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Article Schema Missing Author or Date Fields

Article schema is missing required author or datePublished fields on 27 pages.

By Seoxpert Editorial · Published Apr 26, 2026

Why it matters

Missing author and datePublished fields prevents eligibility for Article rich results in Google, including Top Stories and News. These fields also support E-E-A-T by showing content transparency and trustworthiness to users and search engines.

Impact

Pages may not qualify for rich results and can appear less credible to users and search engines.

How it's detected

An automated SEO crawler checks Article or BlogPosting schema blocks for presence of author and datePublished fields.

Common causes

Forgetting to include author or datePublished in schema markup
Using incomplete or outdated schema templates
Dynamic content generation that omits these fields
CMS plugins or themes lacking full Article schema support

How to fix it

Edit your Article or BlogPosting schema to include an author property (as a Person object with name and url) and a datePublished property in ISO 8601 format (e.g., "2024-03-15"). If the content is updated, also add a dateModified property. Validate your schema using Google's Rich Results Test tool.

Code examples

Problem: Missing author and datePublished

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Bake Bread"
}

Fix: Add author and datePublished fields

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Bake Bread",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Doe",
    "url": "https://example.com/authors/jane-doe"
  },
  "datePublished": "2024-03-15",
  "dateModified": "2024-03-20"
}

FAQ

Are both author and datePublished required for Article schema?

Yes, both are required for eligibility for Article rich results in Google.

What format should datePublished use?

Use ISO 8601 format, such as "2024-03-15".

Can I use an Organization as the author?

For Article schema, author should be a Person object with name and url.

Is dateModified required?

dateModified is recommended when the content has been updated, but not strictly required.

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