Retrievability and UX · Branch R.B, Information architecture and retrievability
R-06 Tables must be used only for genuinely structured data
Comparison and fact tables must make shared criteria, units and, where needed, source and date clear. They must not become a keyword stuffing format.
- Scope
- All public content
- Priority
- High priority.
- Quality bucket
- Retrievability and UX
- Legacy coverage
- GEO-14
Why it matters
A table without clear criteria or units forces readers to guess what each number means. Search engines and AI answer engines read tables as structured facts, so a table that is really a keyword list gives them nothing reliable to use.
How to implement
- Decide which criteria every row shares and make them the columns.
- State units in the column header or beside each value.
- Add a source and date where the figures need them.
- Test the table on a mobile screen and fix any layout problems.
- Turn any keyword list posing as a table back into normal text.
Checklist
- Put shared criteria in the columns.
- Explain units in the header or with each value.
- Add source and date to the table when needed.
- Keep it accessible on mobile.
- Do not present a keyword list as a table.
How to audit
- Check that the table headers and cells still make sense when exported.
How UltimateSEO checks this automatically
Partly automated. A review of tables on key templates to confirm they hold real structured data rather than layout or filler. The crawl gives a signal; a person decides the final state with business evidence.
States used: PASS, FAIL, UNKNOWN, NOT_APPLICABLE or BLOCKED. UNKNOWN is never shown as a pass. How states work.
Sources
Part of The UltimateSEO Framework v4.1, revised 2026-10-07. Evidence states, control states and the publish gate are explained on the hub.