Missing hints on Ancestry? Getting poor search results? The problem might not be the website. It could be your Ancestry tree.
Ancestry’s research tools rely on your tree information. The more accurate your family tree, the better your results. In this post, I’ll show you how to fine-tune your Ancestry tree to unlock better matches, smarter hints, and more relevant discoveries.
Post last updated 21 June 2025
Ancestry has built-in research tools. These tools work better when your tree information is accurate and consistent. They use your tree to improve search results and generate research hints (look for the green leaf symbol).
If you’ve tested your DNA with Ancestry, their tools compare your tree with DNA matches’ trees. This creates more research hints like ThruLines (Ancestry’s tool that suggests family connections).
To get the most out of Ancestry’s research tools, your family tree must be accurate and well-structured. This includes correctly recording names, places, dates, relationships, and statuses so that Ancestry’s built-in tools can deliver better results.
When you improve your Ancestry tree accuracy, it helps the Ancestry tools recognise the information. This improves your search results.
By ‘accurate’ I mean more than just having the right people and relationships. You also need accurate names for people, places, dates and status.
Note: This advice is based on my experience helping genealogists with their Ancestry trees. I don’t claim to know the technical details of how their search tools work.
Start with one section and work systematically through these improvements.
Using Quick Edit
Most of these corrections can be made using the Quick Edit feature (a fast way to update basic information).
Get Names Right First
Your first priority should be getting names accurate.
A person may use different names during their lifetime, or their name may be spelled differently in different documents. Ancestry’s search engine searches for variations, but you can help by choosing the most relevant name as the primary name.
Use the name held at birth, or the name by which they were most commonly known. Add other names and spelling variations by selecting “Add fact or event”, then “Also known as”.
Here are the key name accuracy rules:
Use birth names as primary names. Married women should be listed under their maiden name. The marriage event will show their married name, and Ancestry will use both names when searching.
Fix spelling errors consistently. Try to avoid spelling inconsistencies within a family. However, if a child is born before marriage they may legitimately have a different surname.
Keep extra information separate. If you want to include words or symbols in the name, put these in the Name Suffix field rather than in the main name fields.
Use Standard Place Names
Once names are accurate, turn your attention to places. Although normal genealogy practice is to document place names as recorded in sources, this may not give you the best research results on Ancestry.
Ancestry prefers standard place names (Ancestry’s preferred format for locations), based on the current name for the place. This reduces spelling mistakes and helps the search tools recognise the name, improving your search results.
The problem is that when you attach a source to your tree, Ancestry automatically uses the place name from that source’s index. Unfortunately, these names aren’t always the same as standard place names. They may even be incorrect due to indexing errors.
Always check the place name after you attach a source. Change it to the standard place name if needed. You can put alternative place names in the description if you like.
Examples
Australian Electoral Rolls: If you attach an Australian Electoral roll as a source for where someone was living, the place name will be automatically recorded as the electoral district (voting area) rather than the actual place name. I always check the entry in the roll and change the place name accordingly.
Find A Grave Records: If you attach a burial record from Find A Grave, the place name usually includes the local government area (council region) because that’s how burials are indexed. This information isn’t part of a standard place name in Australia. It’s extra information rather than incorrect information, so it’s not essential to change it unless you prefer standard place names.
Border changes: Borders change and this changes the name of the place in a source. In England, for example, historic county areas do not match up with current county boundaries. Wikipedia has good explanations of the differences. Example: Essex, the home of my paternal grandfather.
Place name changes: Changes to a place name are common. The FamilySearch Wiki provides some US examples: Pawtuxet was renamed to Cranston and Providence Plantations became Rhode Island.
Dual names: Places may have dual names. In New Zealand, for example, some have English and Maori names.
Finding Standard Place Names:
As you begin typing a place name into any fact, event or search bar in Ancestry, it will suggest standard place names closest to what you’ve typed.
Why Accurate Dates Matter
Accurate dates improve your search results because they give Ancestry’s tools a timeframe to search for sources.
It helps to always include a date of some sort, even if it’s approximate. Use the standard format suggested by Ancestry. For example, if you type “about 1930”, Ancestry suggests the format “Abt. 1930”.
Avoid entering multiple years in a date field as this triggers an error message.
Date Formats and Living Status
If there’s no death date, a person will be classed as Living. This doesn’t affect your search results, but it will limit the information that other researchers can view about that person in your tree.
Correctly stating a person as male or female, living or deceased, may improve your search results.
Fix Relationship Errors
Getting relationships right is crucial for search success. Accurate relationships between people in your family tree directly impact your results.
Focus on these key connections:
Parent-child relationships – who is the father, who is the mother (this also identifies siblings or half siblings)
Marriage and partnership relationships – who partnered with whom (and which marriage was first, as this helps identify parents)
Correct generational placement – were they the father or the grandfather, for example.
The relationship is created when you add a person to your tree. However, it’s easy to make mistakes such as attaching a child to just one parent, attaching someone to the wrong parents, or adding someone twice.
Ancestry has useful instructions for fixing relationship problems.
While it doesn’t affect search results, you can also describe relationships more specifically, such as adopted, biological, or step. Do this using Edit Relationships under the Edit button in any person’s profile.
Common Questions About Tree Accuracy
Here are the most common questions I hear about tree accuracy:
Q: Why am I not getting good hints on Ancestry?
A: Hints rely on your tree. Inaccurate or missing details, such as names, dates, or relationships, reduce the number and quality of hints.
Q: How do I make my Ancestry tree more accurate?
A: Use standard place names, check dates, avoid spelling errors, and fix incorrect relationships using the Quick Edit and Edit Relationship tools.
Q: What’s the best name format for people in my Ancestry tree?
A: Use the birth name or most commonly known name. Add other names under “Also Known As,” and always list married women by their maiden name.
Make the Most of Your Ancestry Tree
Ancestry offers powerful tools to support your family history research. But those tools are only as good as the information in your tree.
By taking extra time to ensure names, dates, places, and relationships are accurate, you’ll get better search results and more relevant hints. A well-built tree is a research asset.
Start with one section of your tree and work systematically through these improvements. See what a difference accurate information makes to your research success.
More Information
For more articles on improving your search techniques, go to the Research page.
For more articles researching family history on Ancestry, go to the Research page and the Document page.
About the Author
Danielle Lautrec is a genealogy educator, researcher, and author of The Good Genealogist. With qualifications in history, family history, and historical archaeology, she teaches for the Society of Australian Genealogists.
