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Enhancing Conversational Search: Large Language Model-Aided Informative Query Rewriting

arXiv 2310.09716 ↗First posted 15 Oct 2023cs.HC cs.AI cs.CLcited by 69

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Abstract (arXiv)

Query rewriting plays a vital role in enhancing conversational search by transforming context-dependent user queries into standalone forms. Existing approaches primarily leverage human-rewritten queries as labels to train query rewriting models. However, human rewrites may lack sufficient information for optimal retrieval performance. To overcome this limitation, we propose utilizing large language models (LLMs) as query rewriters, enabling the generation of informative query rewrites through well-designed instructions. We define four essential properties for well-formed rewrites and incorporate all of them into the instruction. In addition, we introduce the role of rewrite editors for LLMs when initial query rewrites are available, forming a "rewrite-then-edit" process. Furthermore, we propose distilling the rewriting capabilities of LLMs into smaller models to reduce rewriting latency. Our experimental evaluation on the QReCC dataset demonstrates that informative query rewrites can yield substantially improved retrieval performance compared to human rewrites, especially with sparse retrievers.

Key facts. Cited by 69 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 39 of its 65 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 15 Oct 2023.

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39 of 65 references.

References · 39

  1. 2020Language Models are Few-Shot Learnerscited by 32,199
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27 more
  1. 2020Approximate Nearest Neighbor Negative Contrastive Learning for Dense Text Retrievalcited by 846
  2. 2023CRITIC: Large Language Models Can Self-Correct with Tool-Interactive Critiquingcited by 751
  3. 2023Distilling Step-by-Step! Outperforming Larger Language Models with Less Training Data and Smaller Model Sizescited by 710
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  5. 2021Large Dual Encoders Are Generalizable Retrieverscited by 454
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  10. 2020Open-Domain Question Answering Goes Conversational via Question Rewritingcited by 147
  11. 2023Few-shot Fine-tuning vs. In-context Learning: A Fair Comparison and Evaluationcited by 134
  12. 2020Question Rewriting for Conversational Question Answeringcited by 93
  13. 2020Few-Shot Generative Conversational Query Rewritingcited by 85
  14. 2021Few-Shot Conversational Dense Retrievalcited by 71
  15. 2021CONQRR: Conversational Query Rewriting for Retrieval with Reinforcement Learningcited by 68
  16. 2023ConvGQR: Generative Query Reformulation for Conversational Searchcited by 59
  17. 2022Can Large Language Models Truly Understand Prompts? A Case Study with Negated Promptscited by 56
  18. 2020Query Resolution for Conversational Search with Limited Supervisioncited by 52
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  20. 2020Conversational Question Reformulation via Sequence-to-Sequence Architectures and Pretrained Language Modelscited by 45
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  22. 2023Exploiting Simulated User Feedback for Conversational Search: Ranking, Rewriting, and Beyondcited by 23
  23. 2023An In-depth Investigation of User Response Simulation for Conversational Searchcited by 20
  24. 2022Reinforced Question Rewriting for Conversational Question Answeringcited by 19
  25. 2022Saving Dense Retriever from Shortcut Dependency in Conversational Searchcited by 18
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  27. 2022McQueen: a Benchmark for Multimodal Conversational Query Rewritecited by 6

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2023: 1; 2024: 27; 2025: 27; 2026: 14.

