# Changelog / release notes

> A changelog, or release notes, is a dated public list of the changes to a product or website: new features, fixes and removals.

- **Check ID:** A19
- **Area:** [AI Readiness](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness)
- **Tool:** [AI Readiness](https://be1st.ai/tools/ai-readiness)
- **Page:** https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/changelog-release-notes

## Why it matters

A changelog is a key freshness signal for AI models. A regularly updated changelog signals an actively maintained product, and AI models use it to verify the currency of product information.

## In practice

Vercel has a public changelog at vercel.com/changelog with dates and detailed change descriptions. When a user asks AI about the latest Vercel features, AI can provide a current answer precisely because of the structured changelog.

## How be1st checks it

Detects a changelog or release notes on the site: change history, new features, fixed bugs. If the site has no changelog, the check is not counted (N/A), so restaurants or local services lose no points.

[AI Readiness](https://be1st.ai/tools/ai-readiness), Formats tab.

Every check ends as: Pass, Warning, Fail.

## Sources

- [Creating Helpful Content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content) (Google)

## Related terms

- [Semantic HTML (article, section, nav, aside)](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/semantic-html): Semantic HTML uses elements that say what their content is, such as article, section, nav, aside and main, instead of generic div boxes.
- [Markdown for AI agents](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/markdown-for-ai-agents): Markdown for AI agents means a website can serve a page as clean Markdown, through a .md URL or content negotiation, instead of the full HTML.
- [Dashes in text (AI writing tell)](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/dashes-in-text): Long dashes in a text (the em dash, and the en dash outside number ranges) are the best known trace of text written by a language model.
- [Organization schema](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/organization-schema): Organization schema is Schema.org structured data that describes the company behind a website: its name, logo, contact details and social profiles.
- [Product schema](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/product-schema): Product schema is Schema.org structured data that describes a product or service: its name, price, availability and reviews.
- [FAQ schema](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/faq-schema): FAQ schema is Schema.org structured data (FAQPage) that marks up the questions and answers on a page in a machine-readable form.