- Outdated titles are long-form pages whose title includes a 20xx year that isn't the current year. The title comes from the CMS when you have it, otherwise from the URL slug.
- Rank the list by Search Console impressions. A “roundup of 2023” URL that still earns impressions in 2026 is a higher-priority row. A forgotten draft with 12 impressions is a smaller cleanup when you reach it.
- The year in the title is a signal searchers and models both read. A 2023 in a 2026 results page suggests the page has not been updated.
- Restrict the queue to long-form content paths. Product version numbers and legal effective dates are a different job.
- Answer engines tend to cite URLs that look current. A year in the title is a strong freshness signal. The list itself still comes from titles plus Search Console, not from ChatGPT.
You already have long-form URLs whose title still names a year that isn't this year. Some of them still show up in Google. The H1 and the slug still say 2023. The calendar says 2026.
Teams often refresh whatever is on this week's brief, and leave last year's roundup in the index. The outdated-titles play is a short queue of those URLs so you change the date promise — or retire it — on pages people still find.
Why outdated titles are worth the work
A 20xx year in the title often matches how people search. People search “devops trends 2026.” A title that still says 2023 loses the click to a page that says this year, even when your body was updated.
Updating the year is usually a small edit. Leaving an old year in the title can keep impressions on a URL that looks out of date. It also leaves you commissioning a 2026 sibling that cannibalizes the URL you already have.
Changing a year, and making the body match, is usually hours, not a new brief. The purpose is to update the existing URL, instead of publishing a parallel article because the title still names last year.
Keep the list short enough to work through. Ranked by impressions, you start with the URLs Google still shows. Without that sort, a low-impression old slug looks as important as a high-impression one.
Answer engine optimization (AEO) often involves the same URLs. Models often read titles first. A 2023 in the title can be a reason not to cite the page in 2026. This list still comes from titles plus Google Search Console (GSC), not from an AI citation report. Titles are also a freshness signal for answer engines. If you are weighing title work against net-new AEO spend, how to budget for AEO and SEO is the planning frame.
How to use titles and Search Console to build an outdated-titles queue
Start from long-form URLs in the latest Search Console page window. Attach a title: CMS title when you have it, otherwise the slug turned into words.
Then apply the filters in order:
- Keep long-form content paths.
- Keep titles (or slugs) that contain a 20xx year.
- Drop rows where every detected year is the current year.
- Sort by impressions, highest first.
The columns that matter are page, title, year(s), impressions, and clicks.
You don't need érculespot to run this. Export long-form URLs from Search Console, join titles from the CMS, grep for 20xx years that aren't this year, sort by impressions, and stop at a short queue. érculespot is one way to see that list assembled.
How to read an outdated-titles row
The pane title in the example is “Outdated titles.” That is the diagnostic name. The work is to update titles that still name a past year.
Read a row left to right. The page is the URL. The title is what Google and searchers see (or the slug, if that is all you have). Year(s) is the 20xx token that tripped the filter. Impressions and clicks tell you whether anyone still finds it.
In the example, one row is a “top 10 devops trends for 2023” URL: year 2023, 12 impressions, 0 clicks. That is a low-impression example of the same issue: the year in the title is no longer current. On a larger site the same filter can surface roundups with thousands of impressions and a last-year title. The row shape is the same; the impression count is higher.
If the year is the point of the page (a 2023 recap, a law that took effect in 2024), keep it and make the title say so on purpose. Otherwise, the ranking page is the place to edit.
Why the title year is the right place to edit
Google is already associating this URL with the queries that still generate impressions. The edit is to stop the title from advertising a year that has passed, unless that year is the subject of the page.
CMS title first, slug second, is the order because Google rewrites titles, but your CMS title is still the default you control. A slug with 2023 in it can still show the old year after you change the H1. Change both, or leave the slug and canonical the URL if you are replacing it.
A new URL for “2026” next to a live “2023” URL is a common way overlapping pages appear. For outdated titles, the default is one page, year updated, body matching.
What to do with an outdated-titles row
Open the ranking page. Search the title query with this year's number. Then:
- Update the year in the title, H1, and slug plan, or remove the year if the page should be evergreen.
- Refresh the body so the new year is true: stats, tools, screenshots, competitor lists.
- If the piece is a recap of a year that is over, say that in the title instead of presenting it as current.
- Don't ship a 2026 title on 2023 facts.
If you want examples of what a real evergreen pass looks like, how to make content evergreen [with examples] covers that work. Choose the row based on the URL, the year in the title, and its impressions.
Ship the row, then look at the next month's queue. Success looks like the URL falling out because the title year is current, or because you retired a recap that should not rank as a living guide.
Outdated-title work is a filter on pages you already have
This list is drawn from pages you already published. The title names a past year. Search Console says whether anyone still sees it. Even a short list is a practical amount of title and body updates.
Keeping the year in the title accurate can help with answer engines as well as Google. You do not need a separate AEO dashboard to start. Adapting your content system for AI search is the broader operating model. This list is one working set inside that system.
Frequently asked questions
Why flag a 20xx year in the title if the article body was already updated?
Because searchers and models read the title first. A current body under a 2023 H1 still loses the click to a page whose title says this year. The year in the title is the promise.
Why use the CMS title when available, otherwise the URL slug?
The CMS title is what you intended Google to show. The slug is the fallback when titles aren't in the export. A slug with 2023 in it will keep dating the URL after you change the H1, so it still belongs in the queue.
Why restrict outdated titles to long-form content paths?
Product names, API versions, and legal pages use years differently. Long-form paths are where “trends for 2023” is almost always an editorial leftover.
Why rank outdated titles by Search Console impressions?
A dated title on a URL with 12 impressions is a smaller cleanup. A dated title on a URL with 8,000 impressions is a higher-priority row. Impressions show which outdated titles are still appearing in search.
Do outdated years still matter with AI Overviews and answer engines?
Yes, with a limit. The list is still titles plus GSC, not an AI citation report. Models use the title as a freshness hint. A 2023 in the title can cause models to skip the page in 2026. You can start this work from titles and Search Console. A separate AEO tool is not required to change a year that is no longer current.
Related reading
- How to make content evergreen [with examples] — How to take a dated title and make the page true for this year.
- Content updates: Refresh or rewrite? — When a year in the title means a pass, and when it means a new URL.
- Using ChatGPT to optimize blog content — Practical title and heading edits on pages you already have.
