Citation Staleness
Citation staleness is the gap between when AI engines were last updated to reflect your latest content and when those citations actually reflect current information — typically days to weeks for dominant AI search surfaces.
In context
AI engines update their indexes on different schedules: ChatGPT Search and Perplexity refresh quickly (often within days); some smaller engines refresh on monthly cycles. If you publish a major content update, expect a lag before AI engines reflect it. Monitor staleness by spot-checking critical pages monthly across engines. Engines occasionally cite an older cached version even when newer content exists; updating the page's lastmod and resubmitting via IndexNow accelerates re-crawl.
A Toronto SEO updated a top-ranked pricing article in March 2026 and ChatGPT continued citing the older version for ~10 days before refreshing — within typical staleness windows.
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