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  1. 2024Benchmarking LLMs via Uncertainty Quantificationcited by 124
  2. 2024ChatQA: Surpassing GPT-4 on Conversational QA and RAGcited by 90
  3. 2024When Search Engine Services meet Large Language Models: Visions and Challengescited by 59
  4. 2024Re-Invoke: Tool Invocation Rewriting for Zero-Shot Tool Retrievalcited by 50
  5. 2024RaFe: Ranking Feedback Improves Query Rewriting for RAGcited by 47
  6. 2025Think Then Embed: Generative Context Improves Multimodal Embeddingcited by 39
  7. 2025Rec-R1: Bridging Generative Large Language Models and User-Centric Recommendation Systems via Reinforcement Learningcited by 32
  8. 2024CHIQ: Contextual History Enhancement for Improving Query Rewriting in Conversational Searchcited by 29
  9. 2024Ask Optimal Questions: Aligning Large Language Models with Retriever's Preference in Conversationcited by 23
  10. 2024A Survey of Conversational Searchcited by 22
  11. 2024Enhancing Interactive Image Retrieval With Query Rewriting Using Large Language Models and Vision Language Modelscited by 19
  12. 2024Conv-CoA: Improving Open-domain Question Answering in Large Language Models via Conversational Chain-of-Actioncited by 19
38 more
  1. 2023Agent4Ranking: Semantic Robust Ranking via Personalized Query Rewriting Using Multi-agent LLMcited by 18
  2. 2024ChatRetriever: Adapting Large Language Models for Generalized and Robust Conversational Dense Retrievalcited by 18
  3. 2024Generalizing Conversational Dense Retrieval via LLM-Cognition Data Augmentationcited by 16
  4. 2024Adaptive Query Rewriting: Aligning Rewriters through Marginal Probability of Conversational Answerscited by 15
  5. 2024AdaCQR: Enhancing Query Reformulation for Conversational Search via Sparse and Dense Retrieval Alignmentcited by 14
  6. 2025UniConv: Unifying Retrieval and Response Generation for Large Language Models in Conversationscited by 11
  7. 2024How to Leverage Personal Textual Knowledge for Personalized Conversational Information Retrievalcited by 10
  8. 2024Aligning Query Representation with Rewritten Query and Relevance Judgments in Conversational Searchcited by 10
  9. 2025ExpandR: Teaching Dense Retrievers Beyond Queries with LLM Guidancecited by 10
  10. 2024MaFeRw: Query Rewriting with Multi-Aspect Feedbacks for Retrieval-Augmented Large Language Modelscited by 9
  11. 2024Learning When to Retrieve, What to Rewrite, and How to Respond in Conversational QAcited by 9
  12. 2025TeleRAG: Efficient Retrieval-Augmented Generation Inference with Lookahead Retrievalcited by 9
  13. 2024DiSCo: LLM Knowledge Distillation for Efficient Sparse Retrieval in Conversational Searchcited by 8
  14. 2025SPAR: Scholar Paper Retrieval with LLM-based Agents for Enhanced Academic Searchcited by 7
  15. 2025RECAP: REwriting Conversations for Intent Understanding in Agentic Planningcited by 7
  16. 2025RANGER -- Repository-Level Agent for Graph-Enhanced Retrievalcited by 7
  17. 2026TRACE: Task-Adaptive Reasoning and Representation Learning for Universal Multimodal Retrievalcited by 7
  18. 2024CoSearchAgent: A Lightweight Collaborative Search Agent with Large Language Modelscited by 6
  19. 2024CursorCore: Assist Programming through Aligning Anythingcited by 6
  20. 2025Disambiguation in Conversational Question Answering in the Era of LLMs and Agents: A Surveycited by 6
  21. 2024Face the Facts! Evaluating RAG-based Pipelines for Professional Fact-Checkingcited by 5
  22. 2024History-Aware Conversational Dense Retrievalcited by 4
  23. 2025Automatic Input Rewriting Improves Translation with Large Language Modelscited by 4
  24. 2025Query Understanding in LLM-based Conversational Information Seekingcited by 4
  25. 2025ConvMix: A Mixed-Criteria Data Augmentation Framework for Conversational Dense Retrievalcited by 4
  26. 2025ICR: Iterative Clarification and Rewriting for Conversational Searchcited by 4
  27. 2026InterLV-Search: Benchmarking Interleaved Multimodal Agentic Searchcited by 4
  28. 2024Engineering Conversational Search Systems: A Review of Applications, Architectures, and Functional Componentscited by 3
  29. 2024Conversational Query Reformulation with the Guidance of Retrieved Documentscited by 2
  30. 2024AddrLLM: Address Rewriting via Large Language Model on Nationwide Logistics Datacited by 2
  31. 2025A New Query Expansion Approach via Agent-Mediated Dialogic Inquirycited by 2
  32. 2025PaRT: Enhancing Proactive Social Chatbots with Personalized Real-Time Retrievalcited by 2
  33. 2025AdaRewriter: Unleashing the Power of Prompting-based Conversational Query Reformulation via Test-Time Adaptationcited by 2
  34. 2025Investigating LLM Variability in Personalized Conversational Information Retrievalcited by 2
  35. 2026Beyond Single-Shot: Multi-step Tool Retrieval via Query Planningcited by 2
  36. 2024A Survey of Query Optimization in Large Language Modelscited by 1
  37. 2025QueStER: Query Specification for Generative keyword-based Retrievalcited by 1
  38. 2026ReCQR: Incorporating conversational query rewriting to improve Multimodal Image Retrievalcited by 1

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