Definition
Embedding
An embedding is a numerical representation of text, images or other data that captures meaning for search, comparison and AI workflows.
Short definition
An embedding is a list of numbers that represents the meaning or features of an item. Text passages, images, products, users and documents can all be converted into embeddings so software can compare them mathematically.
How it works
An embedding model maps input data into a vector space. Items with similar meaning are placed closer together. This makes it possible to search by meaning rather than exact keywords.
Example
In a support knowledge base, the questions password reset failed and cannot access my account may have similar embeddings even though they use different words. A retrieval system can use that similarity to find helpful documents.
Why it matters
Embeddings are core to semantic search, recommendation systems and RAG. Their usefulness depends on the embedding model, the data domain and how vectors are indexed and evaluated.