diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/components/navbar/tera-searchbar.vue b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/components/navbar/tera-searchbar.vue
index ea86638672..70278c9041 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/components/navbar/tera-searchbar.vue
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/components/navbar/tera-searchbar.vue
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ import {
 	useSearchByExampleOptions,
 	extractResourceName
 } from '@/page/data-explorer/search-by-example';
+import { getResourceID } from '@/utils/data-util';
 
 const props = defineProps<{
 	showSuggestions: boolean;
@@ -157,8 +158,7 @@ const selectedSearchByExampleOptions = ref<SearchByExampleOptions>({
 	backwardCitation: false,
 	relatedContent: false
 });
-const { searchByExampleOptions, searchByExampleItem, searchByExampleAssetCardProp } =
-	useSearchByExampleOptions();
+const { searchByExampleOptions, searchByExampleItem } = useSearchByExampleOptions();
 
 function clearQuery() {
 	query.value = '';
@@ -167,20 +167,21 @@ function clearQuery() {
 
 const initiateSearch = () => {
 	emit('query-changed', query.value);
-	router.push({ name: RouteName.DataExplorerRoute, query: { q: query.value, byExample: 'false' } });
+	router.push({ name: RouteName.DataExplorerRoute, query: { q: query.value } });
 	EventService.create(EventType.Search, resources.activeProject?.id, query.value);
 };
 
 function initiateSearchByExample() {
+	searchByExampleItem.value = searchByExampleSelectedAsset.value;
 	searchByExampleOptions.value = { ...selectedSearchByExampleOptions.value };
 	searchByExampleToggle.value = false;
 
-	// used in order to update the "showing x of y results with ... to <Asset Card>"
-	// section after a search by example is initiated
-	searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value = { ...searchByExampleItem.value };
 	// used to update the search bar text with the name of the search by example asset
 	query.value = extractResourceName(searchByExampleItem.value);
-	router.push({ name: RouteName.DataExplorerRoute, query: { q: query.value, byExample: 'true' } });
+	router.push({
+		name: RouteName.DataExplorerRoute,
+		query: { resourceId: getResourceID(searchByExampleItem.value!) }
+	});
 }
 
 function addToQuery(term: string) {
@@ -230,7 +231,6 @@ function onDrop() {
 	searchByExampleToggle.value = true; // Maintains open search by example popup once an asset is successfully dropped
 	searchByExampleSelectedAsset.value = getDragData('asset');
 	searchByExampleSelectedResourceType.value = getDragData('resourceType');
-	searchByExampleItem.value = searchByExampleSelectedAsset.value;
 	isDraggedOver.value = false;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/DataExplorer.vue b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/DataExplorer.vue
index 24103b5de3..8301563e6d 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/DataExplorer.vue
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/DataExplorer.vue
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
 <script setup lang="ts">
 import { computed, onMounted, onUnmounted, ref, watch } from 'vue';
 import TeraSliderPanel from '@/components/widgets/tera-slider-panel.vue';
-import { fetchData, getXDDSets } from '@/services/data';
+import { fetchData, getDocumentById, getXDDSets } from '@/services/data';
 import {
 	ResourceType,
 	ResultType,
@@ -148,8 +148,7 @@ const route = useRoute();
 const queryStore = useQueryStore();
 const resources = useResourcesStore();
 
-const { searchByExampleOptions, searchByExampleItem, searchByExampleAssetCardProp } =
-	useSearchByExampleOptions();
+const { searchByExampleOptions, searchByExampleItem } = useSearchByExampleOptions();
 const dataItems = ref<SearchResults[]>([]);
 const dataItemsUnfiltered = ref<SearchResults[]>([]);
 const selectedSearchItems = ref<ResultType[]>([]);
@@ -276,20 +275,12 @@ const executeSearch = async () => {
 	};
 
