The Same SIGIR Test Finds Formatting Barely Moves the First Citation
In the 18-factor head-to-head, structured versus dense pages did not win consistently, while a stated price and a 2026 date did.
Direct answer
The paper says formatting-only edits had little impact. Structured versus dense odds ratios in its table are 1.68, 1.03, 0.79, 0.90, 0.78, and 1.25 across the six models.
The same SIGIR 2026 paper separates factors that moved the first citation from factors that did not. In the abstract, mixed-effects models put topical relevance and list position at the top. Explicit price and a recent timestamp also help consistently. Completeness and trust cues add smaller gains. Formatting-only edits, the abstract says, have little impact.
Table 2 makes the formatting result numeric. For structured sections against a dense paragraph, the six odds ratios are 1.68, 1.03, 0.79, 0.90, 0.78, and 1.25. An odds ratio below 1 means the dense page was cited first more often. The discussion says content structure and scattered information had no consistent effect, and that the models appeared to parse the text without needing the visual organization. Seven of the 18 factors fell in that weak group.
Price and date are not the same as a heading
Price versus no price is in the unanimous set. Several models are reported above 10,000, with 36.1, 7.82, 6.26, and 30.4 on the others. Recent versus old timestamp is also unanimous. Recent versus no timestamp is not: those ratios are 1.99, 13.0, 3.67, 1.15, 3.53, and 1.99, and the authors say that comparison did not reach consensus. Their practical section tells editors to add a concrete price and update the date before spending time on layout.
Source: SIGIR 2026, What Gets Cited.
FAQ
- Which freshness comparison was a gatekeeper?
- Recent versus old timestamp was unanimous. Recent versus no timestamp, and no timestamp versus an old date, were not.
- What do the authors tell editors to do first?
- They say start with topic match, explicit price, a current date, and list position, and deprioritize formatting.