You added the recommended questions to your page, answered them, and ran a new scan. The same questions still appear in OTTO's Knowledge-Based Trust recommendations. This article explains why that can happen and what to do about it.
❓ Should Answered Questions Disappear?
No. Putting the question and its answer on the live page does not clear the recommendation, even if both are published before the scan starts. OTTO builds the Knowledge-Based Trust list from the page's target keywords, and a scan does not check the page for those questions. The questions stay listed until you answer and approve them inside OTTO, or ignore or delete the recommendation.
🔎 Common Reasons Questions Still Appear
- Whether your edits are published does not decide this. The scan reads the published page, but it does not look for the recommended questions in the page content, so publishing the answers does not remove them from Knowledge-Based Trust.
- Caching is not the cause. A caching plugin, hosting cache, or CDN can make the scan read an older copy of the page, but the scan does not compare the page content with the recommended questions, so clearing the cache will not remove them.
- Matching the recommended wording does not matter. OTTO does not read the questions on your page, so writing the question exactly as recommended, or phrasing it differently, does not change whether it stays in the list.
- Placement does not decide this. Putting the answer directly under the question, under its own heading, or in a marked paragraph does not make OTTO drop the recommendation, because the list is not built by reading the page.
- Hidden or script-loaded content is not the cause. Questions inside tabs, accordions, pop-ups, or content loaded by scripts are not checked against the Knowledge-Based Trust list, and making them visible in the page HTML will not clear the recommendations.
- Finishing a new scan does not clear them. The recommendations list is not rebuilt from the scanned page, so questions you answered on the site stay listed after the scan completes.
- Using the exact scanned URL does not fix this. OTTO does not remove a recommended question when it finds that question and answer on the scanned page, so editing the exact URL, a similar page, a staging copy, or a URL with different parameters all leave the recommendation in place.
🛠️ How to Fix It Step by Step
- Check the live page. Open the exact URL in a private or incognito browser window and confirm that both the question and its answer are visible without clicking anything.
- Compare the wording. Place the recommended question next to the one on your page. Match it as closely as makes sense for your content, keeping the meaning the same.
- Place the answer right under the question. Use a heading for the question and a short paragraph beneath it. Aim for a clear, direct answer in the first sentence or two.
- Make the content visible in the page text. If the question is in a tab, accordion, or pop-up, test moving it into the main body of the page.
- Clear your caches. Purge any caching plugin, hosting cache, or CDN so the updated page is served to the scan.
- Run a new scan. Wait until the changes are live and the cache is cleared before starting it. Then allow the scan to finish completely.
- After the scan, review the list in OTTO rather than on the page. Questions that appear on the page are still recommended. Open each question in Knowledge-Based Trust, add or confirm its answer, and approve it, or ignore or delete the ones you do not want. Wording and placement on the live page do not decide what remains.
💡 Tips to Prevent This in the Future
- Publish and verify your page edits before starting a scan.
- Keep each question and its answer together in one clear section.
- Use plain, natural phrasing that closely follows the recommended question.
- Avoid hiding important answers behind interactive elements.
- Wait for a scan to fully complete before judging the results.
- Rescan after any significant page change so the recommendations stay current.
🔄 What If It Still Shows After a Fresh Scan?
If you have confirmed that the page is live, the wording matches, the answer sits directly under the question, caches are cleared, and a new scan has completed, the question may still be listed. In that case, the content may not be detected as expected, and our team should take a closer look.
To speed things up, have this information ready:
- The exact page URL that was scanned
- The question text that still appears in the recommendations
- The approximate time you published the changes and the time you ran the scan
- A screenshot of the question and answer on your live page
🙋 Need More Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.