What Is Semantic Search? How Google Understands Meaning

Semantic search is a search approach that understands the meaning and intent behind a query, rather than just matching keywords. It uses natural language processing, knowledge graphs, and vector embeddings to deliver contextually relevant results.

Evolution of Google Search

Google evolved through Hummingbird (2013, conversational queries), RankBrain (2015, ML for unknown queries), BERT (2019, bidirectional understanding), and MUM (2021, multimodal understanding).

SEO Implications

• Build topical authority through comprehensive content clusters
• Optimise for entities and concepts, not just keywords
• Answer the intent behind queries, not just the literal words
• Use structured data to help search engines understand your content