I'm not sure about the '%' operator, but I'm sure that the GIST index will never be used in the
SELECT * FROM users WHERE lower(name) LIKE '%john%'; query; it is used for left or right anchored search, such as 'john%' or '%john'. Giuseppe. -- Giuseppe Broccolo - 2ndQuadrant Italy PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support giuseppe.brocc...@2ndquadrant.it | www.2ndQuadrant.it