What are AI Search Refresh Flows?
AI Search Refresh Flows automatically detect when your AI-optimized shops are losing traction in AI search results and regenerate the content to restore visibility. LLMs have a measurable recency bias — content that hasn't been updated in roughly 6–7 weeks starts losing AI crawler activity and citations. Refresh Flows solve this before it becomes a problem.
Previously, the only way to address citation decay was to manually monitor each shop's performance and rebuild content from scratch. Refresh Flows automate the entire cycle: detect decline, regenerate content, and restore citations.
How to Use AI Search Refresh Flows
Navigate to AI Search in your FERMÀT dashboard. Refresh Flows run automatically for all active AIS articles.
Monitor the Opportunities Dashboard. You'll recommended opportunities to refresh specific content based on citation drops.
Review refreshed content. When a refresh completes, the updated shop content appears in your editor. You can review the changes or let them go live automatically.
Track recovery. After a refresh, monitor Analytics to see crawler activity and citations recover over the following 1–2 weeks.
How It Works
The system continuously monitors citation velocity and AI crawler activity across all your active articles. When a sustained decline pattern is detected (typically around the 6–7 week mark), it triggers an automated content refresh. The refreshed content is regenerated using the latest product data, prompt trends, and citation signals — not just a cosmetic update, but a full content rebuild optimized for current AI model behavior.
Use Cases
Maintaining citation share in competitive categories. If your brand competes in high-volume AI search categories (e.g., "best running shoes"), stale content means competitors overtake you in citations. Refresh Flows keep your content competitive without manual effort.
Scaling AI search presence without scaling headcount. Brands running thousands of AI-optimized articles can't manually track which ones are decaying. Refresh Flows automate the maintenance so your team focuses on strategy, not upkeep.
Recovering from a citation dip. If you notice a shop's citations dropped over the past month, Refresh Flows are already working to restore them. The system catches decay early, often before it shows up in your weekly reports.
Seasonal content freshness. Product catalogs change seasonally. Refresh Flows ensure your AI search content reflects current inventory and positioning, not last quarter's assortment.
FAQs
How often do Refresh Flows run?
The system monitors continuously and triggers refreshes as needed. Most shops see a refresh cycle roughly every 6–7 weeks, aligned with the observed LLM recency bias window.
Can I trigger a manual refresh?
Not currently, refreshes are automated based on citation and crawler signals.
Will a refresh change my shop's URL or structure?
No. Refresh Flows update the content within the existing shop structure. URLs, layout, and product associations remain the same.
Does this work with the Opportunities Dashboard?
Yes. The Opportunities Dashboard recommends new content to create along with refreshing existing content.
What if I've manually edited a shop's content?
Refresh Flows respect manual edits. If you've customized content, the system will regenerate around your edits rather than overwriting them.
]]>