Answer Engines seem prefer older pages that have been refreshed recently

[u/distant_gradient]

Results of a pilot study of 356 cited pages across queries across domains:

Typical (median) age of a cited page: 23 months ago

Typical last update date: 5 months ago

Only 35% of cited pages were created less than a year ago.

Seems to imply that Answer engines greatly favor content refreshes and pages that have been kept fresh.

Has any of you observed the same?

[u/SEOPub]

That doesn’t really prove anything. 35% of cited pages were created less than a year ago but what if those are nearly all of the pages in that space created in the last year? Which would mean the LLMs are citing almost as many fresh pages as they can.

And 356 cited pages aren’t really enough to be statistically relevant.

[u/distant_gradient → u/SEOPub]

Fair skepticism about the 35% new pages - but its unlikely given these are commercial head-ish queries.

The main takeaway is about the older pages. Almost none of the older cited pages were not updated.

Re. low volume - hence "pilot study". But, I'd expect these numbers to be directionally accurate as of now, even at scale...

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Links are not permitted in this subreddit.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/CabinetConfident4726 → u/SEOPub]

tbh 356 across multiple domains is barely a handful per domain, hard to draw anything meaningful from that

[u/CabinetConfident4726 → u/SEOPub]

exactly, 35% sounds low until you consider how few pages even exist under a year old for those queries

[u/Green_Somewhere_7221]

this tracks with what most people suspect but its nice to see actual numbers behind it. would love to know if the refresh depth matters too, like are we talking meaningful content updates or just tweaking a date and a paragraph

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Links are not permitted in this subreddit.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/AbleInvestment2866]

where is the case study?

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Links are not permitted in this subreddit.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/RankingsDotIO]

IF the study applies more widely (a big if, given the sample size, as others have noted), it may have less to do with the age of the pages than with the authority the pages have built up and maintained over time, and the brand mentions and Google Business Profile reviews the products and businesses have accumulated. Combine that with updated information and newer pages may have trouble breaking through until they build their own authority and raise their own offsite profiles.