Truth is whether the stat holds up. Freshness is about the source's date versus the May 14, 2024 AI Overviews launch, not whether the claim is true.
- Evidence status
Do instead:
SEO Stat Fossil Checker · Evidence system
Check whether that SEO stat is true, and whether it is still current.
Paste a search or SEO stat, a CTR figure, a ranking-factor claim, an AI Overviews percentage. Get a truth verdict from the reviewed record and a separate freshness verdict that dates the source against the May 14, 2024 AI Overviews launch. No email gate and no AI interpretation.
Evidence version 2026-08-09 · Last audited August 9, 2026
The star mechanic
Run the fossil check.
Two questions, answered separately. Is the stat true, from the reviewed evidence record. Is it current, from a deterministic rule that dates its primary source against the AI Overviews launch. A stat measured before that date that describes the results page describes a page that no longer exists.
Or try one of these reviewed stats:
Self-date this stat
No close record exists yet. The tool will not invent a verdict. Answer three questions and it gives you a directional read instead.
Browse the full Claims Index before treating the statement as evidence.
Query-intent read
Where does your traffic sit?
Select the query types that drive your current organic traffic. No percentages required, just which types you have meaningful volume in. This is a sourced, qualitative read, not a score, and it never invents a per-site percentage.
Claim checker
What have you heard?
Or try one of these reviewed sample claims:
No close record exists yet. Browse the full Claims Index before treating the statement as evidence.
Primary source: ·
Evidence status: · Last reviewed:
Source link: · checked
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Ungated strategy check
How many of your search rules rest on unverified stats?
Select the claims that currently drive your search and content process. This is an evidence-exposure score, not a ranking or performance score.
Structured feedback
Did the evidence record help?
One evidence layer
Every verdict and every fossil call comes from the same versioned dataset as the Claims Index.
The fossil check, the checker, and the Index are generated from one claims file. Each record has a stable ID, aliases, verdict, finding, primary source, action, category, evidence status, first and last review dates, research version, and change note.
Questions about the fossil check
Does this predict rankings?
No. It checks repeated stats against the dated evidence record and dates each stat's source against the AI Overviews launch. It does not predict rankings, traffic, or performance.
Are the verdicts produced by AI?
No. Every verdict is a human-reviewed record from the same versioned dataset as the Claims Index. The matching is deterministic token overlap and the fossil call is deterministic date arithmetic, not a model call.
How is the fossil date determined?
The rule compares the stat's primary-source date against May 14, 2024, the US launch of AI Overviews. A stat sourced before that date that describes the results page itself is a fossil, because it measured a page that structurally no longer exists. The rule is about the source's date, never about Google's algorithm.
How often is the dataset reviewed?
The active dataset is reviewed at least quarterly and after material search disclosures. Each record shows its last review date and change note.
Browse all 11 reviewed claims · Inspect the full method · Read the evidence answer · Watch the demonstration · Read the Tool Trust Charter