{
  "kind": "tracker",
  "studySlug": "query-translation",
  "slug": "query-transformation-severity-tracker",
  "title": "Query transformation severity tracker",
  "description": "Query transformation severity tracker for the study How AI Translates Your Questions.",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-01-22",
  "lastTested": "2026-01-22",
  "sourceStudyUrl": "/trakkr-research/query-translation",
  "sourceStudyTitle": "How AI Translates Your Questions",
  "claimIds": [
    "query-translation:exact-match",
    "query-translation:similarity",
    "query-translation:complete-rewrite",
    "query-translation:expanded-queries"
  ],
  "relatedSlugs": [
    "answer:how-aggressive-are-ai-query-rewrites",
    "answer:does-ai-add-current-year-terms-to-searches",
    "fact:average-prompt-to-query-similarity-is-only-twenty-five-percent"
  ],
  "methodologySummary": "Built from 11,521 captured prompt-to-query pairs observed in OpenAI web search calls, with 100% search-query coverage in the sampled dataset.",
  "limitations": [
    "This study reflects captured search-query transformations rather than every hidden retrieval step a model may perform.",
    "Some inserted entities reflect category heuristics or market leaders rather than final recommendation outcomes.",
    "The underlying dataset is concentrated in commercial and research prompts rather than all possible conversational traffic."
  ],
  "keywords": [
    "query translation",
    "AI search rewrites",
    "prompt rewriting",
    "AI retrieval behavior"
  ],
  "schemaHints": {
    "pageType": "WebPage",
    "includeDataset": true,
    "includeItemList": true,
    "itemListName": "Query transformation severity tracker"
  },
  "summary": "The benchmark data indicates a consistent pattern where AI models actively restructure user prompts rather than passing them directly to search systems. Exact matches are statistically negligible at 0.17 percent, while expanded queries account for 55.5 percent of the dataset, demonstrating a tendency to lengthen and constrain search parameters. Complete rewrites occur in 31.85 percent of cases, resulting in an average Jaccard similarity of 25.24 percent between the original prompt and the final query.",
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "Exact match rate",
      "value": "0.17%",
      "detail": "Only 20 of 11,521 pairs matched exactly.",
      "claimId": "query-translation:exact-match"
    },
    {
      "label": "Average similarity",
      "value": "25.24%",
      "detail": "Average Jaccard similarity between prompt and search query.",
      "claimId": "query-translation:similarity"
    },
    {
      "label": "Complete rewrites",
      "value": "31.85%",
      "detail": "3,670 pairs fell into the complete rewrite bucket.",
      "claimId": "query-translation:complete-rewrite"
    },
    {
      "label": "Expanded queries",
      "value": "55.5%",
      "detail": "AI made the query longer in 6,392 cases.",
      "claimId": "query-translation:expanded-queries"
    }
  ],
  "benchmarkRows": [
    {
      "label": "Exact match rate",
      "value": "0.17%",
      "note": "Only 20 of 11,521 pairs matched exactly."
    },
    {
      "label": "Average similarity",
      "value": "25.24%",
      "note": "Average Jaccard similarity between prompt and search query."
    },
    {
      "label": "Complete rewrites",
      "value": "31.85%",
      "note": "3,670 pairs fell into the complete rewrite bucket."
    },
    {
      "label": "Expanded queries",
      "value": "55.5%",
      "note": "AI made the query longer in 6,392 cases."
    }
  ],
  "rankedItems": [
    {
      "name": "Expanded queries",
      "value": "55.5%",
      "detail": "More than half of queries grow longer and more constrained."
    },
    {
      "name": "Complete rewrites",
      "value": "31.85%",
      "detail": "Nearly one third of pairs keep very little original phrasing."
    },
    {
      "name": "Average similarity",
      "value": "25.24%",
      "detail": "Prompt and search query often overlap far less than teams assume."
    },
    {
      "name": "Exact matches",
      "value": "0.17%",
      "detail": "Literal user phrasing is almost never the final retrieval query."
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "title": "Expanded queries reach 55.5 percent",
      "detail": "More than half of queries grow longer and more constrained, with the AI making the query longer in 6,392 cases."
    },
    {
      "title": "Complete rewrites account for 31.85 percent",
      "detail": "Nearly one third of pairs keep very little original phrasing, as 3,670 pairs fell into the complete rewrite bucket."
    },
    {
      "title": "Average similarity measures 25.24 percent",
      "detail": "Prompt and search query often overlap far less than teams assume, reflecting the average Jaccard similarity between prompt and search query."
    },
    {
      "title": "Exact matches fall to 0.17 percent",
      "detail": "Literal user phrasing is almost never the final retrieval query, with only 20 of 11,521 pairs matching exactly."
    }
  ]
}