[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":579},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fqAmjFPKD_Mhpm_eJlt3hQYKsBgNSdZ3Gt32SIf-us28":3,"$fh8tP7jImsA9rEH-Ur-HW8lqWfrZTqJmHYBbD5HWeBcE":34},{"id":4,"tags":5,"type":18,"title":19,"slug":20,"status":21,"description":22,"date":23,"updatedDate":25,"formattedDate":26,"publishTime":27,"dateMs":28,"tocDepth":29,"author":30},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8198-baf0-ddf8c024e9e8",[6,10,14],{"id":7,"name":8,"color":9},"3d2f3fb4-dae2-475a-865a-56a1f47980eb","SEO","pink",{"id":11,"name":12,"color":13},"e872cbb6-95cb-49b3-b5fd-3b4b5e11a386","Content Optimization","purple",{"id":15,"name":16,"color":17},"08cf22cb-4656-4ab9-bd33-d5fdb9c842a7","Playbook","brown","Blog","Refreshing stale pages","refreshing-stale-pages","Published","Sitemap URLs whose lastmod is older than six months, ranked by Search Console impressions. Here's how to build that freshness queue and what to update first.",{"start":24,"end":25,"time_zone":25},"2026-08-17",null,"Aug 17, 2026","2026-08-17T00:00:00+00:00",1786924800000,"h2",{"name":31,"image":32,"link":33},"Justin Dunham","/authors/justin-full.jpg","https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwdunham/",[35,83,92,100,109,117,125,133,141,159,167,175,183,219,227,235,243,257,265,273,281,289,297,305,313,321,329,337,379,397,405,413,421,439,447,456,464,472,480,488,496,504,512,520,528,536],{"type":36,"children":37},"bulleted_list",[38,51,59,67,75],{"id":39,"type":40,"content":41,"bulleted_list_start":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81c3-9c26-c345aeea52b6","bulleted_list_item",{"rich_text":42,"color":49},[43],{"type":44,"text":45,"annotations":47,"plain_text":46,"href":25},"text",{"content":46,"link":25},"Stale pages are sitemap URLs whose lastmod is older than six months. The date comes from the sitemap, not from an on-page crawl of the rendered HTML.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},false,"default",true,{"id":52,"type":40,"content":53},"3d432a0f-f8ae-811b-b4ea-d58757964be2",{"rich_text":54,"color":49},[55],{"type":44,"text":56,"annotations":58,"plain_text":57,"href":25},{"content":57,"link":25},"Rank the list by Search Console impressions in the current ingest window. A URL that still earns thousands of impressions and has not been updated in two years is a high-priority row.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":60,"type":40,"content":61},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8123-996d-ed3e7fc4660e",{"rich_text":62,"color":49},[63],{"type":44,"text":64,"annotations":66,"plain_text":65,"href":25},{"content":65,"link":25},"Omit URLs with unknown lastmod. Missing dates are a sitemap problem, not a freshness queue.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":68,"type":40,"content":69},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8128-b4d2-c34caeb5b82c",{"rich_text":70,"color":49},[71],{"type":44,"text":72,"annotations":74,"plain_text":73,"href":25},{"content":73,"link":25},"This is not every old URL on the site. It is URLs that still appear in Search Console, whose sitemap lastmod is older than six months.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":76,"type":40,"content":77,"bulleted_list_end":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8161-9cc5-e15751caf570",{"rich_text":78,"color":49},[79],{"type":44,"text":80,"annotations":82,"plain_text":81,"href":25},{"content":81,"link":25},"Answer engines tend to cite URLs that look current. A stale lastmod on a page that still ranks can affect both Google results and answer-engine citations. The list itself still comes from the sitemap plus Search Console, not from ChatGPT.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":84,"type":85,"content":86},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81b5-93f8-dec5792a5181","paragraph",{"rich_text":87,"icon":25,"color":49},[88],{"type":44,"text":89,"annotations":91,"plain_text":90,"href":25},{"content":90,"link":25},"You already have URLs in the sitemap that haven't been modified in more than six months. Some of them still show up in Google thousands of times a month. The date in the sitemap is the last time you told crawlers the page changed.