Vector Search
Also called: semantic search
Finding content by meaning rather than by matching keywords.
Vector search embeds the query and returns the nearest stored vectors, so ‘how do I get my money back’ finds a refund policy that never uses those words. It is the retrieval engine behind RAG. It is also weaker than keyword search on exact identifiers, which is why hybrid search exists.
In practice: A query with no shared vocabulary still surfaces the right document.