---
title: What is Proximity Search?
description: Proximity Search ensures you’re only shown keyword matches when the context is relevant, while Exclusion Search gives you control over what not to see—so your results are focused, meaningful, and actionable.
---

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# What is Proximity Search?

## Proximity Search ensures you’re only shown keyword matches when the context is relevant so your results are focused, meaningful, and actionable.

### **Tips for Best Results**

- Use **Proximity Search** to focus on tightly related discussions.
- Start with a **60 or 120 second** range for proximity and adjust based on what works best.
- This is especially helpful for sales, government affairs, and legal use cases.

---

### **What Is Proximity Search?**

 

**![](https://help.cloverleaf.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Feb-12-2026-05-55-43-1123-PM.png?width=316&height=366&name=image-png-Feb-12-2026-05-55-43-1123-PM.png)**

**Proximity Search allows you to find moments where your keywords appear within a specific time range of one another.**

- Instead of surfacing every mention of a topic, Cloverleaf AI only returns results when they appear close together—like “facilities construction” and “budget” being said within 30 seconds of each other.
- This helps you pinpoint relevant discussions and avoid digging through unrelated mentions of your terms.

#### **How to Use Proximity Search**

1. **Enable Proximity Search**: Toggle it on next to the search bar.
2. **Set Anchor Terms**: These are your main terms (e.g., “cloud”, “budget”)—the ones you want to be at the center of the discussion.
3. **Add Keywords**: These are related terms that must appear near the anchor (e.g., “site development,” “new facility”).
4. **Define Time Range**: Set how many seconds apart the terms can be (e.g., 30s, 60s, 120s).

 

#### **Example Use Case**

Imagine you are researching instances where 'cloud' is discussed in the context of facilities construction. Here’s how you would set it up:

- **Anchor Terms:** cloud, the cloud
- **Keywords:** contract center, cloud partner, to the cloud, new application, mainframe, main frame, on the cloud, workspace, Microsoft Office, ransomeware, migration, medicaid, unwinding medicare, health human service
- **Time Range:** 30 seconds

With these settings, Cloverleaf AI’s Proximity Search will only return results where either 'Budget', are mentioned within 30 seconds of "new facility, site development, building projects, facility construction". This ensures you receive highly relevant and targeted insights, focusing on the moments that matter most to your query.

**Tips for Effective Searches:**

- Be specific with your anchor terms and keywords to get the most relevant results.
- Adjust the time range based on the context of your search – shorter ranges for more specific results, longer for broader contexts.
- Experiment with different combinations of terms and ranges to find the best setup for your needs.

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