The text suggests he was contemporary with the translator Lokakṣema, who lived in the second half of the second century CE during the Han dynasty.
The catalog states this text, which can be rendered in English as The Sutra on the Completion of Brightness (成具光明經), was produced during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, which would place it somewhere in the range of 168 to 190 CE.
[1] Huijiao's (慧皎) Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng zhuan, 高僧傳), produced about 530 CE, also briefly mentions Zhi Yao.
[1] The Buddhologist Jan Nattier briefly analysed the one text attributed to Zhi Yao by Sengyou, The Sutra on the Completion of Brightness.
Taking all of the evidence together, she concludes it is difficult to confirm if Zhi Yao really existed given the time between his stated lifetime and his appearance in the historical record, and if he did, what if any relationship he had with the textual work attributed to him.