When the page's main content (and its dateModified) last changed.
Each engine weights freshness differently. Perplexity has the tightest window (~30 days); ChatGPT the widest (~90).
Used to translate retention into citations at risk.
Models an exponential freshness half-life per engine (Perplexity ~30d, Gemini ~60d, Google AIO ~75d, ChatGPT ~90d), grounded in the 30-day-half-life research: pages unrefreshed for 90+ days are ~3.2x more likely to lose citations. Directional, not a forecast.
How this works
AI engines increasingly weight freshness. Pages left unrefreshed for 90+ days are roughly 3.2x more likely to lose their AI citations, and over 80% of citations on commercial queries come from pages updated within the prior 30 days. Each engine applies a different window, so this tool models an exponential freshness half-life per engine and projects retention forward.
Use the recommended refresh date as a trigger to update one statistic, the dateModified field, and one section heading, enough to re-enter the citation window.
How to use it
- Enter the page's topic type and last-updated date.
- See the modeled citation decay curve per engine.
- Set a refresh cadence before the half-life passes.
Frequently asked questions
How fast do AI citations decay?
It varies by engine and topic, but pages left un-updated lose citation share measurably within a quarter, faster on recency-sensitive engines like Perplexity and Google's AI surfaces. The estimator models the curve so you refresh before the drop, not after.
How often should I refresh a page?
Refresh on a cadence tied to the topic's volatility: fast-moving categories every 4-8 weeks, evergreen ones quarterly. Update the substance and the dateModified in schema, a date change alone does not reset the clock.
Is the Content Recency Decay Estimator free to use?
Yes. The Content Recency Decay Estimator is completely free, with no sign-up, no usage limits and no watermark on the output.
Is my data private?
Yes. The Content Recency Decay Estimator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste or enter is uploaded, stored or sent to any server.
Related tools and reading
Keep going with the playbooks and tools behind this one.