Virtual Assistant Publication Date Audit

Key takeaways

• Use a written brief and definition of done.
• Keep approvals and escalation rules visible.
• Review quality before expanding the workflow.

# Virtual Assistant Publication Date Audit

Published September 1, 2026. Publication dates should describe a real release event consistently, not serve as decorative labels. Use the [content calendar workflow](/blog/virtual-assistant-content-calendar-workflow) to place this control in the daily sequence, the [editorial quality checklist](/blog/virtual-assistant-editorial-quality-checklist) for adjacent review steps, and [NIST small business cybersecurity guidance](https://www.nist.gov/itl/smallbusinesscyber) when the routine handles business information.

Virtual Assistant Publication Date Audit: operating steps

Use the date assigned by the publication owner and document the timezone convention. Do not infer a new date from file modification time, build time, or a later correction.

Compare every representation

Check front matter, visible article text, the HTML time element, structured `datePublished`, open graph metadata where used, and index ordering. Normalize machine values to ISO format while keeping the reader-facing label clear.

Separate publication from modification

Routine fixes may update `dateModified` without rewriting history. Require explicit approval before changing the original publication date, and preserve evidence of the correction.

Test the final output

Inspect the built route rather than relying only on source files. Confirm that server rendering did not apply locale drift or convert midnight into the previous calendar day.

Frequently asked questions

### Should a republished article get a new publication date? That is an editorial policy decision. Define refresh and republication rules before changing dates. ### Why specify a timezone? Date parsing can shift a calendar day across environments unless the workflow uses an explicit, consistent convention.