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":93,"type":85,"content":94},"3d432a0f-f8ae-814d-a1c0-c4f2dccab0b3",{"rich_text":95,"icon":25,"color":49},[96],{"type":44,"text":97,"annotations":99,"plain_text":98,"href":25},{"content":98,"link":25},"Teams often refresh whatever was edited last, or they brief a new article on a topic they already cover. The stale-pages play is a short queue of high-impression URLs whose sitemap date has slipped, so you spend hours on pages people still find.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":101,"type":102,"content":103},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81fd-80a9-edc221f4a24c","heading_2",{"rich_text":104,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[105],{"type":44,"text":106,"annotations":108,"plain_text":107,"href":25},{"content":107,"link":25},"Why stale pages are worth the work",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":110,"type":85,"content":111},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8176-8b2f-dff7aa00173a",{"rich_text":112,"icon":25,"color":49},[113],{"type":44,"text":114,"annotations":116,"plain_text":115,"href":25},{"content":115,"link":25},"A lastmod older than six months means the sitemap is telling crawlers the URL is old. If impressions are still high, searchers haven't moved on. The page may still be ranking with information that has not been updated.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":118,"type":85,"content":119},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8196-aa88-d1a83d0c0541",{"rich_text":120,"icon":25,"color":49},[121],{"type":44,"text":122,"annotations":124,"plain_text":123,"href":25},{"content":123,"link":25},"If impressions are still high, an outdated page can keep sending readers to old facts, screenshots, and competitor lists. It also leaves you commissioning a sibling article for a topic you already rank for.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":126,"type":85,"content":127},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8160-bc1b-f4b143a335f5",{"rich_text":128,"icon":25,"color":49},[129],{"type":44,"text":130,"annotations":132,"plain_text":131,"href":25},{"content":131,"link":25},"Refreshing a candidate URL is usually hours, not a new brief, subject-matter-expert (SME) review, and a wait to get a new URL indexed. The purpose is to update URLs that already rank, instead of treating new articles as the only way to stay current.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":134,"type":85,"content":135},"3d432a0f-f8ae-812e-b7ae-f5b499bdabbd",{"rich_text":136,"icon":25,"color":49},[137],{"type":44,"text":138,"annotations":140,"plain_text":139,"href":25},{"content":139,"link":25},"Keep the list short enough to work through. Ranked by impressions, the top of a 70-row list is a practical amount of work. Including every URL older than six months, even those with no impressions, turns the list into a sitemap audit.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":142,"type":85,"content":143},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81d5-b9f2-e28c33b650f7",{"rich_text":144,"icon":25,"color":49},[145,149,155],{"type":44,"text":146,"annotations":148,"plain_text":147,"href":25},{"content":147,"link":25},"Answer engine optimization (AEO) often involves the same URLs. Models cite pages that already look like answers — and they notice dates. Updating a URL that already ranks can help it keep both Google traffic and citations. This list still comes from the sitemap plus Google Search Console (GSC), not from an AI citation report. Updating a URL that already ranks can help both Google and answer engines. If you are weighing refreshes against net-new AEO work, ",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":150,"annotations":154,"plain_text":151,"href":153},{"content":151,"link":152},"how to budget for AEO and SEO",{"url":153},"https://www.ercule.com/blog/aeo-seo-budget",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":156,"annotations":158,"plain_text":157,"href":25},{"content":157,"link":25}," is the planning frame.