Source recency

What it is

Source recency measures how recent the sources cited in an AI answer are, from publication or last-updated dates. It indicates whether a model is favouring fresh material for a given topic.

Why it matters

Recency-weighted models favour fresh content, so this metric signals when an LLM treats a topic as time-sensitive and rewards updates, which tells you where freshness drives visibility.

How it works

Practitioners record the age of cited sources across a prompt set and look for topics where recent dates dominate, then maintain a refresh cadence on content in those time-sensitive areas.

When it applies

Act on it for topics where answers consistently cite recent sources, signalling that freshness matters.

Examples

• A topic where cited sources are mostly weeks old rather than years
• A brand refreshing a guide and regaining citations on a fast-moving subject
• A team spotting that evergreen topics tolerate older sources while news-like ones do not

How it is measured

• Median age of cited sources per prompt
• Share of citations published within a recent window
• Recency distribution compared across topics
• Change in citations after a content refresh