Content Freshness

Content Freshness is the recency signal that AI engines evaluate when selecting which sources to cite. It is not a binary fresh-or-stale check -- it is a decay curve where citation probability peaks at publication and diminishes over time. Pages updated within the last 90 days are cited roughly 2.1x more frequently than older content, with the highest citation rates occurring within the first 7 days of publication.

Why AI Engines Weight Freshness

AI engines are trained to deliver accurate, current answers. Stale information creates hallucination risk and user distrust, so retrieval systems apply recency bias to source selection. MuckRack's 2026 Generative Pulse analysis found that more than half of all AI citations referenced content published within the prior 12 months. For fast-moving topics -- technology, markets, regulation -- the recency window is even tighter.

The freshness signal interacts with authority signals. A newly published article in a tier-1 publication gets maximum citation priority: it combines peak freshness with peak source credibility. The same information published six months ago in the same outlet carries less weight, even though the content itself hasn't changed.

The 90-Day Citation Window

The 90-day window is the practical threshold for sustained AI visibility. Content published within this window remains in the active retrieval set for most AI engines. Beyond 90 days, citation probability drops sharply unless the content is a canonical reference (Wikipedia, foundational research papers, or evergreen definitions in authoritative domains).

This window drives the operational logic behind publication velocity. Brands need a continuous pipeline of fresh, citation-grade content to maintain their position in the retrieval set. A quarterly publishing cadence means most of your content is outside the citation window at any given time.

Content Freshness in Practice

Freshness is a lever, not just a signal. Updating existing high-performing pages -- adding new data, refreshing statistics, extending analysis -- resets the freshness clock without requiring entirely new content. The update must be substantive; cosmetic edits do not move the freshness signal.

For Machine Relations programs, freshness management is an operational discipline. The combination of new earned authority placements and strategic content updates keeps citation velocity positive. Brands that publish consistently and update strategically maintain a compounding advantage over competitors whose content ages out of the retrieval window.