A page must answer the query more completely than the partial competitor on the dimensions the searcher actually needs, fully resolving the core question and its real sub-questions and leaving no genuine gap the partial page left. The bar is not being longer, it is covers what the searcher needs with no real gap. Completeness is measured by the query’s needs, not by word count, so the page that wins is the one that closes the specific gaps the partial page left open, not the one that simply says more.
The way to read “answer more completely” is by the searcher’s actual questions, not by volume. A partial page is partial because it leaves something the searcher needed unanswered: a sub-question it skipped, a case it ignored, a step it omitted, a concern it never addressed. To outrank it, your page has to resolve those, to be the one a searcher finishes without needing to open another tab. That is a completeness defined by demand, and it is exactly what the search engine is observed to reward over a thinner answer.
This is why “be more comprehensive” read as add more words is the wrong move. Padding length does not close a gap; it buries the answer under filler and can make the page worse, not more complete. A focused page that resolves every real need of the query beats a long one that wanders past the need while still missing a sub-question. The dimension that matters is whether the searcher’s genuine questions are all answered, and adding words unrelated to those questions adds nothing to completeness.
For your next page aiming to outrank a partial competitor, map the searcher’s real sub-questions first, then audit the competitor for which ones it leaves open. Build your page to resolve the core question and every genuine sub-question, especially the gaps the partial page left, and stop there. Close the gaps the searcher actually feels rather than chasing length, and you answer completely enough to win the position.