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llms.txt GeneratorIs AI visibility more volatile than traditional search rankings?
Yes in practice. The decay benchmark shows immediate URL churn, a 31-day brand half-life, and large day-to-day movement, all of which point to a much more fluid surface than classic static rankings.
The key numbers.
- One-and-done citations
- Citations that appear once and vanish.
- 73.5%
- Brand half-life
- Average time for brand presence to halve from peak.
- 31 days
- Daily mention change
- Average daily movement in mentions.
- 30%
AI visibility behaves more like an unstable recommendation system than a fixed search result page.
The evidence.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| One-and-done citations Citations that appear once and vanish. | 73.5% |
| Brand half-life Average time for brand presence to halve from peak. | 31 days |
| Daily mention change Average daily movement in mentions. | 30% |
Population and method
Built from 857,138 reports, 108,650 citations, 10,991 brands, and 8 tracked models across a 10-month observation window.
Where the evidence stops
Decay describes observed persistence, not the full causal mechanism behind why a citation disappears.
Brand- and domain-level averages can hide very different retention patterns by query class or model.
Some of the stickiest or most volatile domains come from niche query pockets and should be read as examples, not universal leaders.
What to do with this
- Measure visibility as a moving system, not a one-time citation snapshot.
- Refresh and monitor citation-driving pages on the cadence your models actually decay, not the cadence that feels comfortable.
- Separate durable wins from temporary spikes so the team is not overreacting to short-lived mentions.
This answer matters because it turns a study finding into an operating rule teams can use when they decide what to publish, refresh, or measure next.
Questions about this answer.
Cite this answer.
Source study: Citation Decay“Yes in practice. The decay benchmark shows immediate URL churn, a 31-day brand half-life, and large day-to-day movement, all of which point to a much more fluid surface than classic static rankings.”
Mack Grenfell · Is AI visibility more volatile than traditional search rankings?
The Half-Life of AI Citations · Trakkr Research · Updated 30 March 2026