This article outlines how to troubleshoot issues with the search backend related to vertical ranking, or the order in which verticals are returned in search results.

Be sure to follow the How to Start Debugging Backend Search Issues help article for general troubleshooting steps first.

 

General Troubleshooting Steps

You will need to compare the search log for the query you’re troubleshooting against the vertical ranking properties set in the configuration. Start with these general steps and then follow the steps specific to your issue below.

1. Check the vertical ranking configuration.
   1. Navigate to Search > [[Experience Name]] > Verticals.
   2. Here you will see properties for Vertical Intents, Threshold, and Bias.
2. Open the search log for the query you’re seeing issues for. Either:
   1. Navigate to Search > [[Experience Name]] > Test Search or a Configuration sub-tab. Run a test search and then select Debug Query from the drop-down menu.
   2. If you’ve already run the search in a staging or production link, navigate to Search > [[Experience Name]] > Search Logs and click on the relevant search log. Use the search bar or filters to help you find the correct search log or run the search again to have it appear at the top.
3. Check whether there was an active query rule that prevented a vertical from being returned or boosted/buried a vertical. Active query rules are shown in the search factors box in the top right of the search log.

 

This vertical is not appearing at all in my results

1. Make sure to open the search log for the query run in vertical search (if a vertical does not meet the threshold, it will not show up in the search log for that query’s universal search).
2. Compare the vertical threshold set in the configuration to the semantic similarity of the top result of that vertical in the search log. If the semantic similarity is below the threshold, and there is no vertical bias to push it over, the vertical will not surface in universal search results. Your options are to:
   1. Leave the results as is.
   2. Lower the threshold for the vertical to appear. Go back to the configuration and adjust the Threshold property.

 

This vertical is appearing higher/lower than expected

1. Check the search log for the query to find the vertical score for each vertical in question. Hover over the info icon next to each vertical’s score for details on how it was calculated.
   1. The vertical score starts with the semantic similarity value of the top entity result in each vertical.
   2. Check for any vertical intents: These act as ‘synonyms’ for a vertical. The model will evaluate these as part of the query’s relevance to a given vertical.
   3. Check for any biases: any biases applied would impact the vertical score, which could potentially impact the vertical ranking.
2. Adjust the configuration if you would like to change the results. You can:
   1. Add/remove terms under Vertical Intents or adjust the Bias property.
   2. Change the content of entities to increase the similarity of the top vertical result and thus increase/decrease the vertical score. This is only suggested if the current content is not accurately representing the entity.