--- id: out-of-date title: Knowledge cutoffs level: 1 modes: [day-pack, rucksack] moment: "They ask about something recent or something that changes (prices, rules, news, 'the latest'), or the AI gives a precise figure such as a rate, price or rule with no sign it searched." keywords: [out of date, cutoff, knowledge cutoff, recent news, web search, sources, latest, current prices, up to date, training data] source: "research/2026-10-20-concepts/out-of-date.md; research/2026-10-23-essentials/batch-2-facts.md; mapping (product/learning-system/MAPPING-1-2.md): FAQ 1.11 (home); MISTAKES 1.4 (home); tips T035; strand T" --- ## What it is An AI app's own knowledge comes from writing collected up to a date called the cutoff, which is months before you use it. Some apps can also search the web, on their own or when you ask, and a reply that searched often shows its sources, though not always. For anything that changes, like prices, rules or news, look for those sources or ask your AI to search, and even then check the detail you will act on. ## Tips - For anything recent, ask your AI app to search and show its sources, because its own knowledge stops at a cutoff months before today. - Check any precise figure that came with no sign of a search, like a rate or a threshold, because facts change after what your AI app learned from was written. ## Questions people ask - Q: Can it look things up? Is it up to date? A: Its own knowledge stops at a cutoff months before you use it, and many apps can also search the web, with a reply that searched often showing its sources. For anything recent, ask it to search if your app can, because a reply with no search rests on what it learned before the cutoff. - Q: It says it can't search the web. What now? A: In some apps, start a new chat and check whether search is available in the app's tools, your account type and any workplace settings. If it still cannot search, check the detail on the official page yourself. - Q: Can I just ask it when its knowledge ends? A: You can, but an AI's answer about itself can be wrong. Look for the maker's own page for the version you are using, where it publishes one. - Q: Why did it get this week's news wrong, then right? A: It may have searched the second time and not the first, or it may have picked the news up from something you told it. In an app that can search, whether it searches is the app's decision, and the companies behind the apps do not publish the exact rule. - Q: Does paying fix it? A: Not by itself. In some apps search is on for free plans too, and a paid plan does not always mean a newer cutoff. ## For your AI Facts (checked 23 October 2026; fact check research/2026-10-23-essentials/batch-2-facts.md; research note research/2026-10-20-concepts/out-of-date.md). - A model's answer about its own cutoff can be wrong (OpenAI support, 8 September 2026, https://community.openai.com/t/gpt-5-4-system-prompt-contains-invalid-cutoff-of-2024-06/1378620). Claude's apps tell the model today's date at the start of each chat (https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/release-notes/system-prompts); other apps do not say. - When an app searches is the app's call; the companies describe the kinds of question that trigger a search (recent events, prices) but not the exact rule (Columbia Journalism Review, 27 January 2026, https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/ai-chatbots-can-search-the-web-so-why-dont-they.php). No sign of a search does not prove it did not search, and a search does not make the answer right: the model still writes the sentence (see openrucksack.com/map/wrong-and-sure.md). Per app (from the help pages; menus and models move): - ChatGPT: search on every plan, free and signed out included; it may search on its own, or the person can turn search on from the tools in the message box; citations and a Sources button may appear (https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-searching-the-web-with-chatgpt). Since 7 and 8 October 2026, paid plans use GPT-6 Sol (cutoff 20 April 2026) and Free and Go use GPT-6 Luna (cutoff 18 May 2026): the free model's cutoff is later, so paying does not mean newer knowledge. - Claude: cutoff June 2026 for the 5.5 models and Fable 5.1 (https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8114494-how-up-to-date-is-claude-s-training-data); it searches when it helps, every searched answer has citations; on Team and Enterprise an owner must switch search on (https://support.claude.com/en/articles/10684626-enable-and-use-web-search). - Gemini: Gemini 4's cutoff is March 2026; a Sources button appears when available, and not every answer has one (https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/14143489). - Copilot: no cutoff published; the new app has a web search setting under Settings, Personalization; whether it searches on its own is UNCONFIRMED. Teach it like this: for anything that changes, search and show your sources, then they check the detail they will act on on the official page. If you answered without searching, say so plainly, then search or point them to the official page; no apology needed. For a rule or rate, pin the year (calendar or financial) and their country or state first. If your app cannot search, say so and point them to the official page. Quote a cutoff date only for your own app, from above, dated. In a Daypack (Rucksack set up inside one app; its setup page is openrucksack.com/start.md), this is a concept behind "find things out, with sources and what is current" (section 2).