How many websites pass the Timestamp Element check?
Based on 596 audited sites · Updated 2026-07-16
95% confidence interval: 5%–9%
Why This Matters
LLM Discoverability
Machine-readable timestamps (via <time> elements or structured data) allow AI systems to parse dates without ambiguity across locale date formats, improving the reliability of freshness-based filtering.
SEO Impact
Semantic HTML date elements (e.g. <time datetime="…">) give search engines a locale-independent timestamp that complements and corroborates structured data dates.
What To Do Next
93.3% of audited sites need attention on timestamp element (556 of 596 sites are warning or failing).
- Prioritize timestamp element on templates that create many URLs, because one template fix can improve a large share of content freshness & authority.
- After changing the page, re-run the audit and compare the observed value for this check instead of relying on visual inspection alone.
- Use the 6.7% pass rate as a benchmark: if your site fails here, passing the check moves it closer to the visible majority of crawlable, AI-readable pages.
Status Breakdown
Compliance Trend
Daily pass, warning, and failure rates across benchmark snapshots (up to 90 days).
Industry Breakdown
How different industries perform on this check.
19% of audited Media & Entertainment sites pass this check (n=84), compared with 0% of Travel & Hospitality sites (n=51).
| Industry | Pass rate | Avg score | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media & Entertainment | 19% | 73.8 | 84 |
| Education | 6.7% | 71.8 | 30 |
| Technology | 6.1% | 72 | 278 |
| Finance & Banking | 5.1% | 72.8 | 39 |
| Travel & Hospitality | 0% | 74.8 | 51 |
| E-Commerce | 0% | 69.6 | 30 |
| Government | 7.1% | 73.1 | 14limited |
| Food & Beverage | 0% | 71.1 | 11limited |
| Healthcare | 0% | 76.7 | 9limited |
| Other | 0% | 67 | 7limited |
Related Checks
Run a free audit to see whether your site passes this check, or browse the leaderboard and the audited-sites directory.