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":160,"type":102,"content":161},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8199-a156-c43c74167c62",{"rich_text":162,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[163],{"type":44,"text":164,"annotations":166,"plain_text":165,"href":25},{"content":165,"link":25},"How to use the sitemap and Search Console to build a stale-pages queue",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":168,"type":85,"content":169},"3d432a0f-f8ae-812e-b5bf-f3685617a351",{"rich_text":170,"icon":25,"color":49},[171],{"type":44,"text":172,"annotations":174,"plain_text":173,"href":25},{"content":173,"link":25},"Start from the sitemap. Read lastmod per URL. Then join Search Console impressions for the ingest window (in the example, a ~30-day GSC range).",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":176,"type":85,"content":177},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8118-9ab3-f7f7fcacbcbf",{"rich_text":178,"icon":25,"color":49},[179],{"type":44,"text":180,"annotations":182,"plain_text":181,"href":25},{"content":181,"link":25},"Then apply the filters in order:",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":184,"children":185},"numbered_list",[186,195,203,211],{"id":187,"type":188,"content":189,"numbered_list_start":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81f6-8099-f94b41cb2efa","numbered_list_item",{"rich_text":190,"color":49},[191],{"type":44,"text":192,"annotations":194,"plain_text":193,"href":25},{"content":193,"link":25},"Keep URLs whose lastmod is older than six months from today.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":196,"type":188,"content":197},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8185-aea3-fd2659389199",{"rich_text":198,"color":49},[199],{"type":44,"text":200,"annotations":202,"plain_text":201,"href":25},{"content":201,"link":25},"Drop URLs with missing or unparseable lastmod.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":204,"type":188,"content":205},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8147-b34a-e7e47b306c22",{"rich_text":206,"color":49},[207],{"type":44,"text":208,"annotations":210,"plain_text":209,"href":25},{"content":209,"link":25},"Attach impressions from Search Console for the current window (0 if GSC isn't available).",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":212,"type":188,"content":213,"numbered_list_end":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8127-81c7-fa4ecdb7f290",{"rich_text":214,"color":49},[215],{"type":44,"text":216,"annotations":218,"plain_text":217,"href":25},{"content":217,"link":25},"Sort by impressions, highest first.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":220,"type":85,"content":221},"3d432a0f-f8ae-813b-954f-f626b922b217",{"rich_text":222,"icon":25,"color":49},[223],{"type":44,"text":224,"annotations":226,"plain_text":225,"href":25},{"content":225,"link":25},"The columns that matter are page, impressions, last updated, and days since update.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":228,"type":85,"content":229},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81fe-a89c-c5b5c9d4434c",{"rich_text":230,"icon":25,"color":49},[231],{"type":44,"text":232,"annotations":234,"plain_text":233,"href":25},{"content":233,"link":25},"You don't need érculespot to run this. Pull the sitemap, filter to lastmod older than six months, join last-month page impressions from Search Console, sort by impressions, and stop at a short queue. érculespot is one way to see that list assembled.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":236,"type":102,"content":237},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8167-8a20-f60a0b4f7d22",{"rich_text":238,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[239],{"type":44,"text":240,"annotations":242,"plain_text":241,"href":25},{"content":241,"link":25},"How to read a stale-pages row",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":244,"type":245,"content":246,"localImagePath":256},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8129-9f9c-cb5413de933b","image",{"caption":247,"type":252,"file":253},[248],{"type":44,"text":249,"annotations":251,"plain_text":250,"href":25},{"content":250,"link":25},"Example stale-pages queue from érculespot. Ranking-page hosts are redacted. The same filters apply in Search Console.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},"file",{"url":254,"expiry_time":255},"https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2bc34696-14ae-4d27-8123-f11ed6b61985/f23fb0f8-b19f-49da-8b56-d25b20548444/refreshing-stale-pages.