{"id":1844,"slug":"rule-keep-frequently-updated-content-fresh-substantively-not-cosmetically","title":"R4 — Keep frequently-updated content fresh SUBSTANTIVELY, not cosmetically; cadence at least every 60–90 days for the pages that matter","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["freshness","agency-methodology","editorial-discipline","freshness-and-ai-citation"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** For pages where the working surface depends on currency ([[capability-live-frequently-updated-data]]) or where AI-citation matters, refresh **substantively** at least every **60–90 days**. **Cosmetic date bumps do not count** — Google's leaked Content API documentation indicates freshness requires substantive change.\n\n**Why:** [[ahrefs-ai-cited-urls-1064-vs-1432-days-fresher]] (1,064 vs 1,432 days average age); [[brightedge-pages-60-days-1-9x-ai-answers-2026]] (60-day update window → ~1.9× appearance lift); [[airops-90-day-stale-3x-lose-ai-citations-2026]] (90+ days → ~3× more likely to lose citation); [[amsive-50-percent-ai-cited-under-13-weeks-2026]] (~half of AI citations are <13 weeks old); [[google-qdf-freshness-conditional-ranking-factor]] (Google QDF requires substantive updates).\n\n**How to apply:**\n- Identify the working-surface pages (queryable, frequently-updated, account-state) and put them on a 60–90 day substantive refresh cadence.\n- Substantive = adds / updates real information, not just changes the visible date.\n- Static brochure pages do not need this discipline — apply it where citation / availability matters.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"capability-live-frequently-updated-data","title":"Capability 3 — live or frequently-updated data: content whose value depends on currency (availability, pricing, status, hours, inventory) refreshed on a cadence rather than written once","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"ahrefs-ai-cited-urls-1064-vs-1432-days-fresher","title":"Ahrefs (16.975M citations across 7 AI platforms) — average age of AI-cited URLs 1,064 days vs 1,432 days for organic top-10: 25.7% \"fresher\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"amsive-50-percent-ai-cited-under-13-weeks-2026","title":"Amsive — ~50% of AI-cited content is less than 13 weeks old (2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"airops-90-day-stale-3x-lose-ai-citations-2026","title":"AirOps — pages not updated in 90+ days are ~3× more likely to lose AI citations (2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"brightedge-pages-60-days-1-9x-ai-answers-2026","title":"BrightEdge — pages updated within 60 days are ~1.9× more likely to appear in AI answers (2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"google-qdf-freshness-conditional-ranking-factor","title":"Google \"Query Deserves Freshness\" + 2024 leaked Content API documentation — recency is a CONDITIONAL ranking factor (strongest for time-sensitive queries; substantive updates only)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-website-as-working-surface-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the website as a working surface of the business — four capabilities, AI-citation decoupling, freshness as a real signal (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.787Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.787Z"}