what should i use for ai search by geography

If you mean “AI search over places, regions, maps, or location-based data”, the best choice depends on your use case:

Good default options

• PostgreSQL + PostGIS + vector search (pgvector)
  Best if you want one system for geospatial filtering + semantic search.
• Elasticsearch / OpenSearch
  Good for keyword + geo + filters at scale, with some vector support.
• Pinecone / Weaviate / Milvus
  Best if your main need is semantic search, and you can pair it with a geospatial database for coordinates/polygons.

If you need “search by geography” specifically

Use a stack like:

• PostGIS for:
  • radius queries
  • bounding boxes
  • polygons / boundaries
  • nearest-neighbor location search
• Vector DB for:
  • searching by meaning, not exact words
  • “find places like this description”
• Combine both:
  • first filter by geography
  • then rank by semantic similarity

Recommended by scenario

• Simple app / startup: Postgres + PostGIS + pgvector
• Enterprise search: OpenSearch or Elasticsearch + geospatial fields
• RAG / semantic place search: Weaviate or Pinecone + PostGIS
• Huge geo datasets / advanced mapping: PostGIS or BigQuery GIS

Example use cases

• “coffee shops near me” → PostGIS / geo index
• “places like Kyoto with temples and historic districts” → vector search + geo filters
• “all stores inside this county” → PostGIS polygon query

If you tell me:

1. what data you’re searching,
2. whether you need semantic search or just location search,
3. your scale, I can recommend the exact stack.