What is Semantic Search?
Search that finds results by meaning rather than exact keyword matching.
Definition
Semantic search is a search technique that uses embeddings and vector similarity to find documents that match the meaning of a query, rather than requiring exact keyword matches. It can find a document about 'account recovery' when you search 'reset password' — because the concepts are semantically related. Semantic search is the retrieval mechanism that powers RAG systems and AI knowledge bases.
Example
A support bot uses semantic search to find the right help article even when the customer describes the problem differently than the article title — 'I can't get in' matches 'Login troubleshooting guide'.
Semantic Search vs rag: What's the difference?
Search that finds results by meaning rather than exact keyword matching.
Semantic search is the finding step. RAG uses semantic search to find relevant content and then generates a response based on it.