Content freshness · Recency bias
Content freshness refers to how recent a page and its information are, which engines may take into account, especially on evolving topics. GEO tools observe a recency bias in AI citations, whose exact size varies across studies.
Standalone definition · 37 words
What do the sources say?
LLMrefs states, from its data, that citations to a page drop sharply once it is over three months old, and recommends refreshing important pages every quarter. This is a vendor observation on its sample, not an engine rule.
How do engines see the date?
Google documents how dates are shown in results (byline dates) and recommends stating them clearly and making them match the content. The sitemap‘s lastmod field and update signals help discovery, with no guarantee of reindexing.
What should you do?
Update figures, examples and links on strategic pages, date the latest revision visibly and in structured data, and never change a date without changing the content.
Frequently asked questions
Should you change the date on every edit?
No. The update date must reflect a real change to the content.
Does freshness matter for every topic?
No. It weighs mostly on evolving topics. A stable definition gains less from being touched up.
Related terms
Further reading
- Google Search Console generative AI report: how to analyze it
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