[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":246},["ShallowReactive",2],{"learn-geo-/en/learn/geo/content-freshness-en":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":204,"extension":205,"meta":206,"navigation":239,"path":240,"seo":241,"stem":244,"__hash__":245},"content_en/5.learn/geo/content-freshness.md","Content Freshness",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":198},"minimark",[9,26,31,34,37,49,53,72,128,137,141,172,176,194],[10,11,12,16,17,21,22,25],"p",{},[13,14,15],"strong",{},"TL;DR"," — AI engines downrank undated content for factual queries because they cannot assess its currency. A clear ",[18,19,20],"code",{},"datePublished"," and ",[18,23,24],{},"dateModified"," in both HTML and schema lets the model determine whether the information is current — and for time-sensitive queries, this is decisive.",[27,28,30],"h2",{"id":29},"why-content-freshness-matters-for-ai-engines","Why Content Freshness Matters for AI Engines",[10,32,33],{},"AI engines downrank undated content for factual queries because they have no way to assess whether the information is current. A page with no visible date could contain information from 2015 or 2024 — the model defaults to treating it as potentially stale, particularly for topics where accuracy degrades over time.",[10,35,36],{},"This has direct consequences for citation rates. For queries where currency matters — \"how do I configure GPTBot in robots.txt\", \"what is the current schema markup recommendation\", \"latest GEO optimisation research\" — AI engines explicitly favour pages with recent, visible dates over undated content. The freshness signal is a direct input to citation ranking for time-sensitive queries.",[10,38,39,40,42,43,45,46,48],{},"The schema ",[18,41,24],{}," field is particularly important. A page last modified in 2021 that has not been updated signals that the content has not been maintained. A page with a ",[18,44,24],{}," from the past 6 months signals active maintenance. For evergreen content (guides, references), the cadence of ",[18,47,24],{}," updates signals that someone is reviewing and maintaining the accuracy of the information.",[27,50,52],{"id":51},"how-to-implement","How to Implement",[54,55,56,63,69],"ul",{},[57,58,59,60],"li",{},"Visible date in the HTML: ",[18,61,62],{},"\u003Ctime datetime=\"2025-03-15\">March 15, 2025\u003C/time>",[57,64,65,66,68],{},"Update ",[18,67,24],{}," whenever you make substantive changes — not cosmetic edits",[57,70,71],{},"Include in Article schema:",[73,74,79],"pre",{"className":75,"code":76,"language":77,"meta":78,"style":78},"language-json shiki shiki-themes material-theme-lighter material-theme material-theme-palenight","\"datePublished\": \"2025-01-01\",\n\"dateModified\": \"2025-03-15\"\n","json","",[18,80,81,109],{"__ignoreMap":78},[82,83,86,90,93,95,99,101,104,106],"span",{"class":84,"line":85},"line",1,[82,87,89],{"class":88},"sMK4o","\"",[82,91,20],{"class":92},"sfazB",[82,94,89],{"class":88},[82,96,98],{"class":97},"sTEyZ",": ",[82,100,89],{"class":88},[82,102,103],{"class":92},"2025-01-01",[82,105,89],{"class":88},[82,107,108],{"class":97},",\n",[82,110,112,114,116,118,120,122,125],{"class":84,"line":111},2,[82,113,89],{"class":88},[82,115,24],{"class":92},[82,117,89],{"class":88},[82,119,98],{"class":97},[82,121,89],{"class":88},[82,123,124],{"class":92},"2025-03-15",[82,126,127],{"class":88},"\"\n",[54,129,130],{},[57,131,132,133,136],{},"For evergreen content, add \"Last updated: ",[82,134,135],{},"date","\" at the top of the page",[27,138,140],{"id":139},"common-mistakes","Common Mistakes",[54,142,143,149,162],{},[57,144,145,148],{},[13,146,147],{},"Adding a date to schema but not showing it on the page"," — AI engines cross-check; schema dates without visible HTML dates are treated with lower confidence",[57,150,151,157,158,161],{},[13,152,153,154,156],{},"Never updating ",[18,155,24],{}," even after rewrites"," — a page completely rewritten in 2025 but showing ",[18,159,160],{},"dateModified: 2022"," signals neglect",[57,163,164,167,168,171],{},[13,165,166],{},"Using relative dates"," — \"2 years ago\" becomes meaningless to crawlers after time passes; always use absolute dates in ",[18,169,170],{},"\u003Ctime>"," elements",[27,173,175],{"id":174},"sources","Sources",[54,177,178,187],{},[57,179,180],{},[181,182,186],"a",{"href":183,"rel":184},"https://schema.org/dateModified",[185],"nofollow","schema.org/dateModified",[57,188,189],{},[181,190,193],{"href":191,"rel":192},"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/article",[185],"Google Structured Data — Article dates",[195,196,197],"style",{},"html pre.shiki code .sMK4o, html code.shiki .sMK4o{--shiki-light:#39ADB5;--shiki-default:#89DDFF;--shiki-dark:#89DDFF}html pre.shiki code .sfazB, html code.shiki .sfazB{--shiki-light:#91B859;--shiki-default:#C3E88D;--shiki-dark:#C3E88D}html pre.shiki code .sTEyZ, html code.shiki .sTEyZ{--shiki-light:#90A4AE;--shiki-default:#EEFFFF;--shiki-dark:#BABED8}html .light .