Content Freshness

Content Freshness measures how recently content was updated — AI Search systems heavily favor fresh sources and regular updates. The data is striking: 70% of pages cited by ChatGPT were updated within the last year, with a median of just 5 months since the last update.

Optimal freshness is 3 months, with quarterly update cycles recommended; content older than a year loses citation chances even if it's substantively good. Practical actions include adding visible update dates on pages, refreshing numerical data quarterly, updating pricing and statistics sections, and adding new case studies. Content Freshness is a medium-weight component of the AI SEO Alignment Score but easily implementable (simply update numbers and dates).

For example, an article about leasing costs with 2024 data will lose to an article from Q1 2026, even with better structure. Set up quarterly reminders to update your 10 most important articles: this is a low-resource tactic with high citation impact.