Glossary · Content & Optimization
Freshness Signal
Any indicator — a publish date, an update date, changed content — that tells a crawler how recently a page was created or revised.
Why signals need to be genuine
A visible "last updated" date that isn't backed by an actual content change is a weak or misleading freshness signal. Systems designed to detect cosmetic-only updates tend to discount them rather than reward them.
Why it matters more for retrieval-based engines
Engines that pull live or recently indexed information, rather than relying solely on static training data, are more likely to notice and reflect a genuine freshness signal quickly, making it a more direct lever for those platforms specifically.
See more terms in the full glossary, or read the AI Visibility 101 guide for the full picture.