---
title: How Hybrid Search Works
description: Understand how ParadeDB combines text and vector search into a single ranking
canonical: https://www.paradedb.com/docs/documentation/hybrid/overview
---

<Note>
  This section uses [vector search](/documentation/vector/overview), a beta
  feature available in versions `0.25.0` and above.
</Note>

Hybrid search is a technique that combines the strengths of [BM25 scoring](/documentation/full-text/overview) and [vector search](/documentation/vector/overview) to produce more relevant results.
Because BM25 scores are produced by exact term matches while vector search matches on semantic meaning, a row missed by one method is often found by the other.

## Fusing by Rank

Because BM25 scores and vector distances operate on different scales, the values cannot simply be added together. Instead, the standard approach is [Reciprocal Rank Fusion](/documentation/hybrid/rrf), which discards the scores and uses only each row's position, or rank, in its own result list.

By using rank, a row that ranks first contributes the same amount whether its BM25 score was `1` or `100`, so the two searches can be combined without ever being placed on a common scale.
