# Study ties AI citation likelihood to how recently a page was updated

Published: 2026-08-06T21:03:22.267Z · Source: Seer Interactive (https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/study-content-recencys-impact-on-ai-visibility-in-2026)
Source date: 2026-07-24
Flags: content recency study — vendor-published
Entities: chatgpt, gemini, perplexity

Seer Interactive analyzed 47,097 citations across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for four brands over a four-month window and found 75% of cited pages had been updated within the past year, rising to 88% within two years. Among 4,124 pages with both dates available, 72% looked fresh by last-modified date versus only 42% by original publish date, and recency requirements varied by engine — Gemini 78%, ChatGPT 73%, Perplexity 65%.

Why it matters: It's a rare AEO study with real methodology and a large sample tying recency directly to citation likelihood, suggesting refresh cadence may now matter as much as new publishing for AI visibility.

Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-08-06-study-ties-ai-citation-likelihood-to-how-recently-a-page-was-updated/
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