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAZI2LB466VJUNJO2I%2F20260907%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260907T043307Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEG0aCXVzLXdlc3QtMiJGMEQCICMDBOUvzoGap2W1BCC64znxX4FuQag0S5kekXgvbkIwAiAc5D%2FC%2F0BKV9iRoh2TgNf8HTbABeH4PG4woq2gJCLAGyr%2FAwg2EAAaDDYzNzQyMzE4MzgwNSIMhnHBKhHe6lAOnbEpKtwDwvyIhoDTKjvAKU0mq5g3iUIqo65F4iJGlW%2Bl0Zdw8jCISOE74MIEW2XnLNtGA4%2Brk9Sp90yWn074ek818s6BGe7Zk4yqacxZJ7EHjkElX0Tmq%2B1odN05ICfni%2FD0d5nqMh2VhYJKXqE%2Fa9U3ivHA8VEBEoAAf%2FT7Lh2ofdmnTOhSspXGewgm7rYfT01pJ2qiOKlU%2B5cODzMjoFiPIO4OMS7KvjT1Ow9CkW4o8%2Bq5emB2Pon2KjYEEF0GWCpOjEl32UDPqjWN%2BsfPGVnP69j4XpkDW4LbvcC8YDIc9VxhMuP3bPlBEyXDfR18T0N08MBtCA4719XQh7%2BYnflEIkDU%2F7YOagoQESKXpAhBs1uqe8l2ghPMrZT5xbQLDBi4O55fOyZdzSHjjfx%2FqI3gqJk4LR%2BBpj8Kxacj9ZPZLgpT6KPPF4GcqLkAbARMIOU3nFZ2HUr40sAXMoJlQRb%2FsF7B4ULCSaWXOsjSRx6BlNct5dpnk4As4dgg09rFrNhoaqQ4ibWF5ftPUp6e4%2BE9XMm3eFynXTfgVEBL2qJgiSCDErjSYV3bpiCdykua4N0zlT1z5mymPsnUnyPp2ghgvMB8kvleUICOoh3sHTBm8ICGhVSvbIKSuN6RSNZMtrAw0%2Fn41AY6pgFGv%2BUn2nwGq33LSsFjGMWZMpHf%2Fm4H2%2FkpANLk7jmPOZlIZC%2FU4S0Lp1m0Xbijf%2B9%2Bj7tN0rPkhlYjti3X2Y97EeggZRs1JhsAWRHvqwCUjr3NkOkq1Xu6T%2BfHrc78q1gxH3LdBGMz5zacVOXsuRm%2Fx68rGCqInj03hHtjYXjzlTT4sU%2Bkk%2FoMT7JM3IYTtMkH3nytxfjZa4wTLeyq13Ry2jyUkTqh&X-Amz-Signature=d09e715ceda8c3076b0bc9ad959466012fcc5c0335cc088acd6ef66f59ce4c36&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject","2026-09-07T05:33:07.796Z","refreshing-stale-pages.png",{"id":258,"type":85,"content":259},"3d432a0f-f8ae-812b-b039-f00d010a562c",{"rich_text":260,"icon":25,"color":49},[261],{"type":44,"text":262,"annotations":264,"plain_text":263,"href":25},{"content":263,"link":25},"The pane title in the example is “Stale pages.” That is the diagnostic name. The work is to update URLs that still earn impressions.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":266,"type":85,"content":267},"3d432a0f-f8ae-810f-81c6-e2291435b370",{"rich_text":268,"icon":25,"color":49},[269],{"type":44,"text":270,"annotations":272,"plain_text":271,"href":25},{"content":271,"link":25},"Read a row left to right. The page is the sitemap URL. Impressions tell you whether anyone still finds it. Last updated is the sitemap lastmod. Days since update is how far past six months you are.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":274,"type":85,"content":275},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81d6-9fc3-fdfb242e59bb",{"rich_text":276,"icon":25,"color":49},[277],{"type":44,"text":278,"annotations":280,"plain_text":279,"href":25},{"content":279,"link":25},"In the example, the sitemap has 153 URLs and 73 are stale. One row has 5,886 impressions, a lastmod of 2024-08-28, and 739 days since update. Another has 5,162 impressions and 536 days. Those URLs are still receiving impressions, with sitemap dates from a year or more ago.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":282,"type":85,"content":283},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8165-aa5d-f00f0c520643",{"rich_text":284,"icon":25,"color":49},[285],{"type":44,"text":286,"annotations":288,"plain_text":287,"href":25},{"content":287,"link":25},"If the URL is a legal page, a changelog, or a deprecated doc, staleness may be correct. Otherwise, the ranking page is the place to edit.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":290,"type":102,"content":291},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81e0-b6bf-fc430f47fe17",{"rich_text":292,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[293],{"type":44,"text":294,"annotations":296,"plain_text":295,"href":25},{"content":295,"link":25},"Why the sitemap date is the right freshness signal",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":298,"type":85,"content":299},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8106-8fa2-d69dec45f008",{"rich_text":300,"icon":25,"color":49},[301],{"type":44,"text":302,"annotations":304,"plain_text":303,"href":25},{"content":303,"link":25},"On-page crawls can be misleading in both directions. A template change can make every URL look new. A cache can make a rewritten article look old. lastmod is the date you publish to crawlers, and it is the freshness date Google is most likely to use if you keep it accurate.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":306,"type":85,"content":307},"3d432a0f-f8ae-811b-bdbb-d85801fec715",{"rich_text":308,"icon":25,"color":49},[309],{"type":44,"text":310,"annotations":312,"plain_text":311,"href":25},{"content":311,"link":25},"Six months is a working threshold, not a ranking rule. Shorter than that and you refresh pages that are still accurate. Longer than that and you wait until the SERP has already moved on.