diff --git a/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/search.go b/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/search.go
index f569fda081e..96afdc447ff 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/search.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/search.go
@@ -64,10 +64,10 @@ type DashboardHit struct {
 	Folder string `json:"folder,omitempty"`
 	// Stick untyped extra fields in this object (including the sort value)
 	Field *common.Unstructured `json:"field,omitempty"`
-	// Explain the score (if possible)
-	Explain *common.Unstructured `json:"explain,omitempty"`
 	// When using "real" search, this is the score
 	Score float64 `json:"score,omitempty"`
+	// Explain the score (if possible)
+	Explain *common.Unstructured `json:"explain,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type FacetResult struct {
diff --git a/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go b/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go
index 6aa20485d9f..cb73d61dc29 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1/zz_generated.openapi.go
@@ -268,12 +268,6 @@ func schema_pkg_apis_dashboard_v0alpha1_DashboardHit(ref common.ReferenceCallbac
 							Ref:         ref("github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apimachinery/apis/common/v0alpha1.Unstructured"),
 						},
 					},
-					"explain": {
-						SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{
-							Description: "Explain the score (if possible)",
-							Ref:         ref("github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apimachinery/apis/common/v0alpha1.Unstructured"),
-						},
-					},
 					"score": {
 						SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{
 							Description: "When using \"real\" search, this is the score",
@@ -281,6 +275,12 @@ func schema_pkg_apis_dashboard_v0alpha1_DashboardHit(ref common.ReferenceCallbac
 							Format:      "double",
 						},
 					},
+					"explain": {
+						SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{
+							Description: "Explain the score (if possible)",
+							Ref:         ref("github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apimachinery/apis/common/v0alpha1.Unstructured"),
+						},
+					},
 				},
 				Required: []string{"resource", "name", "title"},
 			},
diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/search.go b/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/search.go
index 5b92813eaea..16e43feaed0 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/search.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/dashboard/search.go
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ func (s *SearchHandler) DoSearch(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		Query:   queryParams.Get("query"),
 		Limit:   int64(limit),
 		Offset:  int64(offset),
+		Explain: queryParams.Has("explain") && queryParams.Get("explain") != "false",
 		Fields: []string{
 			"title",
 			"folder",
diff --git a/pkg/services/dashboards/service/dashboard_service.go b/pkg/services/dashboards/service/dashboard_service.go
index 5f680cfac6d..0531772ec57 100644
--- a/pkg/services/dashboards/service/dashboard_service.go
+++ b/pkg/services/dashboards/service/dashboard_service.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package service
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -10,18 +11,18 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
-	"github.com/grafana/authlib/claims"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
+	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	k8sUser "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authentication/user"
+	k8sRequest "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
 
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
-
+	"github.com/grafana/authlib/claims"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/backend/gtime"
-
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apimachinery/identity"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apimachinery/utils"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/apis/dashboard/v0alpha1"
@@ -46,8 +47,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/setting"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/resource"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util"
-	k8sUser "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authentication/user"
-	k8sRequest "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -1356,6 +1355,27 @@ func ParseResults(result *resource.ResourceSearchResponse, offset int64) *v0alph
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	titleIDX := 0
+	folderIDX := 1
+	tagsIDX := -1
+	scoreIDX := 0
+	explainIDX := 0
+
+	for i, v := range result.Results.Columns {
+		switch v.Name {
+		case resource.SEARCH_FIELD_EXPLAIN:
+			explainIDX = i
+		case resource.SEARCH_FIELD_SCORE:
+			scoreIDX = i
+		case "title":
+			titleIDX = i
+		case "folder":
+			folderIDX = i
+		case "tags":
+			tagsIDX = i
+		}
+	}
+
 	sr := &v0alpha1.SearchResults{
 		Offset:    offset,
 		TotalHits: result.TotalHits,
@@ -1364,28 +1384,21 @@ func ParseResults(result *resource.ResourceSearchResponse, offset int64) *v0alph
 		Hits:      make([]v0alpha1.DashboardHit, len(result.Results.Rows)),
 	}
 
