Do AI Assistants Prefer to Cite “Fresh” Content? (17 Million Citations Analyzed)

Posted on July 28, 2025
Source: Data & Studies – SEO Blog by Ahrefs by Ryan Law. Read the original article

TL;DR Summary of Do AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity prefer to cite “fresh” content?

AI assistants generally prefer citing fresher content compared to traditional Google organic search results, with cited URLs being on average 25.7% newer. Platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity prioritize more recent publications and often order citations from newest to oldest. However, Google’s AI Overviews lean towards older content and freshness is just one of multiple factors affecting AI visibility. Frequent updates alone won’t guarantee better AI search rankings without quality and relevance.

Optimixed’s Overview: How AI Assistants’ Citation Habits Reveal a Shift Toward Fresher Content

AI Assistants vs. Traditional Search: Citation Freshness Analyzed

Extensive analysis of nearly 17 million citations across seven AI search platforms reveals a notable preference among AI assistants for citing newer and recently updated content compared to Google’s organic search results. While the average cited URL in organic SERPs is about 3.9 years old, AI assistants tend to cite sources averaging 2.9 years since publication, highlighting a roughly one-year freshness advantage.

Platform-Specific Freshness Preferences

  • ChatGPT shows the strongest preference for fresh content, citing URLs roughly 393 to 458 days newer than those in organic search results.
  • Perplexity and Gemini also favor newer sources but to a lesser degree.
  • Google’s AI Overviews and traditional organic search results cite older content, with AI Overviews even citing content slightly older than the organic baseline.

Citation Ordering and Content Age

Unlike traditional organic search, which tends to rank older content higher, AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity order their in-text citations from newest to oldest sources. This intentional ordering suggests a strategic emphasis on highlighting the most recent information first, potentially improving the perceived relevance and trustworthiness of AI-generated answers.

Implications for Content Strategy

  • Regular content updates could improve visibility in AI-driven search platforms, but updates should be meaningful and enhance quality rather than simply altering publish dates.
  • Content freshness is one factor among many affecting AI citation and ranking; low-quality or irrelevant content updated frequently will not outperform high-quality, relevant content.
  • Google remains the dominant search platform and is less influenced by freshness, so balancing efforts between traditional SEO and AI optimization is essential.

Conclusion

AI assistants are reshaping search citation patterns by favoring fresher content, indicating a shift in how information relevance is determined. For brands aiming to boost AI search visibility, investing in high-quality new content and thoughtful updates is likely more effective than frequent superficial changes. Understanding each AI platform’s unique preferences can help tailor content strategies for maximal impact in the evolving AI search landscape.