 	// handle the search-by-example for finding related documents, models, and/or datasets
-	if (
-		executeSearchByExample.value &&
-		(searchByExampleItem.value || searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value)
-	) {
-		const id = getResourceID(
-			searchByExampleItem.value ?? searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value
-		) as string;
+	if (executeSearchByExample.value && searchByExampleItem.value) {
+		const id = getResourceID(searchByExampleItem.value) as string;
 		//
 		// find related documents (which utilizes the xDD doc2vec API through the HMI server)
 		//
-		if (
-			isDocument(searchByExampleItem.value ?? searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value) &&
-			searchParams.xdd
-		) {
+		if (isDocument(searchByExampleItem.value) && searchParams.xdd) {
 			searchParams.xdd.dataset = xddDataset.value;
 			if (searchByExampleOptions.value.similarContent) {
 				searchParams.xdd.similar_search_enabled = executeSearchByExample.value;
@@ -303,10 +294,7 @@ const executeSearch = async () => {
 		//
 		// find related models (which utilizes the TDS provenance API through the HMI server)
 		//
-		if (
-			isModel(searchByExampleItem.value ?? searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value) &&
-			searchParams.model
-		) {
+		if (isModel(searchByExampleItem.value) && searchParams.model) {
 			searchParams.model.related_search_enabled = executeSearchByExample.value;
 			searchParams.model.related_search_id = id;
 			searchType = ResourceType.MODEL;
@@ -314,10 +302,7 @@ const executeSearch = async () => {
 		//
 		// find related datasets (which utilizes the TDS provenance API through the HMI server)
 		//
-		if (
-			isDataset(searchByExampleItem.value ?? searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value) &&
-			searchParams.dataset
-		) {
+		if (isDataset(searchByExampleItem.value) && searchParams.dataset) {
 			searchParams.dataset.related_search_enabled = executeSearchByExample.value;
 			searchParams.dataset.related_search_id = id;
 			searchType = ResourceType.DATASET;
@@ -406,7 +391,7 @@ const executeSearch = async () => {
 };
 
 const clearSearchByExampleSelections = () => {
-	// clear out the serch by example option selections
+	// clear out the search by example option selections
 	searchByExampleOptions.value = {
 		similarContent: false,
 		forwardCitation: false,
@@ -440,7 +425,6 @@ const onSearchByExample = async (searchOptions: SearchByExampleOptions) => {
 
 		await executeSearch();
 
-		searchByExampleItem.value = null;
 		dirtyResults.value[resourceType.value] = false;
 	}
 };
@@ -556,6 +540,16 @@ async function executeNewQuery() {
 	dirtyResults.value[resourceType.value] = false;
 }
 
+async function searchByExampleOnPageRefresh(resourceId: string) {
+	if (!searchByExampleItem.value) {
+		searchByExampleItem.value = await getDocumentById(resourceId);
+	}
+	if (!Object.values(searchByExampleOptions.value).some((v) => v)) {
+		searchByExampleOptions.value.similarContent = true;
+	}
+	onSearchByExample(searchByExampleOptions.value);
+}
+
 // this is called whenever the user apply some facet filter(s)
 watch(clientFilters, async (n, o) => {
 	if (filtersUtil.isEqual(n, o)) return;
@@ -579,15 +573,19 @@ watch(clientFilters, async (n, o) => {
 watch(
 	() => route.query,
 	() => {
-		// Adding another query param 'byExample' for what should be a better way to determine whether we are searching by example or not.
-		// For now this is just a boolean string but this can be looked into further to maybe add additional parameters when searching by example.
-		// i.e. refreshing will land the user on the page with the example resource type already populated and used to search
-		if (route.query.byExample !== 'true') executeNewQuery();
+		// The query changes in the following cases:
+		// - when a user does a normal search - there is no `resourceId`
+		// - when a user does a search by example - there is a `resourceId`
+		// - when a user navigates back and forth on a page
+
+		if (route.query.resourceId) {
+			searchByExampleOnPageRefresh(route.query.resourceId.toString());
+		} else {
+			executeNewQuery();
+		}
 	}
 );
 
