> it maybe doesn't even matter that the models are using older data.

This actually really does matter. Otherwise, the model simply won't know about your product and will always suggest only a few market leaders.

Searching for information on the Internet became a jungle a decade ago, and to be visible you have to pay Google for sunlight. Now, we risk falling into real darkness — until some paid model eventually emerges. This might be the reason Google is fine with training data from 2024. If the top spot is reserved for whoever pays anyway, why bother?

That's a different problem than I thought you were worried about. I wasn't considering the marketing angle, though that is certainly relevant and a risk to consider, especially when it comes to Google, whose primary businesses are ads and surveillance.