---
title: 'What is RAG? (Retrieval Augmented Generation)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=u47GtXwePms'
video_id: 'u47GtXwePms'
date: 2026-06-17
duration_sec: 0
---

# What is RAG? (Retrieval Augmented Generation)

> Source: [What is RAG? (Retrieval Augmented Generation)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=u47GtXwePms)

## Summary

This video explains Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), a popular pattern for using large language models (LLMs) on your own content. It compares the search engine experience with the LLM experience, then details how RAG works: vectorizing content, retrieving relevant chunks, and augmenting the prompt before sending it to the LLM. The speaker emphasizes that RAG is widely used to create ChatGPT-like experiences for employees or customers using proprietary data.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the video series and RAG** [0:00] — The video is part of a series rotating through educational, use case, and ethics topics. Today's topic is RAG, a very important and popular solution pattern.
- **Search engines vs. LLMs** [1:14] — Search engines list links; users must click, read, and digest. LLMs digest content and generate an answer, creating a better experience.
- **Applying LLMs to your own content** [2:28] — RAG allows you to apply the same LLM experience to your own content (website, PDFs, ticketing systems) that may not be available on the internet.
- **Prompt before the prompt** [4:30] — The user question is bundled into a prompt. Instructions (e.g., 'you are a contact center specialist') and relevant content are added before the prompt.
- **Vectorization of content** [7:37] — Content is broken into chunks, each converted into a vector (numeric representation). Similar topics have similar vectors.
- **Retrieving relevant content** [8:46] — The user question is also vectorized. A mathematical comparison finds the top 5 closest content vectors. Those chunks are used in the prompt.
- **Definition of RAG** [10:37] — The whole process is called RAG: retrieving relevant documents, augmenting the generation process with them.
- **Popularity of RAG** [11:05] — RAG is extremely popular; the majority of LLM projects the speaker sees use this pattern to create ChatGPT-like experiences for employees or customers.

