<b>The lastmod truth test</b>

<b>The lastmod truth test</b>

Google ignores <code>&lt;lastmod&gt;</code> the moment it catches one lie. Run this before you trust your own value.

Step 1 — Pull lastmod from sitemap for 20 random URLs.
Step 2 — Compare against the real last meaningful content edit (not template/footer changes).
Step 3 — Mark a URL FAIL if lastmod moved but body, title, or main content did not.

Pass/fail thresholds:
— ✅ Zero false-positives in your 20-URL sample.
— ✅ lastmod reflects content change, not a cron job touching every row nightly.
— ❌ Every URL shows today's date → you've trained Google to discard the field entirely.

Fix: tie lastmod to a real <code>content_updated_at</code> column, not <code>updated_at</code>.

Definition of done: lastmod changes only when a human-visible change ships, verified on a fresh sample.