# Missing author and date signals in Next.js

> How to fix missing author and date signals in Next.js — with the exact fix and copy-paste code.

_Category: AI readiness · Detector `aeo` · Check `no-author-metadata` · Severity: info_

Answer engines and search rankers weigh who wrote something and when when deciding which sources to trust and cite — E-E-A-T in Google’s terms. A page with no author and no date reads as anonymous and undated, which is exactly what ranking systems discount. AI-generated content pages almost never emit these signals.

## The fix for Next.js

Set authors and publish/modified times through the Metadata API — Next renders the appropriate meta tags. Add matching fields to your `Article` `JSON-LD` too.

```tsx
export const metadata: Metadata = {
  authors: [{ name: 'Jane Dev', url: 'https://example.com/jane' }],
  openGraph: { type: 'article', publishedTime: '2026-01-15T09:00:00Z' },
}
```

[Next.js docs](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/functions/generate-metadata#authors)

### Steps

1. Add `<meta name="author">` and `article:published_time` to the head
2. Include author, `datePublished`, and `dateModified` in your `Article` `JSON-LD`
3. Mark visible dates up with `<time datetime="…">`

## How VibeCheck detects it

The `aeo` detector flags this live in the browser and reports it to the widget's Problems list — and to your coding agent over MCP.

- **Issue string:** `No author or date signals`
- **Threshold:** No meta[name="author"], article:author, or [itemprop="author"] found

## FAQ

### What is E-E-A-T and how does this help?

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust — Google’s framework for judging content quality. Clear authorship and dates are concrete signals that feed it, and answer engines use the same cues to decide what to cite.

### Do I need both meta tags and `JSON-LD`?

Belt and braces. Meta/OG tags are widely read; `JSON-LD` author and `datePublished` are what rich-result and answer engines prefer. Providing both maximises the chance your authorship is picked up.

See the general, framework-agnostic fix: https://vibecheck.wcgw.fun/fix/missing-author-metadata.md

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Fix guide from VibeCheck — https://vibecheck.wcgw.fun/fix/missing-author-metadata. Full site index for LLMs: https://vibecheck.wcgw.fun/llms.txt