US Patent 12008495 Relationship-based search

A computer system receives a definition of a group that includes an indication of a hierarchal rank of group members, a plurality of content items that correspond to the group, and identifying information indicating at least one group member that corresponds to a content item. A search input by a first user is detected and an indication of a hierarchal rank for the first user is stored. Determining a weight to assign to a search result includes comparing a hierarchal rank of at least one group member that corresponds to the first content item with the hierarchal rank of the first user.