Freshness Signal
A visible or declared date telling a reader and a machine when a page was published or last revised.
What it means
datePublished and dateModified in structured data, plus a visible date in a time element. Undated content gets treated as content of unknown age, and unknown age loses to dated content on any subject that moves.
The part a short definition leaves out
Bumping the modified date without changing anything is a well-worn trick and a bad one. The date is a claim about the content, and a claim that is not true is a liability rather than a signal.
Where this comes from
See whether this is costing you anything
The inspection reports on this signal directly, alongside thirty-seven others, and tells you whether it is a quick fix on your site or something deeper.