Foundational pillar / check stale-year-references
Past years presented as current
A measured fact about your page: we look for titles, headings and copy that present a year that has already passed as current, such as "2024 guide" in 2026.
By Shimon Carroll, Founder, SEO for AI Agents · Last updated
What this check measures
Every year in your page title, meta description, main heading, section headings and main content, judged against the date of the audit. A year counts as a claim of currency when the wording around it says the content is current: best, top, guide, updated, edition, rates, deadlines, outlook, or "for {year}" in a heading. History, award years, full event dates and tax-year phrases that are still in season ("your 2025 tax return" during the 2026 filing season) are ignored. The footer is read only for the copyright line.
Why it matters
Wording that names a past year as current tells visitors and answer engines the page is out of date, even when the advice still holds. The fix is not to bump the number: Google's helpful content guidance asks whether you are changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh when the content has not substantially changed, and Google's John Mueller has said that changing dates without changing content does not help rankings. Bing's Webmaster Guidelines ask you to keep content accurate and up to date and to remove or revise outdated information.
How we score it
A past year presented as current in the page title or main heading is medium severity: it is the first thing a searcher and an engine read. In a section heading, the meta description or the body it is low. An old copyright year alone is an info note with no penalty; it is a weak upkeep signal and we say so. The check is unmeasured when the audit has no date to judge against or the page is not in English.
Confidence-flag rules
HIGH confidence for a title or main heading claim, MEDIUM for one in the body, where wording is more varied. Phone numbers, ZIP codes, ranges and dates glued to other digits never read as years. Each claim is quoted verbatim in the evidence with where we found it.
Common mistakes
- Leaving "Best X of 2024" in a title tag long after the year ended.
- Changing the year in a heading without updating the facts under it.
- Hard-coding the copyright year instead of letting the site set it.
How to fix it
Review the content behind each year we quote. If it is still accurate, update the facts, then the year. If it describes a past edition, label it as that edition or retire it. Set your footer copyright year automatically.
Primary sources
- Google Search Central, creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (last updated 2026-10-05, accessed 2026-10-07)
Google Search Central
- Bing Webmaster Guidelines, "Keep Content Accurate and Up to Date" (accessed 2026-10-07)
Microsoft Bing
- Search Engine Journal, Google's John Mueller: changing dates on pages won't improve rankings (2021-04-07, secondary report, accessed 2026-10-07)
Search Engine Journal
Changelog
- · First published. History ("since 1995", "founded in"), award years and dated events are ignored. Navigation and footer text is never read for claims; an old footer copyright year is an info note, never a penalty.