## Transcript

hello, everyone, uh, welcome, to, my, code
deare, uh, video, series, um, what, I'm, doing
is, I'm, rotating, through, three, different
types, of, topics, educational, topics, uh
use, case, topics, and, then, kind, of, bias
ethics, safety, uh, topic, so, now, on, the
education, rotation, and, today, what, I
wanted, to, talk, about, is, uh, what, is
retrieval, augmented, generation, or, rag, uh
and, you, may, think, that, I'm, going, into
some, kind, of, nook, and, cranny, of, the, AI
uh, field, but, this, is, a, very, important
and, popular, kind, of, solution, pattern
that, I, see, um, being, used, over, and, over
and, over, again, for, uh, how, to, leverage
large, language, models, so, I, thought, I
would, explain, it, uh, to, you, uh, and, the
the, the, thing, that, this, is, used, for, is
basically, systems, that, leverage, large
language, models, but, on, your, own, content
so, let, me, describe, that, if, you, think, of
like, the, chat, GPT, experience, and, if, you
think, about, that, um, relative, to, like, the
search, engine, experience, that, we, had
before, if, you, ask, a, question, like, um, I
don't, know, what, color, is, the, sky, or, how
do, I, fix, this, plumbing, issue, or
something, like, that, a, search, engine
would, go, out, uh, or, appear, to, go, out
search, the, internet, find, relevant
content, and, then, just, list, that, content
for, you, list, those, links, and, then, you, as
a, user, would, need, to, click, on, the, links
that, seem, seem, right, read, it, digest, it
and, figure, out, the, answer, to, your
question, what, a, large, language, model
does, is, it, seems, to, do, that, first, part
meaning, leverage, the, content, on, the
whole, internet, but, instead, of, just
listing, that, content, it, sort, of, digests
it, digests, it, combines, it, assembles, it
together, and, answers, your, question, sort
of, generates, an, answer, um, so, it's, a
whole, lot, better, I, mean, search, engines
have, been, great, but, this, is, taking, the
whole, experience, to, another, level, and, in
addition, the, question, and, answering, uh
you, can, also, give, it, instructions, like
write, me, this, document, or, write, me, a
lesson, plan, to, teach, geometry, to, seventh
graders, uh, and, it, will, do, something
similar, it, will, kind, of, assemble, content
that, it, SE, that, it, has, seen, uh, that
talks, about, geometry, or, seventh, graders
or, how, to, do, lesson, plans, or, whatever, uh
pulls, that, together, assembles, it, and
then, writes, out, a, lesson, plan, okay, so
it's, a, much, better, experience, than, just
taking, the, raw, content, from, the, internet
but, it, really, uh, creates, something, new
from, that, now, let's, say, you, want, that
same, experience, but, on, your, own, content
so, it, might, be, a, chatbot, on, your, website
or, you, might, have, a, library, of, PDF
documents, that, this, documentation, for
one, of, your, products, uh, and, instead, of
just, linking, the, user, to, parag, sections
of, the, documentation, you, want, to
actually, answer, their, question, uh, it
might, be, your, service, ticketing, uh
system, so, when, a, new, issue, comes, in, you
could, say, how, would, I, resolve, this, issue
and, it, can, assemble, past, similar, issues
uh, and, then, come, up, with, a, new, uh, new
solution, based, on, that, so, this, is, an
incredible, experience, that, these, large
language, models, offer, but, how, can, you
create, that, experience, on, your, own
content, uh, that, might, not, be, available
to, the, internet, or, available, to, these
large, language, models, well, the, solution
to, this, is, this, rag, um, architecture, this
retrieval, augmented, uh, generation
architecture, so, now, I'm, going, to, do, my
best, to, explain, that, uh, to
you, so, let's, say, you, have, a, um
user, and, I'm, going, to, use, the, example, of
a, uh, patient, chatbot, and, the, content
source, is, going, to, be, that, content, from
your, website, let's, say, or, could, be
content, from, PDF, documents, or, or
whatever, but, you, want, this, to, be, the
content, to, answer, the, patient's
questions, so, if, the, patient, has, a
question, like, how, do, I, prepare, for, my
knee, surgery, instead, of, just, going, to
chat, sheet, PT, and, getting, a, generic
answer, you'd, like, to, provide, an, answer
that's, from, your, health, system, or, a
question, like, do, you, have, parking, you'd
like, to, provide, an, answer, for, your
health, system, for, your, the, office, where
the, patient, is, seen, okay, so, that's, a
scenario, that, I'd, like, to, do, so, the
patient, has, a
question, uh, and, I'm, going, to, do, do, you
have
parking, have
parking, um, you, can, uh, imagine, that
question, being, bundled, up, into, a, prompt
what's, called, a, prompt, and, I'll, describe
this, more
later, so, there, is, the, question, that
prompt, is, sent, to, a, large, language
model, and, that, large, language, model, will
come, up, with, a, response, to, that, question
okay, now, um, if, you, just, wanted, to, use, uh
chat, GPT, let's, say, or, some, other, llm, uh
without, any, extra, content, you, could, just
use, this, flow, how, do, I, prepare, for, my
knee, surgery, or, do, you, have, parking, put
that, into, a, prompt, send, that, to, the, uh
large, language, model, and, get, a, response
back, okay, but, uh, but, what, we, want, to, do
is, enhance, this, experience, with, our, own
content, so, let's, say, here, is, your
content
source, and, again, this, might, be, all, the
content, of, your, website, or, PDF, documents
or, internal, ticketing, system, or
databases, or, that, uh, that, sort, of, thing
and, what, you'd, like, to, do, is, something
called, called, the, prop, before, the, propt
so, in, these, systems, you, don't, just, send
the, user, question, to, the, large, language
model, you, usually, have, some, level, of