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":314,"type":85,"content":315},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8118-ae9a-d937e63e4002",{"rich_text":316,"icon":25,"color":49},[317],{"type":44,"text":318,"annotations":320,"plain_text":319,"href":25},{"content":319,"link":25},"A new URL for the same topic often splits impressions instead of adding them. That is a different play (overlapping pages). For stale pages, the default is one page, updated, with a real lastmod.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":322,"type":102,"content":323},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81fe-ab2f-e01a6e104288",{"rich_text":324,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[325],{"type":44,"text":326,"annotations":328,"plain_text":327,"href":25},{"content":327,"link":25},"What to do with a stale-pages row",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":330,"type":85,"content":331},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81df-97e8-c3cfee356cd4",{"rich_text":332,"icon":25,"color":49},[333],{"type":44,"text":334,"annotations":336,"plain_text":335,"href":25},{"content":335,"link":25},"Open the ranking page. Search the queries it still earns. Then:",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":36,"children":338},[339,347,355,363,371],{"id":340,"type":40,"content":341,"bulleted_list_start":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81f4-8548-c27ed540d60d",{"rich_text":342,"color":49},[343],{"type":44,"text":344,"annotations":346,"plain_text":345,"href":25},{"content":345,"link":25},"Update facts, screenshots, versions, and competitor lists.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":348,"type":40,"content":349},"3d432a0f-f8ae-811b-8a39-ed5678d30ef0",{"rich_text":350,"color":49},[351],{"type":44,"text":352,"annotations":354,"plain_text":353,"href":25},{"content":353,"link":25},"Add the section the current SERP expects.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":356,"type":40,"content":357},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8156-830e-d25f41a5912c",{"rich_text":358,"color":49},[359],{"type":44,"text":360,"annotations":362,"plain_text":361,"href":25},{"content":361,"link":25},"Align the title and H1 if the query mix has drifted.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":364,"type":40,"content":365},"3d432a0f-f8ae-816b-ad55-c85536cf5747",{"rich_text":366,"color":49},[367],{"type":44,"text":368,"annotations":370,"plain_text":369,"href":25},{"content":369,"link":25},"Change the content enough that lastmod is true, then ship the sitemap.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":372,"type":40,"content":373,"bulleted_list_end":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8131-b387-f793eb8a1039",{"rich_text":374,"color":49},[375],{"type":44,"text":376,"annotations":378,"plain_text":377,"href":25},{"content":377,"link":25},"Don't bump lastmod on a page you didn't edit.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":380,"type":85,"content":381},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81c9-8ec2-c7614207e20c",{"rich_text":382,"icon":25,"color":49},[383,387,393],{"type":44,"text":384,"annotations":386,"plain_text":385,"href":25},{"content":385,"link":25},"If you need a rule for refresh versus rewrite, ",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":388,"annotations":392,"plain_text":389,"href":391},{"content":389,"link":390},"content updates: refresh or rewrite?",{"url":391},"https://www.ercule.com/blog/content-when-to-refresh-rewrite",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":394,"annotations":396,"plain_text":395,"href":25},{"content":395,"link":25}," is the decision frame. Choose the row based on the URL, its impressions, and how old the sitemap date is.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":398,"type":85,"content":399},"3d432a0f-f8ae-816f-9ef0-e5e564706d1a",{"rich_text":400,"icon":25,"color":49},[401],{"type":44,"text":402,"annotations":404,"plain_text":403,"href":25},{"content":403,"link":25},"Ship the row, then look at the next ingest. Success looks like the URL falling out because lastmod is inside six months, not because you unpublished a page that still had 5,000 impressions.