Glossary
Embedding
A vector of numbers representing the meaning of text.
What it is
An embedding maps text (or images) to a high-dimensional vector so that semantically similar items sit close together. Embeddings power semantic search and are the backbone of retrieval-augmented generation.
Why it matters in production
Embeddings are how machines do 'find things like this'. They let a query about 'refund policy' match a document titled 'How to get your money back' even with zero shared keywords — the foundation of semantic search and RAG.
In practice
Embedding your help-center articles once, storing the vectors, then embedding each user question at query time and searching for nearest neighbors.
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