# The median citation lifespan is 0 days | Trakkr Research

Canonical URL: https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/citation-decay/facts/the-median-citation-lifespan-is-zero-days
Published: 2026-03-30
Last updated: 2026-03-30
Author: Mack Grenfell

In The Half-Life of AI Citations study, researchers analyzed the persistence of AI-generated citations and found that the majority disappear immediately upon subsequent queries.

## Methodology

Built from 857,138 reports, 108,650 citations, 10,991 brands, and 8 tracked models across a 10-month observation window.

## Claim

The median citation lifespan in the decay study is 0 days.

## Why it matters

Strategists and operators must treat AI-generated citations as ephemeral. Relying on citation persistence as a metric for brand visibility or content authority is fundamentally flawed, requiring a shift toward measuring initial generation rates rather than long-term retention.

## Supporting metrics

| Metric | Value | Context |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median citation lifespan | 0 days | Most citations disappear immediately. |

## Related pages

Continue through the same study cluster.

- [what does a thirty one day brand half life actually mean](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/citation-decay/answers/what-does-a-thirty-one-day-brand-half-life-actually-mean) - Related answer page
- [are most ai citations one and done](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/citation-decay/answers/are-most-ai-citations-one-and-done) - Related answer page
- [visibility stability tracker](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/citation-decay/trackers/visibility-stability-tracker) - Related tracker page

## Data And Sources

- [The Half-Life of AI Citations](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/citation-decay) - Flagship study behind this page
- [Page JSON](https://trakkr.ai/data/research-answers/citation-decay/facts/the-median-citation-lifespan-is-zero-days.json) - Machine-readable companion file