What are Content Freshness Signals?
Freshness signals tell AI systems when your content was last updated. These include dateModified in JSON-LD schema, Last-Modified HTTP headers, and <lastmod> tags in your sitemap. They help AI prioritize current information over stale data.
Why it matters
- AI agents prefer recent data when recommending products — outdated prices or availability erode trust
- Crawl priority increases for pages that signal frequent updates
- Accurate recommendations depend on AI knowing your current inventory and pricing
- Competitive advantage comes from having the freshest product data in AI results
What to do
Add dateModified to your JSON-LD product schema and update it whenever price, availability, or description changes. Where your platform supports it, ensure accurate Last-Modified HTTP headers are being sent. Keep <lastmod> dates in your sitemap current — don't set them all to the same date or leave them static.
Related
Freshness signals are most effective when paired with comprehensive JSON-LD markup — together they tell AI not just what your products are, but how current that information is.