence. Past the hard maximum it's an article, not an FAQ — split it into several questions.
1–3 sentences, direct answer first. AEO sources converge on this shape, and it's the one models cite most readily. Google doesn't require it.

Sources for the AEO numbers:

Where the rules apply

The rules are checked in two places:

AI generation. The instructions Clione gives the model are built from these rules. Generated FAQs that still break a rule are discarded before they're saved. A generated answer that states something — a material, say — that isn't in the entity's own data is discarded too: Clione never states an attribute it wasn't given.
Saving a FAQ. When you create or edit a FAQ, an answer or question that breaks an error rule is refused with the reason; warnings come back without blocking the save.

FAQs you import from a CSV onto entities aren't checked.

A small example

A good FAQ, by these rules:

{
  "question": "Does the ML60II Bi-Color include the battery box?",
  "answer": "Yes — Kit 1 ships with the AKB01 battery box, an ergonomic handle, and a standard reflector. The AKB01 powers the ML60II off-grid for around 3 hours at full output, so you can shoot location work without an AC outlet. The complete kit fits in a padded case the size of a small camera bag."
}

The question reads as a real question and ends with ?.
The answer is 3 sentences and opens with the direct yes/no, then adds runtime and size.

A bad one:

{ "question": "Battery box", "answer": "Yes." }

The question is a noun phrase, not a question: warning.
The answer is 4 characters: error, refused.

What doesn't change

These are Google's rules and apply whatever the length:

The visible page must contain the FAQ. Don't mark up content users can't see.
One answer per question. Use several questions if you have several answers.
Don't use FAQPage schema for advertising, lead-generation forms or content that isn't actually an FAQ.

What schema.org actually requires​

Why FAQ schema still matters​

Clione's rules​

Questions​

Answers​

Where the rules apply​

A small example​

What doesn't change​