-watch(searchByExampleOptions, () => onSearchByExample(searchByExampleOptions.value));
-
 // Default query on reload
 onMounted(async () => {
 	xddDatasets.value = await getXDDSets();
@@ -597,7 +595,14 @@ onMounted(async () => {
 	} else {
 		resources.setXDDDataset('xdd-covid-19'); // give xdd dataset a default value
 	}
-	executeNewQuery();
+
+	// On reload, if the url has a resourceId, we know that a user just did a search by example
+	// so we want to preserve the search by example so we perform a search by example instead of a normal search
+	if (route.query.resourceId) {
+		searchByExampleOnPageRefresh(route.query.resourceId.toString());
+	} else {
+		executeNewQuery();
+	}
 });
 
 onUnmounted(() => {
diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-asset-card.vue b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-asset-card.vue
index 9dc86e5ccc..a2679dc0c3 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-asset-card.vue
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-asset-card.vue
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 				{{ resourceType.toUpperCase() }}
 				<div
 					class="asset-filters"
-					v-if="resourceType === ResourceType.XDD && asset.knownEntities?.askemObjects"
+					v-if="resourceType === ResourceType.XDD && (asset as Document).knownEntities?.askemObjects"
 				>
 					<template
 						v-for="icon in [
@@ -28,20 +28,25 @@
 						/>
 					</template>
 				</div>
-				<div v-else-if="resourceType === ResourceType.MODEL">{{ asset.schema_name }}</div>
+				<div v-else-if="resourceType === ResourceType.MODEL">
+					{{ (asset as Model).schema_name }}
+				</div>
 			</div>
 			<header class="title" v-html="title" />
 			<div class="details" v-html="formatDetails" />
 			<ul class="snippets" v-if="snippets">
 				<li v-for="(snippet, index) in snippets" :key="index" v-html="snippet" />
 			</ul>
-			<div class="description" v-html="highlightSearchTerms(asset.description)" />
+			<div
+				class="description"
+				v-html="highlightSearchTerms((asset as Model | Dataset).description)"
+			/>
 			<div
 				class="parameters"
-				v-if="resourceType === ResourceType.MODEL && asset?.semantics?.ode?.parameters"
+				v-if="resourceType === ResourceType.MODEL && (asset as Model).semantics?.ode?.parameters"
 			>
 				PARAMETERS:
-				{{ asset.semantics.ode.parameters }}
+				{{ (asset as Model).semantics?.ode.parameters }}
 				<!--may need a formatting function this attribute is always undefined at the moment-->
 			</div>
 			<div class="features" v-else-if="resourceType === ResourceType.DATASET">
@@ -51,7 +56,9 @@
 			<footer><!--pill tags if already in another project--></footer>
 		</main>
 		<aside class="preview-and-options">
-			<figure v-if="resourceType === ResourceType.XDD && asset.knownEntities?.askemObjects">
+			<figure
+				v-if="resourceType === ResourceType.XDD && (asset as Document).knownEntities?.askemObjects"
+			>
 				<template v-if="relatedAsset">
 					<img
 						v-if="relatedAsset.properties.image"
@@ -105,7 +112,7 @@ import { watch, ref, computed, ComputedRef } from 'vue';
 import { isEmpty } from 'lodash';
 import { XDDExtractionType } from '@/types/XDD';
 import { Document, Extraction, XDDUrlExtraction, Dataset, Model } from '@/types/Types';
-import { ResourceType } from '@/types/common';
+import { ResourceType, ResultType } from '@/types/common';
 import * as textUtil from '@/utils/text';
 import { useDragEvent } from '@/services/drag-drop';
 
@@ -116,7 +123,7 @@ type UrlExtraction = {
 };
 
 const props = defineProps<{
-	asset: Document & Model & Dataset;
+	asset: ResultType;
 	resourceType: ResourceType;
 	highlight?: string;
 }>();
@@ -137,8 +144,8 @@ const chosenExtractionFilter = ref<XDDExtractionType | 'Asset'>('Asset');
 const urlExtractions = computed(() => {
 	const urls: UrlExtraction[] = [];
 
