Influence of annealing on linear dynamic rheology of carbon black filled polystyrene and low-density polyethylene before and after annealing was investigated in relation to a recently proposed two phase model. Annealing-induced improvements in dynamic complex modulus of filled polymers in the linearity region are related to increases in amplification factor and characteristic moduli and to retardation in dynamics of the filler phase. It is suggested the characteristic modulus and dynamics of the filler phase are interrelated to each other, and their relationship is independent of thermal history. Moreover, annealing-induced variations in global viscoelasticity of filled polymers are ascribed to the geometric changes of the filler phase consisting of filler clusters with a constant fractal dimension. (c) 2011 The Society of Rheology. [DOI: 10.1122/1.3604816]