Field weighting decides which matches rank first: a hit in a title outweighs the same hit in body content. The defaults (title 5, excerpt 2, taxonomies 2, content 1, custom fields 1, comments 1) suit most sites; to change them, switch on Custom field weights under Elevated › Site Search › Settings › Advanced Options › Field Weighting.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Open Field Weighting
• Step 2: Set the Weights
• How Weights Work
• Do This with Your AI Agent
• Troubleshooting

Step 1: Open Field Weighting

Navigate to Elevated › Site Search › Settings, expand Advanced Options, and locate Field Weighting. Switch on Custom field weights to reveal the per-field controls.

Step 2: Set the Weights

Each field takes a weight from 1 to 10. Higher values give matches in that field more influence on ranking. Weightable fields: title, content, excerpt, taxonomies, custom fields, and comments.

Click Save Settings.

How Weights Work

• Weights shape ranking, not matching. A field with weight 1 still matches; it just ranks lower than the same match in a heavier field.
• Relative, not absolute. What matters is the ratio between fields. Doubling every weight changes nothing.
• A worked example: with title 5 and content 1, a post titled “Denim Care” outranks a post that merely mentions denim in passing, which is almost always what visitors expect.

Do This with Your AI Agent

If your agent is connected (see Connect Your AI Agent), you can skip the steps above:

The agent flips the toggle and sets the weight in one settings update, then reads the saved values back.

Troubleshooting

Ranking did not change after saving. Weights apply to new searches immediately, but only matter when a query matches several items in different fields. Test with a term that appears in one item’s title and another item’s body.