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":406,"type":102,"content":407},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81b6-b732-da347d8e27f9",{"rich_text":408,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[409],{"type":44,"text":410,"annotations":412,"plain_text":411,"href":25},{"content":411,"link":25},"Stale-pages work is a filter on pages you already have",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":414,"type":85,"content":415},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81e4-8d85-de29e78c2b2d",{"rich_text":416,"icon":25,"color":49},[417],{"type":44,"text":418,"annotations":420,"plain_text":419,"href":25},{"content":419,"link":25},"This list is drawn from pages you already published. The sitemap says the URL is old, and Search Console shows that people still find it. The top of the impressions list is a practical amount of refresh work.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":422,"type":85,"content":423},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8100-b72f-d22b1cc5e0b8",{"rich_text":424,"icon":25,"color":49},[425,429,435],{"type":44,"text":426,"annotations":428,"plain_text":427,"href":25},{"content":427,"link":25},"Keeping the answer current on those same pages can help with answer engines as well as Google. You do not need a separate AEO dashboard to start. ",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":430,"annotations":434,"plain_text":431,"href":433},{"content":431,"link":432},"Adapting your content system for AI search",{"url":433},"https://www.ercule.com/blog/ai-search-content-system",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":436,"annotations":438,"plain_text":437,"href":25},{"content":437,"link":25}," is the broader operating model. This list is one working set inside that system.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":440,"type":102,"content":441},"3d432a0f-f8ae-818c-bf96-ef2f22dc473e",{"rich_text":442,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[443],{"type":44,"text":444,"annotations":446,"plain_text":445,"href":25},{"content":445,"link":25},"Frequently asked questions",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":448,"type":449,"content":450},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81b3-87e2-d6971e9f0a1c","heading_3",{"rich_text":451,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[452],{"type":44,"text":453,"annotations":455,"plain_text":454,"href":25},{"content":454,"link":25},"What does a stale page mean in search engine optimization?",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":457,"type":85,"content":458},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81a8-a652-e3c982472aec",{"rich_text":459,"icon":25,"color":49},[460],{"type":44,"text":461,"annotations":463,"plain_text":462,"href":25},{"content":462,"link":25},"Here it means a sitemap URL whose lastmod is older than six months. It does not mean “the prose feels dated,” and it does not mean a crawl of the rendered page. The sitemap date is the signal.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":465,"type":449,"content":466},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8127-88e4-e4560d2a4aa5",{"rich_text":467,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[468],{"type":44,"text":469,"annotations":471,"plain_text":470,"href":25},{"content":470,"link":25},"Why use sitemap lastmod instead of crawling the page?",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":473,"type":85,"content":474},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81c4-9f74-d791af93413f",{"rich_text":475,"icon":25,"color":49},[476],{"type":44,"text":477,"annotations":479,"plain_text":478,"href":25},{"content":478,"link":25},"Because crawlers and templates disagree. lastmod is the date you assert to Google. If that date is honest, it is the freshness lever you control. If it isn't honest, fix the sitemap pipeline before you trust the queue.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":481,"type":449,"content":482},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8169-9369-dc4ec59c1a57",{"rich_text":483,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[484],{"type":44,"text":485,"annotations":487,"plain_text":486,"href":25},{"content":486,"link":25},"Why rank stale pages by Search Console impressions?",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":489,"type":85,"content":490},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81cd-80d5-c0778c30f4d7",{"rich_text":491,"icon":25,"color":49},[492],{"type":44,"text":493,"annotations":495,"plain_text":494,"href":25},{"content":494,"link":25},"A six-year-old URL with 12 impressions is a lower priority than a two-year-old URL with 5,000 impressions. Impressions show which stale URLs are still appearing in search.