Reference · Glossary
Similarity search
Finding items whose **meaning** is close to a query — usually by comparing embedding vectors with distance or cosine similarity.
When to use
"Find docs like this question," duplicate detection, recommendation, RAG retrieval.
When not to
Exact keyword match (SKU codes, IDs) — use normal search or hybrid search instead.
Example
Query: "refund policy for annual plans" retrieves a paragraph about subscription cancellations even if the word "refund" never appears.