-	if (props.asset.knownEntities.askemObjects) {
-		const documentsWithUrls = props.asset.knownEntities.askemObjects.filter(
+	if ((props.asset as Document).knownEntities.askemObjects) {
+		const documentsWithUrls = (props.asset as Document).knownEntities.askemObjects.filter(
 			(ex) =>
 				ex.askemClass === XDDExtractionType.Doc &&
 				ex.properties.documentBibjson?.knownEntities &&
@@ -162,9 +169,9 @@ const urlExtractions = computed(() => {
 });
 
 const extractions: ComputedRef<UrlExtraction[] & Extraction[]> = computed(() => {
-	if (props.asset.knownEntities.askemObjects) {
+	if ((props.asset as Document).knownEntities.askemObjects) {
 		const allExtractions = [
-			...(props.asset.knownEntities.askemObjects as UrlExtraction[] & Extraction[]),
+			...((props.asset as Document).knownEntities.askemObjects as UrlExtraction[] & Extraction[]),
 			...(urlExtractions.value as UrlExtraction[] & Extraction[])
 		];
 
@@ -177,10 +184,15 @@ const extractions: ComputedRef<UrlExtraction[] & Extraction[]> = computed(() =>
 
 const relatedAsset = computed(() => extractions.value[relatedAssetPage.value]);
 const snippets = computed(() =>
-	props.asset.highlight ? Array.from(props.asset.highlight).splice(0, 3) : null
+	(props.asset as Document).highlight
+		? Array.from((props.asset as Document).highlight).splice(0, 3)
+		: null
 );
 const title = computed(() => {
-	const value = props.resourceType === ResourceType.XDD ? props.asset.title : props.asset.name;
+	const value =
+		props.resourceType === ResourceType.XDD
+			? (props.asset as Document).title
+			: (props.asset as Model | Dataset).name;
 	return highlightSearchTerms(value);
 });
 
@@ -224,14 +236,14 @@ function updateExtractionFilter(extractionType: XDDExtractionType) {
 // Return formatted author, year, journal
 const formatDetails = computed(() => {
 	if (props.resourceType === ResourceType.XDD) {
-		const details = `${props.asset.author.map((a) => a.name).join(', ')} (${props.asset.year}) ${
-			props.asset.journal
-		}`;
+		const details = `${(props.asset as Document).author.map((a) => a.name).join(', ')} (${
+			(props.asset as Document).year
+		}) ${(props.asset as Document).journal}`;
 		return highlightSearchTerms(details);
 	}
 
 	if (props.resourceType === ResourceType.DATASET) {
-		return props.asset?.url;
+		return (props.asset as Dataset).url;
 	}
 
 	return null;
diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-item.vue b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-item.vue
index c8ffd45f3e..bbfb2fcbe3 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-item.vue
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-item.vue
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import { ResultType, ResourceType } from '@/types/common';
 import TeraAssetCard from '@/page/data-explorer/components/tera-asset-card.vue';
 