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-light);background: var(--shiki-light-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-light-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-light-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-light-text-decoration);}html.light .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-light);background: var(--shiki-light-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-light-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-light-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-light-text-decoration);}html .default .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .dark .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-dark);background: var(--shiki-dark-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration);}html.dark .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-dark);background: var(--shiki-dark-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration);}",{"title":78,"searchDepth":111,"depth":111,"links":199},[200,201,202,203],{"id":29,"depth":111,"text":30},{"id":51,"depth":111,"text":52},{"id":139,"depth":111,"text":140},{"id":174,"depth":111,"text":175},"A visible publication or last-modified date that lets AI engines assess whether the information is current.","md",{"publishedAt":207,"badge":208,"type":210,"faq":211,"related":221,"cta":234},"2026-03-31",{"label":209},"Authority","guide",[212,215,218],{"question":213,"answer":214},"Should I update dateModified for minor edits like fixing typos?","No. dateModified should reflect substantive content updates — new sections, updated statistics, revised recommendations. Minor editorial corrections (typos, formatting) don't warrant a dateModified change. AI engines and search crawlers treat dateModified changes as signals of meaningful content updates.",{"question":216,"answer":217},"What if my page is genuinely evergreen and rarely needs updating?","Review evergreen pages annually and update them with any new data, recent examples, or changes to best practices — even if the core content remains accurate. The annual review signals active maintenance. If nothing needs changing, add a 'Last reviewed: [date]' note at the top.",{"question":219,"answer":220},"Does Google show dates in search results if they're in schema?","Google may show dates in search snippets and in AI Overviews when the datePublished or dateModified is present in Article schema. Visible dates also appear directly in the page snippet. Both increase user trust and click-through rates, in addition to the AI citation benefits.",[222,226,230],{"title":223,"url":224,"description":225},"Author Attribution","/learn/geo/author-attribution","Named authors paired with current dates create the strongest E-E-A-T signal.",{"title":227,"url":228,"description":229},"Schema Markup for AI Engines","/learn/geo/schema-markup","How datePublished and dateModified fit into the full Article schema.",{"title":231,"url":232,"description":233},"AI Bot Access via robots.txt","/learn/geo/ai-bot-access","Ensuring AI crawlers can access your freshly updated pages.",{"title":235,"description":236,"label":237,"url":238},"Are your pages missing freshness signals?","TrustData checks for missing dates, stale dateModified values, and schema/HTML date mismatches across your content.","Audit my pages","https://app.trustdata.tech",true,"/learn/geo/content-freshness",{"title":242,"description":243},"Content Freshness for AI Engines — GEO Optimisation Guide","AI engines downrank undated content for factual queries. A clear datePublished and dateModified in HTML and schema lets AI engines determine whether your information is current.","5.learn/geo/content-freshness","absU1-KuO5btO4p2K86outey2uoQy917UcKDszdRaxg",1777026713216]