RAG

You might say

I updated the refund policy. Why is AI still citing the old rule?

A method that retrieves relevant passages from specified material at answer time and gives them to the modelWhen customer support answers a refund question, RAG first finds relevant passages in connected policy material and then lets the model answer from them. New material must finish processing and enter the searchable set before later answers can use it; retrieval may still miss a passage or the model may misread it.

Know first

Context Window

Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Why can RAG still cite an old policy after an edit?

Support · refund question

Refund policy · teaching exampleIndex still has the old version

Policy text · Section 3Custom items cannot be returned

Customer asksCan I return my custom mug?

Passage retrievedCustom items cannot be returned

Support replyNo. Source: policy Section 3.

Teaching example: the current searchable material still contains the old clause, and the reply cites it.

Check both status and the retrieved passage

Completion is a prerequisite: After a file changes, its search index may still be processing. Completion makes the material available to search; it does not promise every query will find the right passage.

Compare the answer with its source: Check whether the retrieved passage supports the reply. Missed passages, outdated material, or a model misreading the source can still lead to an inaccurate answer.

Quick checkChoose the best answer

The refund policy was just edited, its file still says “processing,” and AI cites the old rule. What should you check first?

Rewrite the question to emphasize “use the latest rule”Retrain the model on the new policy so it remembers the refund ruleWait for processing to finish, ask again, and inspect the passage retrieved

You can say this to an AI Agent

I just updated the refund policy. First confirm that the file has finished processing, then ask the same question and inspect the retrieved passage and answer citation. Tell me if it still finds the old rule or no relevant passage.

What to learn next

1AI Hallucination→2Context Window→3Fine-tuning→

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