 const props = defineProps<{
-	asset: Document & Model & Dataset;
+	asset: ResultType;
 	isPreviewed: boolean;
 	resourceType: ResourceType;
 	selectedSearchItems: ResultType[];
@@ -36,15 +36,15 @@ const isSelected = () =>
 	props.selectedSearchItems.find((item) => {
 		if (isDocument(item)) {
 			const itemAsDocument = item as Document;
-			return itemAsDocument.title === props.asset.title;
+			return itemAsDocument.title === (props.asset as Document).title;
 		}
 		if (isDataset(item)) {
 			const itemAsDataset = item as Dataset;
-			return itemAsDataset.id === props.asset.id;
+			return itemAsDataset.id === (props.asset as Dataset).id;
 		}
 		if (isModel(item)) {
 			const itemAsModel = item as Model;
-			return itemAsModel.id === props.asset.id;
+			return itemAsModel.id === (props.asset as Model).id;
 		}
 		return false;
 	});
diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-results-list.vue b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-results-list.vue
index 41ff321d80..aec62b9f4c 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-results-list.vue
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-search-results-list.vue
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 	<div class="result-details">
 		<span class="result-count">
 			<template v-if="isLoading">Loading...</template>
-			<template v-else-if="props.searchTerm">
+			<template v-else-if="props.searchTerm || searchByExampleOptionsStr">
 				{{ resultsText }}
 				<span v-if="searchByExampleOptionsStr.length === 0"> "{{ props.searchTerm }}" </span>
 				<div v-else-if="searchByExampleOptionsStr.length > 0" class="search-by-example-card">
 					<tera-asset-card
-						:asset="searchByExampleAssetCardProp"
+						:asset="searchByExampleItem!"
 						:resource-type="(resultType as ResourceType)"
 					/>
 				</div>
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 </template>
 
 <script setup lang="ts">
-import { ref, computed, PropType, onUnmounted } from 'vue';
+import { ref, computed, PropType } from 'vue';
 import { Document, XDDFacetsItemResponse, Dataset, Model } from '@/types/Types';
 import useQueryStore from '@/stores/query';
 import { SearchResults, ResourceType, ResultType } from '@/types/common';
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ import {
 } from '@/page/data-explorer/search-by-example';
 import TeraSearchItem from './tera-search-item.vue';
 
-const { searchByExampleAssetCardProp } = useSearchByExampleOptions();
+const { searchByExampleItem } = useSearchByExampleOptions();
 
 const props = defineProps({
 	dataItems: {
@@ -182,10 +182,6 @@ const itemsText = computed(() => {
 	const s = resultsCount.value === 1 ? '' : 's';
 	return `Showing ${resultsCount.value} ${truncated}item${s}.`;
 });
-
-onUnmounted(() => {
-	searchByExampleAssetCardProp.value = null;
-});
 </script>
 
 <style scoped>
diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-selected-resources-options-pane.vue b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-selected-resources-options-pane.vue
index d13db1efed..c79aa6156b 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-selected-resources-options-pane.vue
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/components/tera-selected-resources-options-pane.vue
@@ -2,10 +2,7 @@
 	<div class="breakdown-pane-container">
 		<ul>
 			<li v-for="(asset, idx) in selectedSearchItems" class="cart-item" :key="idx">
-				<tera-asset-card
-					:asset="(asset as Document & Model & Dataset)"
-					:resourceType="(getType(asset) as ResourceType)"
-				>
+				<tera-asset-card :asset="asset" :resourceType="(getType(asset) as ResourceType)">
 					<button type="button" @click.stop="(e) => toggleContextMenu(e, idx)">
 						<i class="pi pi-ellipsis-v" />
 					</button>
@@ -20,7 +17,6 @@
 import { onMounted, PropType, ref } from 'vue';
 import { isDataset, isModel, isDocument } from '@/utils/data-util';
 import { ResourceType, ResultType } from '@/types/common';
-import { Document, Dataset, Model } from '@/types/Types';
 import { IProject } from '@/types/Project';
 import * as ProjectService from '@/services/project';
 import Menu from 'primevue/menu';
diff --git a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/search-by-example.ts b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/search-by-example.ts
index d767868c83..7e4f8412bf 100644
--- a/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/search-by-example.ts
+++ b/packages/client/hmi-client/src/page/data-explorer/search-by-example.ts
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ const searchByExampleOptions = ref<SearchByExampleOptions>({
 	relatedContent: false
 });
 const searchByExampleItem = ref<ResultType | null>(null);
-const searchByExampleAssetCardProp = ref();
 export function useSearchByExampleOptions() {
-	return { searchByExampleOptions, searchByExampleItem, searchByExampleAssetCardProp };
+	return { searchByExampleOptions, searchByExampleItem };
 }
 
 export function extractResourceName(resource): string {