-	titleRow := 0
-	folderRow := 1
-	tagsRow := -1
-	for i, row := range result.Results.GetColumns() {
-		if row.Name == "title" {
-			titleRow = i
-		} else if row.Name == "folder" {
-			folderRow = i
-		} else if row.Name == "tags" {
-			tagsRow = i
-		}
-	}
-
 	for i, row := range result.Results.Rows {
 		hit := &v0alpha1.DashboardHit{
 			Resource: row.Key.Resource, // folders | dashboards
 			Name:     row.Key.Name,     // The Grafana UID
-			Title:    string(row.Cells[titleRow]),
-			Folder:   string(row.Cells[folderRow]),
+			Title:    string(row.Cells[titleIDX]),
+			Folder:   string(row.Cells[folderIDX]),
 		}
-		if tagsRow != -1 && row.Cells[tagsRow] != nil {
-			_ = json.Unmarshal(row.Cells[tagsRow], &hit.Tags)
+		if tagsIDX > 0 && row.Cells[tagsIDX] != nil {
+			_ = json.Unmarshal(row.Cells[tagsIDX], &hit.Tags)
+		}
+		if explainIDX > 0 && row.Cells[explainIDX] != nil {
+			_ = json.Unmarshal(row.Cells[explainIDX], &hit.Explain)
+		}
+		if scoreIDX > 0 && row.Cells[scoreIDX] != nil {
+			_, _ = binary.Decode(row.Cells[scoreIDX], binary.BigEndian, &hit.Score)
 		}
 
 		sr.Hits[i] = *hit
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go
index cea910f81c4..4ca6933b1bb 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go
@@ -343,6 +343,16 @@ func StandardSearchFields() SearchableDocumentFields {
 				Type:        ResourceTableColumnDefinition_INT64,
 				Description: "created timestamp", // date?
 			},
+			{
+				Name:        SEARCH_FIELD_EXPLAIN,
+				Type:        ResourceTableColumnDefinition_OBJECT,
+				Description: "Explain why this result matches (depends on the engine)",
+			},
+			{
+				Name:        SEARCH_FIELD_SCORE,
+				Type:        ResourceTableColumnDefinition_DOUBLE,
+				Description: "The search score",
+			},
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			panic("failed to initialize standard search fields")
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/table.go b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/table.go
index abcbecfbec0..a58cf2dd13a 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/table.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/table.go
@@ -123,6 +123,9 @@ func NewTableBuilder(cols []*ResourceTableColumnDefinition) (*TableBuilder, erro
 	}
 	var err error
 	for i, v := range cols {
+		if v == nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid field definitions")
+		}
 		if table.lookup[v.Name] != nil {
 			table.hasDuplicateNames = true
 			continue
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go b/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go
index c07ec260f82..ec4d2d64b8e 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package search
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
@@ -413,7 +414,11 @@ func toBleveSearchRequest(req *resource.ResourceSearchRequest, access authz.Acce
 		}
 	}
 
-	queries = append(queries, newTextQuery(req))
+	// Add a text query
+	if req.Query != "" && req.Query != "*" {
+		searchrequest.Fields = append(searchrequest.Fields, resource.SEARCH_FIELD_SCORE)
+		queries = append(queries, bleve.NewFuzzyQuery(req.Query))
+	}
 
 	if access != nil {
 		// TODO AUTHZ!!!!
@@ -581,19 +586,27 @@ func (b *bleveIndex) hitsToTable(selectFields []string, hits search.DocumentMatc
 		}
 
 		for i, f := range fields {
-			if f.Name == resource.SEARCH_FIELD_ID {
+			var v any
+			switch f.Name {
+			case resource.SEARCH_FIELD_ID:
 				row.Cells[i] = []byte(match.ID)
-				continue
-			}
 
-			// QUICK QUICK... more options yes
-			v := match.Fields[f.Name]
-			if v != nil {
-				// Encode the value to protobuf
-				row.Cells[i], err = encoders[i](v)
-				if err != nil {
-					return nil, fmt.Errorf("error encoding (row:%d/col:%d) %v %w", rowID, i, v, err)
+			case resource.SEARCH_FIELD_SCORE:
+				row.Cells[i], err = encoders[i](match.Score)
+
+			case resource.SEARCH_FIELD_EXPLAIN:
+				if match.Expl != nil {
+					row.Cells[i], err = json.Marshal(match.Expl)
 				}
+			default:
+				v := match.Fields[f.Name]
+				if v != nil {
+					// Encode the value to protobuf
+					row.Cells[i], err = encoders[i](v)
+				}
+			}
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error encoding (row:%d/col:%d) %v %w", rowID, i, v, err)
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -644,12 +657,3 @@ func newResponseFacet(v *search.FacetResult) *resource.ResourceSearchResponse_Fa
 	}
 	return f
 }
-
-func newTextQuery(req *resource.ResourceSearchRequest) query.Query {
-	if req.Query == "" || req.Query == "*" {
-		return bleve.NewMatchAllQuery()
-	}
-	// TODO: wildcard query?
-	// return bleve.NewWildcardQuery(req.Query)
-	return bleve.NewFuzzyQuery(req.Query)
-}