Podcast Summary: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson

Episode: No Date = No AI Love. The End of Evergreen Content! Jay’s SCOOP | Ep. 423
Date: October 3, 2025
Host: GURU Media Hub
Sponsor: Marigold

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jay Schwedelson breaks down a seismic shift in marketing content strategy: the end of "evergreen" content as we’ve known it, due to changes in how AI and search engines value recency. Jay shares actionable tips for staying relevant in an AI-driven landscape, using real-world statistics and concrete examples to illustrate why and how marketers must update their approach to content titling, publishing, and updating.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shifting Landscape: From Evergreen to Real-Time Content

• Evergreen Content Defined

  • Historically, evergreen content (content always relevant, not time-bound) worked well for ongoing traffic and engagement. (00:18)
  • Examples: "How to tie a tie," or "Best subject line formulas" that remain on a site for years. (00:29)

• How AI Has Changed the Game

  • With widespread adoption of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude), the demand is now for "recency"—AI LLMs prioritize freshly updated content. (01:09)
  • Quote:

    "What do all these models want? They want recency. They want stuff that's not only new, but it's also labeled as being new."
    — Jay Schwedelson (01:23)

2. The Data: AI vs. Search Engine Citations

• Statistical Insights

  • ChatGPT citations are, on average, 393 days newer than those in organic search results. (02:02)
  • If a website page is not updated for over a year, it is more than two times as unlikely to be cited by AI. (02:37)
  • Content with a recent time period in its title is over 50% more likely to show up in AI search results. (03:05)

• AI Tools & Citation Recency

  • Tools analyzed: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google’s AI Overviews.
  • AI citations are, on average, 364 days more recent than regular search results. (06:32)

3. Actionable Strategies for Marketers

• For Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketers

  • Include specifics like year, quarter, or month in your content and offer titles:

    • Instead of "SaaS Pricing Report" use "2025 Q4 SaaS Pricing Benchmark Report." (04:18)
    • For static content, add "Updated October 2025" even if the main title doesn’t change. (04:40)

  • Quote:

    "Not only the year, but if you can include the quarter or include the month, the more timely your content is, okay, the more it's going to get picked up by all these different models."
    — Jay Schwedelson (04:26)

• For Consumer-Facing Marketers

  • Update naming conventions to reflect recency:

    • "Best TVs" becomes "Best TVs, Updated October 2025" (05:11)
    • "Style Guide" becomes "Winter 2025 Style Guide"
    • "Gift Guide" becomes "Holiday 2025 Gift Guide"

  • Quote:

    "You need to help all the AI tools find what it is that you're putting out there. And what they're looking for is recency."
    — Jay Schwedelson (05:23)

• General Tip:

  • Apply these updates across all public content: webinars, podcasts, downloadable resources, offers, and landing pages.

• Bottom Line:

  • “Evergreen” is no longer enough. Frequent, visible updating is critical if you want AI tools to pick up your content.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the necessity of change:

  "Set it and forget it in our marketing... if you think that you could just do that and you're going to be okay... you are in massive trouble."
  — Jay Schwedelson (03:01)

• On the impact of AI-powered search:

  "A billion people a week ago in ChatGPT alone [are] asking it stuff. That's where it's happening."
  — Jay Schwedelson (03:37)

Notable Timestamps & Segments

• 00:18: Introduction to episode’s topic: the end of evergreen content
• 01:09: Explaining the influence of AI language models on content relevancy
• 02:02: The critical stat: ChatGPT’s newer citation timeline vs. Google search
• 03:05: How having dates in your content boosts AI visibility by over 50%
• 04:18: B2B examples of timely content titling and updates
• 05:11: Consumer-side examples of necessary naming conventions
• 06:32: Recent Ahrefs study on citation recency in AI vs. traditional search

Chaos & Pop Culture Sidebar (07:42+)

A lighter segment follows the main marketing discussion:

• Jay comments on Halloween decorations going up too soon.

  • Quote:

    "I'm talking about, I got a couple neighbors that have put up full blown, like Halloween's tomorrow level decorations. To me, that's one week out, maybe 10 days. Other than that, it's ridiculous."
    — Jay Schwedelson (07:51)

• Briefly shares excitement for reality TV (Below Deck Mediterranean, Love is Blind S9), and reveals that Nick Lachey will be singing and judging karaoke at the upcoming Guru Conference themed on the 90s/2000s. (08:35)

Key Takeaways

• Old approach: Relying on evergreen content is risky in the current AI-driven environment.
• New rule: Consistently update content and clearly state the most recent date (year, quarter, month) in titles and tags.
• Why: AI LLMs and search engines overwhelmingly prioritize recent content in their citations and recommendations.
• Action: Audit your existing content and refresh headlines, offers, and publication dates to signal recency.

Final Thoughts

Jay’s core message is urgent and clear: If you don’t adapt your marketing content for AI’s demand for recency, your site, offers, and brand risk becoming invisible in both AI tools and evolving search results. The episode combines expert insight, actionable steps, and Jay’s signature energetic delivery to help marketers future-proof their content strategy.

For more tips and upcoming events, visit:

• marigold.com (Sponsor)
• gurumediahub.com
• jschwedelson.com