Review your FAQ for claims that conflict with the storefront

Every answer is a claim with an address

An FAQ feels like customer service, but structurally it is a claims page. Each answer states something about the business: who buys, what the products are for, how orders are handled, what happens when something goes wrong. A buyer can read an answer as a promise, and anyone reviewing the site can hold it to the same standard as the pages it describes.

The FTC's truth-in-advertising guidance says advertising must be truthful and not misleading, with appropriate substantiation, across media including the web. That principle does not exclude an FAQ. An answer that reassures beyond what the product page, the policy, or the business's records support is a claim without evidence, wherever it sits on the site.

Classify each answer

Five classes cover most FAQ answers. An audience claim says who the products are for. An intended-purpose claim says what they are for. A product-attribute claim states a fact about the product itself, such as a specification or composition. An order-and-policy claim states the terms buyers get: shipping, returns, refunds, privacy. A business-fact claim describes the company: its name, history, or operations.

The class decides the comparison. Audience and intended-purpose answers must match how the catalog actually frames the products. Check a product-attribute answer against the listing and the records supporting it. A factual specification and a human-outcome marketing claim require different assessment; factual accuracy alone does not resolve every legal question. Keep human-outcome marketing claims out of a research-only merchant's FAQ. Order-and-policy answers must match the policy pages in effect, though not necessarily word for word. Business-fact answers need a record that shows the fact.

Compare for factual consistency, not identical wording

Open the page or record each answer depends on and compare the facts. A conflict is a factual contradiction: the FAQ promises dispatch sooner than the published shipping policy allows, or the FAQ says products are for laboratory research while a linked product page describes personal use. Different wording that states the same fact is not a conflict, and a fact the business can support from records does not become false because one page omits it.

Stripe's website article says the business name and descriptions on the site must align with what the business told Stripe. That is Stripe's rule for Stripe accounts, and a reminder of the general point: anyone reviewing the business can hold the FAQ and the product page side by side the same way you just did. Record a contradiction with both URLs and both wordings. Do not resolve one by editing whichever page you opened last; decide which statement is true and fix the other.

Name who can edit, and what stays open

An FAQ conflict is not fixed until the corrected answer is public. Record who can edit the FAQ, whether it lives in a page builder, a plugin, or a theme, and the date the new wording went live. An intended edit is not a correction anyone can read.

Some answers should not be repaired by editing alone. A question about human use, dosing, or outcomes is not a copy problem for a research-only merchant; it is a sign the FAQ is attracting or inviting the wrong claim entirely, and the safer fix is removal. Questions about legality belong to qualified counsel, not to a website edit. What a consistent FAQ still cannot do is establish eligibility or legal status. Prism's published review covers marketing claims and linked content within an agreed scope; the provider decides the account, and counsel answers the legal question.

FAQ answer and evidence comparison

One row per FAQ question. Copy the answer's exact wording and open the supporting page or record before judging. A conflict means a factual contradiction, not different wording for the same fact.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.