instructions, So, the, instructions, might
be, you, are, a, contact, center, specialist
working, for, a, hospital, answering, patient
questions, that, come, in, over, the, Internet
uh, please, be, uh, nice, to, the, patients, and
responsive, and, folksy, because, that, fits
with, our, brand, or, some, instructions, like
that, are, sometimes, sent, with, the, prompt
um, and, then, uh
Additionally, you, want, to, provide, the
information, that, the, L, llm, needs, to
answer, the, question, so, what, you'd
ideally, like, is, information, from, your
website, to, be, included, here, um, and, uh
and, that, to, be, sent, to, the, llm, as, well
so, the, full, prompt, might, be, your
instructions, it, might, be, something, like
please, use, this, content, um, in, order, to
answer, the, patient, question, at, the, end
and, then, you, put, in, a, bunch, of
information, about, parking, or, about, knee
surgery, or, whatever, the, patient, asked
you, put, that, in, the, prompt, before, the
prompt, then, you, have, the, question, then
you, send, that, whole, package, to, the, llm
and, the, llm, will, give, a, great, response
based, on, your
content, okay, with, me, so, far, so, um, so
this, notion, is, the, prop, before, the
prompt, um, and, and, that's, why, prompt
engineering, and, these, types, of, things
are, a, big, field, right, now, now, because
you, can, really, hone, the, um, these, systems
by, doing, a, better, and, better, job, with
the, actual, prompt, before, the, prompt, um
in, uh, in, this
style, now, the, last, trick, here, is, your
website, or, your, content, is, huge, and, it
talks, about, all, kinds, of, topics, Beyond
parking, and, Beyond, knee, surgery, so, you
really, want, to, somehow, pull, out, only, the
parts, of, your, content, that, are, relevant
to, the, patient's, question, so, this, is
another, um, a, tricky, part, of, this, whole
rag, architecture, uh, and, the, way, that
works, is, that, um, you, take, all, your
content, and, you, break, it, into, chunks, or
these, systems, will, break, it, into, chunks
so, chunk, might, be, a, paragraph, of, content
or, a, p, or, a, couple, paragraphs, a, page
something, like, that, and, then, those, um
chunks, are, sent, to, a, large, language
model, could, be, the, same, one, or, a
different, one, and, they, are, turned, into, a
vector
and, uh, so, each, each, paragraph, or, each
chunk, will, have, a
vector, which, is, just, is, just, a, series, of
numbers, and, that, series, of
numbers, you, can, think, of, it, as, the
numeric, representation, of, the, essence, of
that
paragraph, and, what's, uh, different, about
these, numbers, just, they're, not, random
numbers, but, paragraphs, that, talk, about, a
similar, topic, have, close, by, numbers, they
almost, have, the, same, vectors, okay, so, in
addition, to, the, uh, it's, a, numera, Zed
version, of, the, paragraph, but, it's, such
that, similar, paragraphs, on, similar
topics, will, have, similar, vectors, will
have, similar, numbers, so, that, means, that
what, happens, is, when, um, uh, a, user, will
ask, a, question, like, do, you, have, parking
let's
say, then, that, is, also, sent, to, the, llm, in
real, time, right, after, the, user, asked, the
question
that, comes, up, with, the, vector, as, well
you, could, think, of, that, as, the, question
vector, and, then, what, happens, we, do, we, do
a, mathematical, comparison, real, quick
between, the, vector, of, the, question, and
then, the, vectors, of, your, content, and
pick, like, the, top, five, documents, that
are, closest, to, this, question, so, do, you
have, parking, will, be, a, vector, then, you
have, all, your, content, and, it's, going, to
try, and, find, the, five, documents, that
taught, the, most, about, parking, basically
um, and, so, it'll, find, those, I, don't, know
what, that, is, it'll, find, those, documents
let's, say, uh, from, these, it'll, grab, the
paragraphs, associated, with, those
documents, um, and, it'll, use, that
here, so, those, will, be, the, subset, of, your
content, basically, that, is, used, as, part
of, the, prompt, before, the, prompt, okay, so
this, whole, uh, concept, is, uh, kind, of
vectorizing, your, content, uh, typically
that, then, our, storage, in, something
called, a, vector, database, which, is
basically, a, representation, of, your
content, in, this, numeric, form, and, then
this, system, that, you, build, this, rag
system, will, uh, take, the, question, find
retrieve, the, most, relevant, content, make
that, as, part, of, the, prompt, before, the
prompt, send, that, to, the, llm, and, then
you'll, get, a, good, response, back, actually
so, it's, a, little, bit, confusing, but, um
but, it's, actually, not, that, confusing, um
uh, I, just, made, it, more, confusing, by, this
horrible, uh, horrible, drawing, but, this
whole, thing, is, um, what, is, uh, called, rag
retrieval, so, you're, retrieving, the
relevant, documents, from, your, content
you're, augmenting, the, generation, process
so, you're, augmenting, the, lm's, ability, to
do, generative, AI, based, on, the, documents
that, you, retrieve, so, that's, why, it's
retrieval, augmenting
generation, okay, so, I, hope, that, made
sense, uh, like, I, said, this, is, a, very
popular, um, solution, pattern, that, I'm
seeing, over, and, over, again, in, fact, the
majority, of, llm, projects, that, I, see, are
this, kind, of, thing, using, my, content
packaging, that, up, with, an, llm, system, to
create, a, kind, of, chat, chpt, like
experience, for, my, employees, or, for, my
customers, for, my, users, that, kind, of
thing, and, it, works, extremely, well, that's
why, uh, that's, why, it's, so, popular, so, I
hope, that, was, interesting, and
educational, and, made, sense, if, you, have
any, questions, please, leave, them, for, me
uh, as, part, of, the, comments, uh, thank, you
very, much