{"id":2937127,"date":"2026-11-09T17:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T01:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2937127"},"modified":"2026-11-09T12:20:38","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T20:20:38","slug":"semantic-search","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/announcements\/semantic-search","title":{"rendered":"Introducing Semantic search (beta) in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise 12.2"},"author":358732,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37101],"tags":[22951,781238],"industry":[],"product":[36571,36551],"class_list":["post-2937127","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","tag-arcgis-content","tag-whats-new-november-2026","product-arcgis-enterprise","product-arcgis-online"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":358732,"user_firstname":"Jordan","user_lastname":"Duft","nickname":"Jordan Duft","user_nicename":"jduft","display_name":"Jordan Duft","user_email":"jduft@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2024-07-01 21:54:16","user_description":"Jordan Duft is a product manager for metadata, catalog, and search functionalities across the ArcGIS platform. She enjoys working with cross-functional teams to support users as they unlock the full potential of their geospatial data.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"Semantic search improves the understanding of user intent compared to traditional keyword searches-aligns with natural communication.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"
Semantic search was released in beta with the November 2026 release of ArcGIS Online and is coming to ArcGIS Enterprise 12.2 later this month.<\/div>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"standard","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Center","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

Semantic search (beta) is a new search experience in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise 12.2 that helps you discover content based on meaning and intent, rather than relying only on matching keywords. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

What is <\/span>semantic<\/span> search?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Have you ever searched for something knowing <\/span>what you were looking for, <\/span>but struggled to come up with the right words to search for it?<\/p>\n

Traditional keyword search works by matching the words in your search query with words in an item’s metadata\u00a0(title, summary, description, tags). This works well when you know the\u00a0keywords\u00a0used to describe the content. But what happens when you don’t?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, imagine searching for “pedestrian transportation”<\/em> when the content you need is described as greenways\u00a0or\u00a0trails.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The words are different, but the concepts are related.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Semantic search helps bridge the gap by looking for similarities between the meaning of your search and the content available to you. This can help you discover relevant content even when your search doesn’t use the exact words found in an item’s metadata. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2987242,"id":2987242,"title":"SemanticSearchDropDown","filename":"Snag_ba8d426.png","filesize":163063,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/announcements\/semantic-search\/snag_ba8d426","alt":"ArcGIS Online website search showing options to search by keyword or by semantics. Search by semantics is selected and is described as using natural language to find conceptually related items.","author":"358732","description":"","caption":"When configured, Semantic search (beta) is available through the website search in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise 12.2. ","name":"snag_ba8d426","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2937127,"date":"2026-11-04 18:56:35","modified":"2026-11-04 20:08:32","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1904,"height":581,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":142,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":234,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426.png","large-width":1904,"large-height":581,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426-1536x469.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":469,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426.png","2048x2048-width":1904,"2048x2048-height":581,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426-826x252.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":252,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Snag_ba8d426.png","wide_image-width":1904,"wide_image-height":581}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Why does semantic search matter?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Let me tell you a story about a demo gone wrong.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was demonstrating how complete, high-quality metadata improves search. The plan was simple: search for pedestrian transportation and show that my Greenways feature layer didn’t appear because those terms weren’t in its metadata. Then I’d use the item details assistant<\/a> to improve the metadata and demonstrate how much easier the layer was to discover.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I’d practiced the demo probably ten times. What could go wrong?!<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, during the live demo, I was running behind and skipped one important best practice: review the assistant’s suggestions before accepting them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I searched again for pedestrian transportation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Nothing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The improved, now titled, Greenways Trails<\/em> layer still didn’t appear.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The demo flopped, <\/span>hard.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So, what happened?<\/span><\/span> Why the flop?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The metadata was better, but neither pedestrian nor transportation appeared in the item’s title, summary, description, or tags.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Keyword search couldn’t make the conceptual connection between greenways and trails and pedestrian transportation. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>And that is exactly where semantic search can help.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With semantic search, the goal is no longer limited to asking, <\/span>Do these words match?<\/span><\/i> Search can also consider, <\/span>Are these concepts related?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_jgmcc9gx","time":true,"start":"0"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Search beyond keywords<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Semantic search can help you:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n