A machine-readable date is present and recent
One of 40 checks the scanner runs. This one is worth 3 points inside the Freshness dimension, which carries 5% of the total score.
What does this check look at?
A machine-readable date is found in dateModified, datePublished or article:modified_time. Within 12 months is a full pass; older is a partial pass. If only the HTTP Last-Modified header carries a date, that is a partial pass.
How do I fix it?
- Partial pass: Refresh date-sensitive pages and update the date when you do.
- Partial pass: Use ISO 8601 dates (YYYY-MM-DD) in schema and meta tags.
- Partial pass: Also declare dateModified in structured data; headers are not shown to readers.
- Partial pass: Declare dateModified in structured data and keep it current.
- Publish a machine-readable modification date.
Why is it worth 3 points?
Points are relative weights inside a dimension, and a dimension's weight decides how much of the total it can move. The reasoning for this dimension's weight is published rather than asserted:
| Dimension | Freshness — 5% of the total score |
| Points for this check | 3 of 5 in this dimension |
| Worth at most | 3.0 of the 100 points |
Low to moderate: a real but secondary signal.
What else is measured in this dimension?
- A current year appears in the content — 2 points
How do I see my own result?
Run a scan on your own domain. The report lists every failed check with the evidence that produced it, so you can tell a real failure from a check that does not apply.
Run a free GEO audit on your own site →
The full method, including the dimensions that are deliberately weighted low and the parts of the picture a single-URL scan cannot see, is on the methodology page.