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llms.txt GeneratorNearly three quarters of citations appear once and vanish
Exactly 73.5 percent of the 108,650 analyzed citations appeared in a single query response before vanishing entirely.
An analysis of 108,650 distinct citation URLs tracked longitudinally in The Half-Life of AI Citations study reveals the volatility of AI generated references.
The numbers behind it.
- One-and-done citations
- Citations that appear once and vanish.
- 73.5%
- Citations analyzed
- Distinct citation URLs tracked longitudinally.
- 108,650
The evidence.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| One-and-done citations Citations that appear once and vanish. | 73.5% |
| Citations analyzed Distinct citation URLs tracked longitudinally. | 108,650 |
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
Strategists must differentiate between transient mentions and stable visibility. Relying on single occurrence tracking overestimates actual brand presence in AI outputs, requiring operators to measure longitudinal retention rather than absolute citation counts.
Cite this fact.
Source study: Citation Decay“73.5% of citations in the decay study appear once and then vanish.”
The Half-Life of AI Citations - Trakkr Research · Nearly three quarters of citations appear once and vanish
The Half-Life of AI Citations · Trakkr Research · Updated 30 March 2026