# How aggressive are AI query rewrites? | Trakkr Research

Canonical URL: https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/answers/how-aggressive-are-ai-query-rewrites
Published: 2026-01-22
Last updated: 2026-01-22
Author: Mack Grenfell

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.](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/answers/how-aggressive-are-ai-query-rewrites#next-step-1)
- [Add current-year, format, and category framing where it genuinely helps the page answer the query.](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/answers/how-aggressive-are-ai-query-rewrites#next-step-2)
- [Make sure competitor and category language is present when the model is likely to inject it during retrieval.](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/answers/how-aggressive-are-ai-query-rewrites#next-step-3)

## Related pages

Continue through the same study cluster.

- [does ai add current year terms to searches](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/answers/does-ai-add-current-year-terms-to-searches) - Related answer page
- [does ai turn vague prompts into lists and best of queries](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/answers/does-ai-turn-vague-prompts-into-lists-and-best-of-queries) - Related answer page
- [average prompt to query similarity is only twenty five percent](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/facts/average-prompt-to-query-similarity-is-only-twenty-five-percent) - Related fact page
- [query transformation severity tracker](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation/trackers/query-transformation-severity-tracker) - Related tracker page

## Data And Sources

- [How AI Translates Your Questions](https://trakkr.ai/trakkr-research/query-translation) - Flagship study behind this page
- [Page JSON](https://trakkr.ai/data/research-answers/query-translation/answers/how-aggressive-are-ai-query-rewrites.json) - Machine-readable companion file