When Attention Becomes Exposure in Generative Search

Generative search engines are reshaping information access by replacing traditional ranked lists with synthesized answers and references. In parallel, with the growth of Web3 platforms, incentive-driven creator ecosystems have become an essential part of how enterprises build visibility and community by rewarding creators for contributing to shared narratives. However, the extent to which exposure in generative search engine citations is shaped by external attention markets remains uncertain. In this study, we audit the exposure for 44 Web3 enterprises. First, we show that the creator community around each enterprise is persistent over time. Second, enterprise-specific queries reveal that more popular voices systematically receive greater citation exposure than others. Third, we find that larger follower bases and enterprises with more concentrated creator cores are associated with higher-ranked exposure. Together, these results show that generative search engine citations exhibit exposure bias toward already prominent voices, which risks entrenching incumbents and narrowing viewpoint diversity.

CREDENCE: Counterfactual Explanations for Document Ranking

Towards better explainability in the field of information retrieval, we present CREDENCE, an interactive tool capable of generating counterfactual explanations for document rankers. Embracing the unique properties of the ranking problem, we present counterfactual explanations in terms of document perturbations, query perturbations, and even other documents. Additionally, users may build and test their own perturbations, and extract insights about their query, documents, and ranker.