Systems and methods for processing search requests include analyzing received queries in order to provide a more sophisticated understanding of the information being sought. In one embodiment, queries are parsed into units, which may comprise one or more words or tokens of the query, and the units are related in concept networks. Trend analysis is performed by sorting the queries into subsets along a dimension of interest and comparing concept networks for different subsets. Trend information is usable to enhance a response of an automated search agent to a subsequently received query.