Semantic indexes

Unlike search-performance indexes, semantic indexes capture the semantic meaning or context of the data in a database. This is done by returning an approximation score, which indicates the similarity between a query string and the data in a database.

Two semantic indexes are available in Neo4j:

  • Full-text indexes: enables searching within the content of STRING properties and for similarity comparisons between query strings and STRING values stored in the database.

  • Vector indexes: enables similarity searches and complex analytical queries by representing nodes or properties as vectors in a multidimensional space.

Unlike search-performance indexes, semantic indexes are not automatically used by the Cypher® planner. To use semantic indexes, they must be explicitly called with specific procedures.