Learn how your chatbot finds the right information from your knowledge base to answer user questions.
When a user asks a question, your chatbot searches your knowledge collections to find relevant information. The system uses intelligent search technology that understands meaning, not just keywords, to find the best answers.
How It Works
The system finds relevant information even when users phrase questions differently than your documentation. For example, asking "How do I get my money back?" will find information about refunds, returns, and reimbursements.
The system offers three ways to search your knowledge base:
Combines keyword matching with semantic understanding for the best results.
Recommended for most use cases
Finds content by meaning, great for natural language questions.
Best for: Conceptual queries
Traditional search by exact terms and phrases.
Best for: Specific terms, IDs
Use for general Q&A, mixed query types, and when you want the most reliable results. This is the default and works well in most situations.
Use when users ask questions in their own words and might not use your documentation's terminology. Good for "How do I..." or "What is..." questions.
Use when searching for specific product names, error codes, or technical terms where exact matching is important.
You can adjust these settings in your RAG nodes to fine-tune search behavior:
How many relevant chunks to retrieve from your knowledge base.
Filters out low-quality content from search results.
Start with Defaults
The default settings work well for most use cases. Only adjust if you're experiencing specific issues like too few results or irrelevant matches.
The best way to ensure good search results is to test with real questions:
Tip: Content Quality Matters
Well-organized, clearly written documents will always perform better in search than poorly structured content. Focus on content quality first before adjusting search settings.
If your chatbot isn't finding the right information, here are ways to improve search performance:
Enable AI-powered query optimization for complex or ambiguous questions. When enabled, the system:
Agentic optimization takes a few extra seconds and costs more (multiple AI calls) but provides more accurate results for complex questions. For simple questions, standard search is usually sufficient.
Better content organization leads to better search results:
Content Quality is Key
100 well-organized, clearly written documents will outperform 1,000 poorly structured ones. Focus on improving your content before adjusting technical settings.