{"id":3036,"date":"2025-07-28T13:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/do-ai-assistants-prefer-to-cite-fresh-content-17-million-citations-analyzed\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T13:42:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:42:55","slug":"do-ai-assistants-prefer-to-cite-fresh-content-17-million-citations-analyzed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/do-ai-assistants-prefer-to-cite-fresh-content-17-million-citations-analyzed\/","title":{"rendered":"Do AI Assistants Prefer to Cite \u201cFresh\u201d Content? (17 Million Citations Analyzed)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Do AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity prefer to cite \u201cfresh\u201d content? We analyzed 17 million citations across 7 AI search platforms to find\u00a0out.<\/p>\n<p>As we clamor to optimize for AI search visibility, I\u2019ve seen suggestions that we should update pages more frequently to boost their chance of being\u00a0cited.<\/p>\n<p>To test the theory, we used data from Ahrefs <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/brand-radar\">Brand Radar<\/a> to extract 16.975 million cited URLs from across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, AI Overviews, and the good old-fashioned organic Google SERPs. We then calculated\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The average number of days since the cited articles were <strong>published<\/strong> (using the date the articles were first seen by our crawler), and<\/li>\n<li>The average number of days since the cited articles were <strong>last updated<\/strong> (using the last published date from our <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/content-explorer\">Content Explorer<\/a> database)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2026to see if AI assistants really \u201cprefer\u201d fresher content when compared to traditional Google Search.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\">\n<p>See your AI visibility with Ahrefs Brand\u00a0Radar<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>The data for this research comes from Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/brand-radar\">Brand Radar<\/a>. Discover what AI assistants say about your brand, reach new audiences, and turn AI search into your next growth channel.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-190253\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ahrefs-Brand-Radar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2518\" height=\"1354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ahrefs-Brand-Radar.jpg 2518w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ahrefs-Brand-Radar-680x366.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ahrefs-Brand-Radar-768x413.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ahrefs-Brand-Radar-1536x826.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ahrefs-Brand-Radar-2048x1101.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2518px) 100vw, 2518px\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Compared to traditional search results, AI assistants <strong>prefer citing fresher content.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The average age of URLs cited by AI assistants is\u00a0<strong>1064 days<\/strong>, compared to <strong>1432 days <\/strong>for URLs in organic SERPs\u2014<strong>25.7% \u201cfresher\u201d<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Google\u2019s AI Overviews<\/strong> and <strong>organic search results<\/strong> are the most likely to cite older\u00a0pages.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ChatGPT <\/strong>is most likely to cite newer\u00a0pages.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Perplexity and ChatGPT <\/strong>order their in-text references from newest to oldest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"AI assistants prefer content that is 25.7% fresher\" data-section=\"two\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190244-_5ff7pumd01gv\"\/>AI assistants prefer content that is 25.7% fresher<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If we average the age of cited URLs in all positions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot and Gemini, we get an average time since publication of 1064 days, or 2.9 years. For the organic SERP, the average time since publication is 1432 days, or 3.9 years\u2014one full year\u00a0older.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at this alone, it seems that AI assistants have a clear preference for newer URLs, with cited URLs being, on average, 25.7% \u201cfresher\u201d than URLs in organic search results <code>((1432-1064)\/1432)<\/code>.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1648\" class=\"wp-image-190245\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1-413x425.png 413w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1-768x791.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1-1491x1536.png 1491w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1648\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-190245\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1-413x425.png 413w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1-768x791.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-1-1491x1536.png 1491w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Looking at the average time elapsed since articles were last updated, we find a similar story.<\/p>\n<p>AI assistants show a preference for more recently updated content, with an average time elapsed since last update of 909 days, compared with 1047 days for the organic SERP\u2014a smaller difference of 13.1% <code>((1046-909)\/1046)<\/code>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Google SERPs and AI Overviews show the strongest preference for older content\" data-section=\"three\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190244-_5746tr3q74bd\"\/>Google SERPs and AI Overviews show the strongest preference for older content<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If we break the data out, we get a clearer idea of the \u201cfreshness\u201d preference of each AI assistant and search platform.<\/p>\n<p>Google\u2019s top three AI Overview citations show the strongest preference for older content, with the average cited article being over 1432 days (3.9 years) old, and last updated 1047 days (2.9 years) ago\u2014very close to the average age of URLs in Google\u2019s organic SERP.<\/p>\n<p>Perplexity\u2019s in-text citations show the next strongest preference for older content (1166 days), followed by Gemini (1118 days), then Copilot (1056 days), then ChatGPT\u2019s in-text references (1023 days) and citations (958\u00a0days).<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1665\" height=\"1719\" class=\"wp-image-190246\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2.png 1665w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2-412x425.png 412w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2-768x793.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2-1488x1536.png 1488w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1665px) 100vw, 1665px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1665\" height=\"1719\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-190246\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2.png 1665w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2-412x425.png 412w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2-768x793.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-2-1488x1536.png 1488w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1665px) 100vw, 1665px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the data in table\u00a0form:<\/p>\n<table id=\"tablepress-449\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-449 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n<th class=\"column-1\">AI search platform<\/th>\n<th class=\"column-2\">Average days since publication<\/th>\n<th class=\"column-3\">Average days since last updated<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Google AIO (top\u00a03)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">1432<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">1067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Organic SERP<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">1416<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">1047<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Perplexity (text\u00a0order)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">1166<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">993<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Gemini<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">1118<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">831<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Copilot<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">1056<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">865<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">ChatGPT (references)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">1023<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">865<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">ChatGPT (citations)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">958<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">989<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"ChatGPT shows the strongest preference for fresh content\" data-section=\"four\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190244-_f4gpxg71z0sp\"\/>ChatGPT shows the strongest preference for fresh content<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If we use the organic search results as a baseline, we can more easily see the extent to which each AI assistant prefers to cite newer content.