Why Your RAG System Doesn't Need Embeddings

📰 Hackernoon

A well-designed RAG system with BM25 can outperform vector-based search, making embeddings less necessary

intermediate Published 23 Mar 2026
Action Steps
  1. Benchmark different search algorithms (BM25, vector, hybrid) on your corpus
  2. Evaluate the performance of your LLM with BM25
  3. Consider the impact of ingestion quality and model choice on search results
Who Needs to Know This

Developers and AI engineers working on RAG systems can benefit from understanding the trade-offs between different search algorithms and focus on improving ingestion quality and model choice

Key Insight

💡 A good agent with BM25 can achieve better results than a single-pass vector query

Share This
🚀 Ditch the embeddings? BM25 can outperform vector search in RAG systems!

Key Takeaways

A well-designed RAG system with BM25 can outperform vector-based search, making embeddings less necessary

Full Article

After benchmarking BM25, vector, and hybrid search across 2 corpora and 7 agents: the LLM does the semantic work that embeddings are supposed to do. A good agent with BM25 scores 10/10 where a single-pass vector query scores 8. Ingestion quality and model choice matter more than your search engine. Start with BM25.
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