When to use Graphs in RAG: A Comprehensive Analysis for Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xiang, Zhishang, Wu, Chuanjie, Zhang, Qinggang, Chen, Shengyuan, Hong, Zijin, Huang, Xiao, Su, Jinsong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Xiang, Zhishang
Wu, Chuanjie
Zhang, Qinggang
Chen, Shengyuan
Hong, Zijin
Huang, Xiao
Su, Jinsong
author_facet Xiang, Zhishang
Wu, Chuanjie
Zhang, Qinggang
Chen, Shengyuan
Hong, Zijin
Huang, Xiao
Su, Jinsong
contents Graph retrieval-augmented generation (GraphRAG) has emerged as a powerful paradigm for enhancing large language models (LLMs) with external knowledge. It leverages graphs to model the hierarchical structure between specific concepts, enabling more coherent and effective knowledge retrieval for accurate reasoning.Despite its conceptual promise, recent studies report that GraphRAG frequently underperforms vanilla RAG on many real-world tasks. This raises a critical question: Is GraphRAG really effective, and in which scenarios do graph structures provide measurable benefits for RAG systems? To address this, we propose GraphRAG-Bench, a comprehensive benchmark designed to evaluate GraphRAG models onboth hierarchical knowledge retrieval and deep contextual reasoning. GraphRAG-Bench features a comprehensive dataset with tasks of increasing difficulty, coveringfact retrieval, complex reasoning, contextual summarization, and creative generation, and a systematic evaluation across the entire pipeline, from graph constructionand knowledge retrieval to final generation. Leveraging this novel benchmark, we systematically investigate the conditions when GraphRAG surpasses traditional RAG and the underlying reasons for its success, offering guidelines for its practical application. All related resources and analyses are collected for the community at https://github.com/GraphRAG-Bench/GraphRAG-Benchmark.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_05690
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle When to use Graphs in RAG: A Comprehensive Analysis for Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Xiang, Zhishang
Wu, Chuanjie
Zhang, Qinggang
Chen, Shengyuan
Hong, Zijin
Huang, Xiao
Su, Jinsong
Computation and Language
Graph retrieval-augmented generation (GraphRAG) has emerged as a powerful paradigm for enhancing large language models (LLMs) with external knowledge. It leverages graphs to model the hierarchical structure between specific concepts, enabling more coherent and effective knowledge retrieval for accurate reasoning.Despite its conceptual promise, recent studies report that GraphRAG frequently underperforms vanilla RAG on many real-world tasks. This raises a critical question: Is GraphRAG really effective, and in which scenarios do graph structures provide measurable benefits for RAG systems? To address this, we propose GraphRAG-Bench, a comprehensive benchmark designed to evaluate GraphRAG models onboth hierarchical knowledge retrieval and deep contextual reasoning. GraphRAG-Bench features a comprehensive dataset with tasks of increasing difficulty, coveringfact retrieval, complex reasoning, contextual summarization, and creative generation, and a systematic evaluation across the entire pipeline, from graph constructionand knowledge retrieval to final generation. Leveraging this novel benchmark, we systematically investigate the conditions when GraphRAG surpasses traditional RAG and the underlying reasons for its success, offering guidelines for its practical application. All related resources and analyses are collected for the community at https://github.com/GraphRAG-Bench/GraphRAG-Benchmark.
title When to use Graphs in RAG: A Comprehensive Analysis for Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05690