lastmod
Definition
lastmod is an optional sitemap field that states when a listed URL’s content last changed, helping crawlers prioritize recrawls.
By Vinespire Editorial Team, Editorial ·
This term is part of the full AI search glossary.
Full definition
In XML sitemaps, each <url> entry may include a <lastmod> timestamp (typically W3C datetime). Accurate lastmod values can inform crawl scheduling; inaccurate or always-now timestamps train systems to ignore the signal.
lastmod should reflect meaningful content changes, not trivial template redeploys. It does not guarantee faster indexing and is not a ranking factor by itself.
Keep lastmod aligned with real editorial updates so both classic crawlers and AI-oriented discovery paths spend effort on pages that actually changed. See Sitemap and Log File Analysis.
Example
<url><loc>https://example.com/docs/api</loc><lastmod>2026-07-01</lastmod></url> after a real documentation revision on that date.