diff --git a/api/app/repositories/neo4j/cypher_queries.py b/api/app/repositories/neo4j/cypher_queries.py
index f80b7e26..c08f9d0e 100644
--- a/api/app/repositories/neo4j/cypher_queries.py
+++ b/api/app/repositories/neo4j/cypher_queries.py
@@ -339,6 +339,19 @@ LIMIT $limit
 SEARCH_ENTITIES_BY_NAME_OR_ALIAS = """
 CALL db.index.fulltext.queryNodes("entitiesFulltext", $q) YIELD node AS e, score
 WHERE ($end_user_id IS NULL OR e.end_user_id = $end_user_id)
+WITH e, score
+UNION
+MATCH (e:ExtractedEntity)
+WHERE ($end_user_id IS NULL OR e.end_user_id = $end_user_id)
+  AND e.aliases IS NOT NULL
+  AND ANY(alias IN e.aliases WHERE toLower(alias) CONTAINS toLower($q))
+WITH e,
+     CASE 
+       WHEN ANY(alias IN e.aliases WHERE toLower(alias) = toLower($q)) THEN 1.0
+       WHEN ANY(alias IN e.aliases WHERE toLower(alias) STARTS WITH toLower($q)) THEN 0.9
+       ELSE 0.8
+     END AS score
+WITH DISTINCT e, MAX(score) AS score
 OPTIONAL MATCH (s:Statement)-[:REFERENCES_ENTITY]->(e)
 OPTIONAL MATCH (c:Chunk)-[:CONTAINS]->(s)
 RETURN e.id AS id,
@@ -360,32 +373,6 @@ RETURN e.id AS id,
        e.last_access_time AS last_access_time,
        COALESCE(e.access_count, 0) AS access_count,
        score
-UNION
-MATCH (e:ExtractedEntity)
-WHERE ($end_user_id IS NULL OR e.end_user_id = $end_user_id)
-  AND e.aliases IS NOT NULL
-  AND ANY(alias IN e.aliases WHERE toLower(alias) CONTAINS toLower($q))
-OPTIONAL MATCH (s:Statement)-[:REFERENCES_ENTITY]->(e)
-OPTIONAL MATCH (c:Chunk)-[:CONTAINS]->(s)
-RETURN e.id AS id,
-       e.name AS name,
-       e.end_user_id AS end_user_id,
-       e.entity_type AS entity_type,
-       e.created_at AS created_at,
-       e.expired_at AS expired_at,
-       e.entity_idx AS entity_idx,
-       e.statement_id AS statement_id,
-       e.description AS description,
-       e.aliases AS aliases,
-       e.name_embedding AS name_embedding,
-       e.connect_strength AS connect_strength,
-       collect(DISTINCT s.id) AS statement_ids,
-       collect(DISTINCT c.id) AS chunk_ids,
-       COALESCE(e.activation_value, e.importance_score, 0.5) AS activation_value,
-       COALESCE(e.importance_score, 0.5) AS importance_score,
-       e.last_access_time AS last_access_time,
-       COALESCE(e.access_count, 0) AS access_count,
-       0.8 AS score
 ORDER BY score DESC
 LIMIT $limit
 """