| Quick Answer: AI platforms update what they know about your website in two ways: live retrieval that reads current pages at the moment of a query, and periodic re-crawling that refreshes indexes over days to weeks. There is no single fixed schedule — frequently updated, authoritative, well-structured sites are re-crawled more often than stale ones. |
Business owners often ask why AI still cites old information after they updated their site — or, conversely, why a change appeared almost immediately. Both happen because AI uses two different mechanisms. Understanding the difference tells you when to expect AI to reflect your changes and how to speed it up.
The Two Ways AI Updates Its Knowledge
AI updates its knowledge through live retrieval and periodic re-crawling. Live retrieval fetches your current page during a query, so changes can appear within days. Periodic re-crawling refreshes broader indexes on a slower, variable cycle that depends on your site’s authority and update frequency.
Crawl frequency is not uniform. Google’s crawler documentation explains that crawl rate adapts to a site’s capacity and importance — active, trusted sites get visited far more often than neglected ones.
Why did my change appear fast in one AI but not another?
Because platforms differ. One may have retrieved your live page during the query while another relied on an older cached index. The same edit can surface at different speeds across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
What Speeds Up Re-Crawling
- Publishing frequency. Sites that add and update content regularly get crawled more often.
- Authority. Trusted sites with strong citations earn more frequent crawler attention.
- Technical health. Fast, accessible sites with clean sitemaps are easier and cheaper to re-crawl.
- Clear updates. Updated timestamps and changed content signal there is something new to fetch.
What This Means in Practice
If you correct an important page, expect live-retrieval-driven AI answers to reflect it within days, while fully indexed knowledge across all platforms can take weeks. A stagnant site that is rarely crawled will lag far longer, which is why ongoing publishing is part of staying current in AI answers.
Maintaining crawl frequency through consistent publishing is built into Intleacht’s AEO services, and the blog library is itself an example of the steady output that keeps a site actively re-crawled.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast will AI reflect a change to my site?
Live-retrieval answers can reflect a corrected page within days. Fully refreshed knowledge across all AI platforms typically takes one to several weeks, depending on your site’s authority and crawl frequency.
Can I force AI to re-crawl my site?
You cannot force AI platforms directly, but submitting updated sitemaps, improving site speed, and publishing fresh content all increase crawl frequency and help changes surface faster.
Why does AI still show my old phone number or service?
Because a cached index has not refreshed yet, or third-party listings still carry the old data. Updating the site and reconciling external listings together resolves it fastest.
Does a rarely updated site get crawled less?
Yes. Crawlers prioritize sites that change. A static site that almost never updates is visited less frequently, so its AI-visible information stays stale longer.
Key Takeaways
- AI updates via fast live retrieval and slower periodic re-crawling.
- No fixed schedule — active, authoritative sites refresh far faster.
- Corrections can appear in days; full cross-platform refresh takes weeks.
- Frequent publishing and technical health speed re-crawling.
Wondering why AI still has your old info? Intleacht AI Systems will diagnose it in a free audit. Request your audit.