Whitepaper · Search scores
What a search score means
A plain language guide to the number next to each search result in Curiosity Studio: what it is, why it is not a percentage, and how to use it.
What it covers
A score puts results in order.
It does not say how good any one result is. A score is built from several parts, each with its own scale, so the number has no fixed top and cannot be read as a percentage. Use the order and the gaps, and open the result to judge it.
- Part 01
Search terms
Rare words count more
- Part 02
Text similarity
Closer meaning scores higher
- Part 03
Graph links
Shared connections
- Part 04
Recency
Last 14 days keep full score
- Part 05
Boosts
Chosen words or sources
Chapters
Six chapters, from a soup contest to three habits
01 · Page 02Chapter 01
A soup contest
What an order can and cannot tell you.
02 · Page 03Chapter 02
A sorting tool
A score puts results in order, and the bar is drawn against the best one.
03 · Page 04Chapter 03
How a score is made
Search terms, text similarity, graph links, recency and boosts.
04 · Page 05Chapter 04
Why it is not a percentage
Four reasons, each with an everyday example.
05 · Page 06Chapter 05
What a score can tell you
The questions a score can and cannot answer.
06 · Page 07Chapter 06
Reading a list
Three habits for reading ranked results.
Your data. Your infrastructure.