Passage Ranking
When a search engine surfaces one relevant passage from a long page rather than judging the page as a whole. Clear headings are what make a passage findable in isolation.
Related terms
Digital Twin
A working model of something real — a building, a supply chain — kept in step with it using live data, so changes can be tested before they are made for real.
Vector Search
Searching by meaning rather than by matching words. A page that never uses the phrase somebody typed can still be the best answer, and vector search is what finds it.
AI Bias
When a system produces unfair results because its training data reflected an unfair world. It matters commercially as well as ethically: a biased model makes confidently wrong decisions about real people.
Rich Result
A search listing with something extra — stars, prices, an image, an FAQ dropdown. Rich results come from structured data, and they take up more of the screen than a plain blue link.
Grounding
Giving an AI real source material to answer from, instead of letting it rely on memory. A grounded answer can be checked and cited; an ungrounded one is where hallucinations come from.
Inference
The moment an AI actually answers, as opposed to when it was trained. Training happens once and costs a fortune; inference happens every time somebody asks, and is what you pay for per use.