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":497,"type":449,"content":498},"3d432a0f-f8ae-819f-ab68-dd3e5eb5b085",{"rich_text":499,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[500],{"type":44,"text":501,"annotations":503,"plain_text":502,"href":25},{"content":502,"link":25},"Why omit URLs with unknown lastmod?",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":505,"type":85,"content":506},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8172-9971-d86c4dd86bc4",{"rich_text":507,"icon":25,"color":49},[508],{"type":44,"text":509,"annotations":511,"plain_text":510,"href":25},{"content":510,"link":25},"A missing date is not evidence that the page is very stale. It means the sitemap did not include lastmod. Mixing unknown dates into the list hides the URLs you can actually date, and turns the work into sitemap debugging.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":513,"type":449,"content":514},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8169-b551-c2371405e2db",{"rich_text":515,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[516],{"type":44,"text":517,"annotations":519,"plain_text":518,"href":25},{"content":518,"link":25},"Does freshness still matter with AI Overviews and answer engines?",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":521,"type":85,"content":522},"3d432a0f-f8ae-8120-9777-c792c3e57a7f",{"rich_text":523,"icon":25,"color":49},[524],{"type":44,"text":525,"annotations":527,"plain_text":526,"href":25},{"content":526,"link":25},"Yes, with a limit. The list is still sitemap plus GSC, not an AI citation report. Models still prefer pages that look maintained. A URL that already ranks, updated, is easier to cite than a new URL that doesn't. You can start this work from the sitemap and Search Console. A separate AEO tool is not required to refresh a page with 5,000 impressions and a 2024 lastmod.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":529,"type":102,"content":530},"3d432a0f-f8ae-819b-8c39-f24cb0b1c1d4",{"rich_text":531,"is_toggleable":48,"color":49},[532],{"type":44,"text":533,"annotations":535,"plain_text":534,"href":25},{"content":534,"link":25},"Related reading",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":36,"children":537},[538,551,565],{"id":539,"type":40,"content":540,"bulleted_list_start":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81a8-aaab-f6e07ee2fa86",{"rich_text":541,"color":49},[542,547],{"type":44,"text":543,"annotations":546,"plain_text":544,"href":391},{"content":544,"link":545},"Content updates: Refresh or rewrite?",{"url":391},{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":548,"annotations":550,"plain_text":549,"href":25},{"content":549,"link":25}," — How to decide whether a stale URL needs a pass or a replacement.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":552,"type":40,"content":553},"3d432a0f-f8ae-81e0-bc74-d1cb80b3f0cb",{"rich_text":554,"color":49},[555,561],{"type":44,"text":556,"annotations":560,"plain_text":557,"href":559},{"content":557,"link":558},"How to make content evergreen [with examples]",{"url":559},"https://www.ercule.com/blog/evergreen-content-update-examples",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":562,"annotations":564,"plain_text":563,"href":25},{"content":563,"link":25}," — What a real update looks like on pages you intend to keep ranking.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"id":566,"type":40,"content":567,"bulleted_list_end":50},"3d432a0f-f8ae-814d-8aa3-f954f48d2c36",{"rich_text":568,"color":49},[569,575],{"type":44,"text":570,"annotations":574,"plain_text":571,"href":573},{"content":571,"link":572},"What is content debt?",{"url":573},"https://www.ercule.com/blog/content-debt",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},{"type":44,"text":576,"annotations":578,"plain_text":577,"href":25},{"content":577,"link":25}," — Why inventory you don't refresh keeps costing impressions.",{"bold":48,"italic":48,"strikethrough":48,"underline":48,"code":48,"color":49},1788755586583]