Objective To systematically evaluate risk prediction models for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and provide a reference for early clinical identification. Methods The literature on the risk prediction models of acute exacerbation of COPD published by CNKI, VIP, Cochrane, Embase and Web of Science database was searched in Chinese and English from inception to April 2022, and relevant studies were collected on the development of risk prediction models for acute exacerbations of COPD. After independent screening of the literature and extraction of information by two independent researchers, the quality of the included literature was evaluated using the PROBASTA tool. Results Five prospective studies, one retrospective case-control study and seven retrospective cohort studies were included, totally 13 papers containing 24 models. Twelve studies (92.3%) reported the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve ranging 0.66 to 0.969. Only five studies reported calibrated statistics, and three studies were internally and externally validated. The overall applicability of 13 studies was good, but there was a high risk of bias, mainly in the area of analysis. Conclusions The existing predictive risk models for acute exacerbations of COPD are unsatisfactory, with wide variation in model performance, inappropriate and incomplete inclusion of predictors, and a need for better ways to develop and validate high-quality predictive models. Future research should refine the study design and study report, and continue to update and validate existing models. Secondly medical staff should develop and implement risk stratification strategies for acute exacerbations of COPD based on predicted risk classification results in order to reduce the frequency of acute exacerbations and to facilitate the rational allocation of medical resources.