<\/p>\n<p>Focusing on the days elapsed since publishing, ChatGPT shows the strongest preference for new content, preferring to cite URLs that are 393 days newer than organic Google results in their in-text references, and a whopping 458 days newer in their citations.<\/p>\n<p>Compared to the organic SERP, all AI assistants show a clear preference for fresher content\u2014except Google\u2019s AI Overviews, which cites content that is 16 days older, on average.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1634\" height=\"1844\" class=\"wp-image-190247\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3.png 1634w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3-377x425.png 377w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3-768x867.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3-1361x1536.png 1361w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1634px) 100vw, 1634px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1634\" height=\"1844\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-190247\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3.png 1634w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3-377x425.png 377w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3-768x867.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-3-1361x1536.png 1361w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1634px) 100vw, 1634px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the\u00a0data:<\/p>\n<table id=\"tablepress-448\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-448 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n<th class=\"column-1\">AI search platform<\/th>\n<th class=\"column-2\">Difference from organic SERP (published)<\/th>\n<th class=\"column-3\">Difference from organic SERP (updated)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Google AIO (top\u00a03)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">16<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Organic SERP<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">0<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Perplexity (text\u00a0order)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">-250<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">-53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Gemini<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">-298<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">-216<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Copilot<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">-360<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">-182<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">ChatGPT (references)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">-393<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">-182<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">ChatGPT (citations)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">-458<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-3\">-58<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Perplexity seems to order citations from newer to older\" data-section=\"five\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190244-_pu227qoyriqn\"\/>Perplexity seems to order citations from newer to\u00a0older<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>We can also see how the age of cited URLs varies by their position. Here\u2019s the graph showing the average time since publication for positions 1 through 10.<\/p>\n<p>The organic SERP results suggest that older results are more likely to appear in high-ranking positions, while the AI assistants each show a relatively flat trend, with most cited URLs being relatively close in\u00a0age.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1953\" class=\"wp-image-190248\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4-348x425.png 348w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4-768x937.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4-1258x1536.png 1258w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1953\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-190248\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4-348x425.png 348w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4-768x937.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-4-1258x1536.png 1258w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Looking at the average time since cited articles were last updated, both ChatGPT\u2019s and Perplexity\u2019s in-text references follow the same citation pattern, seemingly ordering references from newest to oldest.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1953\" class=\"wp-image-190249\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5-348x425.png 348w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5-768x937.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5-1258x1536.png 1258w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1953\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-190249\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5-348x425.png 348w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5-768x937.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-5-1258x1536.png 1258w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This pattern is clearer if we look at the correlation between the order of cited URLs and their age (excluding AI Overviews).<\/p>\n<p>Most platforms show a negative correlation between citation and content age, suggesting that older content is usually cited first (and ranked higher in the organic SERP).<\/p>\n<p>But Perplexity and ChatGPT\u2019s references both show a<em> positive<\/em> correlation between citation order and content age, with newer content being cited first. This seems like intentional age-related ordering in their in-text references.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1632\" height=\"1591\" class=\"wp-image-190250\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6.png 1632w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6-436x425.png 436w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6-768x749.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6-1536x1497.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1632px) 100vw, 1632px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1632\" height=\"1591\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-190250\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6.png 1632w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6-436x425.png 436w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6-768x749.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/word-image-190244-6-1536x1497.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1632px) 100vw, 1632px\"\/><\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-190244-_40e3j8xtyu91\"\/>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>When compared to traditional search results, AI assistants seem to have a preference for citing newer, fresher content. To improve your LLM visibility, there may be some benefit to regularly updating content.<\/p>\n<p>But I can\u2019t say this without issuing a few caveats and cautions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Google is the least influenced by content freshness, and Google is still where the majority of searches happen.<\/li>\n<li>Google\u2019s John Mueller has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/googles-john-mueller-core-updates-build-on-long-term-data\/550241\/\">warned against updating publish dates<\/a> without any corresponding changes in the page content.<\/li>\n<li>Content freshness is one among many factors that influence visibility. Low-quality, irrelevant content that\u2019s updated every day will not have a magic positive effect on your visibility in AI search.<\/li>\n<li>Every choice has an opportunity cost, and I suspect that most brands will see better results from creating new, high-quality content than they will from committing resources to extremely frequent content updating.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Comments or feedback on this research? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thinkingslow\/\">Let me know on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\nif(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','1511271639109289');fbq('track','PageView');<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/do-ai-assistants-prefer-to-cite-fresh-content\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity prefer to cite \u201cfresh\u201d content? We analyzed 17 million citations across 7 AI search platforms to find\u00a0out. As we clamor to optimize for AI search visibility, I\u2019ve seen suggestions that we should update pages more frequently to boost their chance of being\u00a0cited. To test the theory, we used [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}