Knowledge Cutoff
A knowledge cutoff is the date after which an AI tool learned nothing new in training. Anthropic lists two dates for each Claude version: a reliable knowledge cutoff, through which its knowledge is most complete and reliable, and a training data cutoff, covering the wider range of data it learned from. Some people call either one a training cutoff.
Source: Anthropic, Claude Docs: Models overview, checked October 29, 2026
What Knowledge Cutoff means for your business
Anything that changed at your business after the cutoff isn't in the AI's memory. A new location, a new owner or a service you added this year won't be there. When an AI tool answers from memory alone, it can only give the version of you it learned.
The cutoff isn't the release date either. As of October 29, 2026, Anthropic's models page lists June 2026 as both cutoffs for its current Claude models, so the version you use today may already be months behind. Each new version moves the date forward, which is why what's written about you now can matter for the next one.
We'd handle a change at your business in two ways. First, put the new facts on your own site and your main listings right away, in plain words, so AI tools that search the web can find them today. Then keep those facts identical across your site and listings, since the next version of an AI tool may learn from whatever's written by then.
If AI answers keep describing the business you were a year ago, getting your current facts in front of AI tools is the work we'd start with.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited Brave's glossary, Wikipedia, AI tool blogs and YouTube, and split training data from reliable cutoffs without naming the company that uses both. ChatGPT gave a short answer, no sources and said it can also search the web.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
Related terms in crawlers and technical access
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