How aggressive are AI query rewrites? | Trakkr Research
They are aggressive. Average similarity between prompt and search query is only 25.24%, and 31.85% of pairs count as complete rewrites.
Methodology: Built from 11,521 captured prompt-to-query pairs observed in OpenAI web search calls, with 100% search-query coverage in the sampled dataset.
Direct Answer
Mostly, they are aggressive. Average Jaccard similarity between prompt and search query is only 25.24%, and 31.85% of the 11,521 captured pairs count as complete rewrites.
What this means
Relying on raw user prompts for keyword research is insufficient. Teams must measure and optimize for the post-rewrite queries that models actually use to fetch context.
Evidence table
| Metric | Value | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Average similarity | 25.24% | Average Jaccard similarity between prompt and search query. |
| Complete rewrites | 31.85% | 3,670 pairs fell into the complete rewrite bucket. |
| Prompt-query pairs | 11,521 | Captured prompt-to-query transformations. |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many prompt-query pairs were analyzed?
The study captured 11,521 prompt-to-query transformations.
What is the average similarity between a prompt and a query?
The average Jaccard similarity between the prompt and the search query is 25.24%.
How often do complete rewrites occur?
Out of the analyzed pairs, 3,670 pairs, or 31.85%, fell into the complete rewrite bucket.
What to do next
- Write for the query the model is likely to search, not just the wording a human might type first.
- Add current-year, format, and category framing where it genuinely helps the page answer the query.
- Make sure competitor and category language is present when the model is likely to inject it during retrieval.
Related pages
Continue through the same study cluster.
- does ai add current year terms to searches - Related answer page
- does ai turn vague prompts into lists and best of queries - Related answer page
- average prompt to query similarity is only twenty five percent - Related fact page
- query transformation severity tracker - Related tracker page
Data & Sources
- How AI Translates Your Questions - Flagship study behind this page
- Page JSON - Machine-readable companion file