A refreshed date helps only when the page changed. Firm AEO has found no published study showing that a date edit alone raises AI citation, and Google's guidance says the date must reflect when the page was actually published or significantly updated. A reviewed, corrected page is worth dating. An untouched page with a new date is not.
Firm AEO's earlier timing post used Ahrefs' publication-age figures. This post uses a different cut of the same study, days since last update by engine, and turns it into a review rhythm a small firm can keep.
- Changing the date on a law firm page without changing the page does not give an AI engine a reason to cite it, and Google's guidance says dates must describe a real publication or update.
- Ahrefs' July 2025 study found pages cited by AI assistants were last updated 909 days earlier on average, versus 1,047 days for organic Google results, a 13.1% gap.
- Google AI Overviews cited pages last updated about 1,067 days earlier on average, so older pages stay citable when the passage is the best answer.
- An update earns its date when a sentence, statute reference, fee or table changes, and the page shows that date next to the reviewing attorney.
Does changing the date on an old page help AI citation?
No published evidence says it does. Ahrefs measured the age of cited pages, not the effect of editing a date, so the study cannot show that a bumped date causes a citation. Firm AEO treats the date as a label that should be true, not a lever.
Google's Search Central documentation on byline dates says its systems look at several factors rather than one, and that dates should be consistent between the visible text and structured data. A date that disagrees with the content is a risk to the page, and for a law firm it is also a Rule 7.1 accuracy risk.
What does the data say about how recently cited pages were updated?
Ahrefs analysed 16.975 million cited URLs across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and organic Google results. Pages cited by AI assistants were last updated 909 days earlier on average, against 1,047 days for organic results, a gap of 13.1%, according to Ahrefs' July 28, 2025 report.
The gap is modest, and the cited pages were still about two and a half years past their last update. The table below shows the last-updated figures by engine as Ahrefs reported them. Ahrefs did not study legal queries, so the figures are general web data.
| Platform | Average days since last update |
|---|---|
| Gemini | 831 |
| Copilot | 865 |
| ChatGPT (references) | 865 |
| Perplexity (in-text order) | 993 |
| ChatGPT (citations) | 989 |
| Organic Google results | 1,047 |
| Google AI Overviews (top 3) | 1,067 |
Which engines lean toward recently updated pages?
Gemini, Copilot and ChatGPT references showed the most recently updated cited pages in Ahrefs' data, at 831, 865 and 865 days. Google AI Overviews showed the oldest at 1,067 days, slightly older than organic results.
For a law firm the practical reading is narrow. A page updated in the last year sits well inside every average in the table. A page untouched for four years sits outside all of them, which is a reason to review it, not proof that it will be passed over.
How often should a law firm update an AI-cited page?
Firm AEO suggests a dated review twice a year for practice pages and after any trigger, with no research basis for a fixed number. The review rhythm below is illustrative, and the triggers matter more than the calendar.
Pew Research found users clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits with an AI summary against 15% without. When fewer readers click, the passage the engine quotes carries more weight, so an outdated fee, statute or deadline inside that passage costs more than it used to.
- Trigger one: a statute, court rule, fee or filing deadline changes in the jurisdiction the page names.
- Trigger two: the firm changes an attorney, office address, phone number or practice focus named on the page.
- Trigger three: a monthly test shows the page was cited and then dropped.
- Calendar backstop: every six months, read the opening answer, the numbers and the table, and change the date only if something changed.
What counts as a real update, and what does the date have to say?
A real update changes something a reader could rely on: a corrected statute reference, a current fee, a new row in a table, a clearer opening answer. Reformatting, a new header image or a changed footer is not a content update, and Firm AEO does not date it as one.
Show a label such as Last reviewed with the date and the reviewing attorney, and match it in the page's dateModified structured data. In New York, 22 NYCRR 1200.7.1 also expects advertising websites to be preserved at least every 90 days, so a firm that edits pages should keep dated copies. Firm AEO is a marketing company, and the firm's ethics counsel decides retention and wording.
Should a firm publish a new URL instead of updating an old one?
Usually no. Firm AEO recommends updating in place when the old page already earns citations, because a new URL starts without the links and history the old one has. Ahrefs' data shows cited pages are typically years old, so age alone is not a barrier.
Is dateModified structured data enough on its own?
No. Google's documentation says the visible date and the structured date should match, and that its systems weigh several factors. Firm AEO recommends showing a visible Last reviewed line and keeping the markup consistent with it.
Can an AI tool rewrite old pages for a firm?
It can draft, but an attorney should review every statute, fee and result statement before the date changes. ABA Model Rule 7.1 applies to AI-drafted copy the same way it applies to anything else the firm publishes.
- 1.Ahrefs, New study: AI assistants prefer to cite fresher content (July 28, 2025)
- 2.Google Search Central, Influence your byline dates in Google Search
- 3.Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click links when an AI summary appears (July 22, 2025)
- 4.22 NYCRR 1200.7.1, Advertising (Cornell LII)
- 5.ABA Model Rule 7.1, Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services