Definition Freshness is not critical for all queries. News, price, ranking, and year-bound queries (e.g., "best X 2026") reward fresh content. For conceptual topics, freshness carries low weight in ranking.
How it works Search engines evaluate the page's last modified date, current references inside content, embedded year/month tags, and actual information change (old numbers replaced with new). The timestamp is signaled via HTML lastmod, sitemap lastmod, and schema dateModified. Changing only the date (fake update) is ineffective; measurable content change is required.
Where you see it in Scope Trends The **Content Refresh Agent** flags pages last updated 6+ months ago with traffic decline. **Brief Producer** outputs a refresh brief.
Frequently asked questions **Is updating only the date enough?** No. Real content change is required: new data, current examples, removed outdated references.
**Does refresh guarantee ranking gains?** No guarantee, but in freshness-sensitive categories it can trigger a ranking lift.