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Prefer keeps 6 months of historical data on Starter, 24 months on Growth and 36 months on Scale, and the /pricing comparison lists Enterprise as unlimited. History builds from your first tracking run onward, so the trend lines grow the longer you track. Last updated 3 October 2026 Prefer keeps historical data for a set window on each plan, and the window grows with the tier. Prefer’s history is made of real runs: the full answers, the brands named, the URLs cited and the scores computed from them. Here is how long each plan keeps it, where history comes from, and what happens to it when your plan changes.

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The history window on each plan

Prefer keeps 6 months of history on Starter, 24 months on Growth and 36 months on Scale. These are the same values shown in the comparison table on /pricing. A longer window matters most if you report year over year, or if you want to see how a launch or a PR push moved AI answers over several quarters.

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Where history comes from

Prefer’s history starts at your first tracking run; it does not reach back to answers from before you began. Every metric in Prefer is computed from answers Prefer collected itself, across all 5 engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. Each stored answer keeps its full text, the brands named, the cited URLs and a sentiment label, so an answer from your first run reads the same as one from your latest run. Prefer does not document any import of older data, so the honest advice is simple: start tracking before you need the trend. A few things keep history useful as your setup changes:
  • The Prompts console keeps archived history. Archiving stops a prompt from using a slot on the next run, but its past answers stay readable in the Archived tab.
  • The free audit can carry over. Promote an audit into a workspace and Prefer keeps its topics, prompts and competitors as your starting set.
  • Deltas are per run. Every change is labelled vs the previous run. For a longer view, set the date range in the Filter Bar and compare 2 runs directly.

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What happens when your plan changes

  1. Trial ends without an upgrade: tracking pauses and nothing is deleted. Everything resumes when you upgrade, per the Prefer pricing FAQ.
  2. Upgrade: applies at once, and the longer window of the new plan applies.
  3. Downgrade: takes effect at your next renewal, so you keep the history and allowance you already paid for until then.

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How to plan around the window

  • Pick the plan by your reporting horizon. A 12-month year-over-year report needs at least 12 months of runs inside the window, plus the months you are comparing against.
  • Start tracking before a launch, a rebrand or a PR push, so the 90 days before it are on record.
  • Export the numbers you report on, if your plan includes export, so a board deck never depends on the live window.
  • Compare 2 runs a quarter apart in the Filter Bar date range, rather than reading only the run-to-run deltas.
  • Review the Updates tab in the Competitors console for dated competitor moves inside the same window.
Check that your plan’s window covers the period you report on before a quarterly review. If you need data outside the app, the export answer covers CSV and PDF export on Growth and above. To start building a baseline today, run a free AI visibility audit and promote it into a workspace.

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Frequently asked questions

No. Prefer’s history starts with your first tracking run, because every number comes from answers Prefer collected itself. Prefer does not document any import of older data, so start tracking early if you want a long baseline.
Prefer pauses tracking and deletes nothing. Your prompts, competitors and collected history wait in the workspace, and tracking resumes when you upgrade.
A Prefer downgrade takes effect at your next renewal, so you keep the history and allowance you already paid for until then. The plan you move to sets the history window after that: 6 months on Starter, 24 months on Growth and 36 months on Scale.

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Also asked as

  • What is Prefer’s data retention period?
  • Can I see past AI answers in Prefer?
  • Does Prefer keep data if my trial ends?

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