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Main Authors: Cao, Shiyue, Xu, Pei, Yang, Likun, Cui, Lei, Chen, Xiaotang, Huang, Kaiqi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.07301
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author Cao, Shiyue
Xu, Pei
Yang, Likun
Cui, Lei
Chen, Xiaotang
Huang, Kaiqi
author_facet Cao, Shiyue
Xu, Pei
Yang, Likun
Cui, Lei
Chen, Xiaotang
Huang, Kaiqi
contents Accurately predicting opponents' behavior from interactions is a fundamental capability for large language model (LLM)-based agents in multi-agent and game-theoretic environments. Existing approaches often entangle opponent modeling with prediction, relying on implicit contextual reasoning and limiting adaptability in dynamic interactions. To this end, we propose Structured Opponent Modeling (SOM), a two-stage opponent modeling framework that distinctly separates opponent model construction and opponent prediction. At the construction stage, SOM employs a Structural Causal Model (SCM), a graph-based formalism for representing dependencies among variables, to capture directed links between opponents' observations and actions, yielding an explicit and structured opponent representation. At the prediction stage, the LLM performs structured reasoning along clear pathways derived from the SCM, improving both prediction accuracy and stability. Extensive experiments on diverse multi-agent benchmarks demonstrate that SOM consistently outperforms state-of-the-art LLM-based reasoning baselines, enabling more accurate and adaptable strategic decision-making in complex and dynamic multi-agent interactions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_07301
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle SOM: Structured Opponent Modeling for LLM-based Agents via Structural Causal Model
Cao, Shiyue
Xu, Pei
Yang, Likun
Cui, Lei
Chen, Xiaotang
Huang, Kaiqi
Artificial Intelligence
Accurately predicting opponents' behavior from interactions is a fundamental capability for large language model (LLM)-based agents in multi-agent and game-theoretic environments. Existing approaches often entangle opponent modeling with prediction, relying on implicit contextual reasoning and limiting adaptability in dynamic interactions. To this end, we propose Structured Opponent Modeling (SOM), a two-stage opponent modeling framework that distinctly separates opponent model construction and opponent prediction. At the construction stage, SOM employs a Structural Causal Model (SCM), a graph-based formalism for representing dependencies among variables, to capture directed links between opponents' observations and actions, yielding an explicit and structured opponent representation. At the prediction stage, the LLM performs structured reasoning along clear pathways derived from the SCM, improving both prediction accuracy and stability. Extensive experiments on diverse multi-agent benchmarks demonstrate that SOM consistently outperforms state-of-the-art LLM-based reasoning baselines, enabling more accurate and adaptable strategic decision-making in complex and dynamic multi-agent interactions.
title SOM: Structured Opponent Modeling for LLM-based Agents via Structural Causal Model
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.07301