# Measure AI citation decay and content freshness. - working worksheet

Reviewed alongside the Eli guide: https://hireeli.io/resources/measure-ai-citation-decay

## Decision to make

Detect when a previously cited page loses retrieval or recommendation presence

Owner: ____________________
Review date: ____________________
Canonical page or destination: ____________________

## Buyer questions

- [ ] What is AI citation decay?
- [ ] How often should cited pages be checked?
- [ ] When should a decayed page be refreshed?

## Evidence-led work plan

### 1. Define the stable cohort

Use the same questions, market, language and provider context.

Evidence or artifact: ____________________
Status: [ ] not started  [ ] working  [ ] verified  [ ] blocked

### 2. Use a multi-observation trigger

Investigate repeated losses or a meaningful interval shift.

Evidence or artifact: ____________________
Status: [ ] not started  [ ] working  [ ] verified  [ ] blocked

### 3. Diagnose the layer that changed

Check crawl access, indexation, canonical state, page freshness, factual accuracy, competing sources and whether the buyer intent itself changed.

Evidence or artifact: ____________________
Status: [ ] not started  [ ] working  [ ] verified  [ ] blocked

### 4. Refresh only with new value

Correct stale facts, add missing evidence or improve the decision structure.

Evidence or artifact: ____________________
Status: [ ] not started  [ ] working  [ ] verified  [ ] blocked

## Source ledger

- [ ] Google Search Central: AI features and your website: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
- [ ] OpenAI: publishers and developers FAQ: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12627856-publishers-and-developers-faq
- [ ] Perplexity: crawler documentation: https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers

## Measurement boundary

Baseline date and exact context: ____________________
7-day observation: ____________________
14-day observation: ____________________
30-day observation: ____________________
Known limitations: ____________________

Keep technical eligibility, citations, recommendations, visits, leads and revenue as separate evidence. This worksheet does not guarantee an external ranking or commercial result.