RAG & Search
Retrieval freshness
How up to date the information an AI can look up is.
Example
A policy assistant's index includes last week's revised policy.
Why people use it
It helps judge whether an AI assistant can find the latest relevant information.
What you'll hear
“Does its search include the revised policy?”
What this means for you
Check the dates and versions of the sources actually cited.
Can you control it?
Sometimes
Sometimes. Your choices depend on the tool and your access. The settings available to an everyday user may differ from those available to the people running it.
Common questions
- Does a recently updated index guarantee every answer uses current information?
- No. Finding information selection and generation can still choose or misinterpret older material.
- Can the document date differ from the date it was added?
- Yes. Recently collecting a page does not mean the page itself is recent.
- Can frequent updates still leave gaps?
- Yes. Some sources may fail to update or be inaccessible when the system checks.