# Hybrid search · Glossary
A retrieval approach that combines keyword search with semantic search and merges the results.
[Glossary](/glossary) · Agentic systems and generative AI

# Hybrid search

     A retrieval approach that combines keyword search with semantic search and merges the results. It captures both exact matches, such as names and codes, and conceptual matches expressed in different words.

## Why it matters

     Business questions often mix exact references and concepts, for example a policy number and a description of a problem. Neither keyword nor semantic search handles both reliably on its own.

     Hybrid search is a common default for enterprise retrieval systems, but the weighting between methods should be tuned and evaluated on real queries rather than assumed.

## In practice

     For example, a UK insurer’s claims assistant might need to answer ‘does policy HX-2231 cover escape of water from a dishwasher’. Keyword search finds the exact policy wording; semantic search finds the relevant exclusion clause that never mentions dishwashers.

## Where Rodan fits

     Rodan evaluates and tunes retrieval, including hybrid search and reranking, in [Applied AI Engineering](https://rodan.io/applied-ai-engineering) work.

## Related terms

- [Semantic search](/glossary/semantic-search)

- [Reranking](/glossary/reranking)

- [Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)](/glossary#retrieval-augmented-generation)

- [Vector database](/glossary#vector-database)
HTML: https://rodan.io/glossary/hybrid-search