[Support request] Google Not Picking Updated Date

[Sunil]

Hello

I’ve seen other posts regarding to this but none of the solution works for me right now.
I’ve added the snippet –
add_filter( 'generate_post_date_show_updated_only', '__return_true' );

But even this doesn’t help me get the updated date on Google.

Can you check what’s wrong?

[David]

Hi there,

GP only contols the display of the date timestamp within the post template, and that snippet is working correctly.

However, RankMath is outputting JSON schema which includes published and updated dates.

But – overall how Google interprets and chooses what date it uses is really up to google. You may want to check with RankMath on how to update your schema so it displays only the updated date. They may also be able to advise on the best method to getting google to display the one you want.

[melonbird]

I’m having this issue. I get that it isn’t a theme issue, per se, but with my previous theme, Google picked the last modified date. Now it’s picking the last time I republished.

My SEO sitemap (made by The SEO Framework) shows the last modified date. When I look in my source code, the only place I’m finding the published date is from recipe card schema. Do you have any idea what the previous theme may have been doing to discourage Google from picking that date? I’m wondering if there’s a plugin or small modification I could make.

[David]

Google doesn’t give away much regarding date selection aside from this info:

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/03/help-google-search-know-best-date-for

And one of the points it mentions is Be consistent in usage – ie. Structured Date and the visible date should be the same.
If you have a structured data for the article expressing one date, i would assume Google is more likely to use that when it differs from the date.

I am not aware of any method, aside from changing the structured data, that would make Google ignore or choose a specific date.

If you can share a link to a post where the issue is present i can take a look for any other potential issues.

[melonbird]

Here’s a link. https://bit.ly/3Bz5ICD

Google snippet shows Jun 5, 2015. In the source code, which is minimized by a plugin, I can see both the updated date and the original published date. I thought at first it was the recipe card schema putting that out, but I’m not sure.

[David]

So, presumably from the SEO plugin, you have these meta properties:

You can try removing the article:published_time

[melonbird]

Thank you! I found a setting to turn that off. I can see the date elsewhere in the code, and I believe it’s being added by the recipe card. So I’ll see if turning it off in the SEO plugin fixes it and if not, write to the plugin developer. I really appreciate you helping me even though this wasn’t a GeneratePress issue.

[David]

You’re welcome

[Author]

Posts