In the age of AI, frequent updates are more important than ever.
For years we have advised our clients to update their website regularly both for search engine benefit, and to re-enforce to users they have an active and healthy business.
While some take this seriously, most businesses focus their energy on social media or other aspects of marketing leaving their website to get stale as the content ages.
While Google has always rewarded new content, AI vendors (Google included) are rewarding new and fresh content much more than traditional search engines.
If a user of an AI chatbot asks “What are the best cars for a family?” The AI tool in an effort to provide the most current information translates this to “What are the best cars of 2026 for a family?”
A subtle distinction, but one that reveals AI is rewarding newer and fresh content over mature / aged content.
This means two things for small business owners:
- Using current dates strategically in your content is important
- Publishing new content (and updating existing content) on a regular basis is even more important.
The fresh content guidance extends to social media as well. When Google or another AI vendor looks to recommend a business or product to it’s user, it looks at your website, social media, Google business profile, reviews and hundreds of other “signals” to determine the best match.
The best playbook for a small business owners is to: Create new content on your website first then promote that content on your social media, email newsletter and other digital marketing channels.
Contact us to schedule a website review with a clear action plan to improve and update your content.
