RAG & Search
Query expansion
Adding related terms or alternative wording to improve retrieval coverage.
Example
A short query for “leave” expands to include vacation, parental leave, and sick time.
Why it matters
It reduces missed matches caused by abbreviations, alternate wording or related expressions.
You'll hear it
“Include the full name as well as the abbreviation in the search.”
Can you control it?
Set by the team
The people building or running the AI choose this setup. An everyday user generally needs their help to change how this part works.
Common questions
- Can expansion make a query too broad?
- Yes. Extra meanings can bring in unrelated material and bury useful results.
- Does it need to add the same terms every time?
- No. Suitable additions can depend on the surrounding question and the collection being searched.
- Can specialist synonyms help?
- Yes. When chosen correctly, they can connect everyday wording with the terminology used in documents.