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Search that matches on meaning instead of exact keywords, so 'how do I cancel' finds a doc titled 'ending your subscription'.
Semantic search embeds both the query and your documents into vectors, then returns the closest ones by distance — so it catches paraphrases and synonyms that keyword search misses entirely. The tradeoff is it can miss exact identifiers (error codes, SKUs) that keyword search nails, which is why production systems often blend both (hybrid search). It's the retrieval half of most RAG pipelines.
Plainly
Think of Semantic Search as a simple recipe for doing the work better. Search that matches on meaning instead of exact keywords, so 'how do I cancel' finds a doc titled 'ending your subscription'.
In practice
Use it when you need a repeatable method instead of guessing from vibes. In practice, define the owner, input, output, and failure mode before you rely on it.