diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go
index d8e07a58e0f..4e528b96df0 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/document.go
@@ -103,7 +103,10 @@ type IndexableDocument struct {
 
 	// Maintain a list of resource references.
 	// Someday this will likely be part of https://github.com/grafana/gamma
-	References ResourceReferences `json:"reference,omitempty"`
+	References ResourceReferences `json:"references,omitempty"`
+
+	// internal field for mapping references to kind ( don't set this directly )
+	Reference map[string][]string `json:"reference,omitempty"` // map of kind to list of names
 
 	// When the resource is managed by an upstream repository
 	Manager *utils.ManagerProperties `json:"manager,omitempty"`
@@ -121,6 +124,12 @@ func (m *IndexableDocument) UpdateCopyFields() *IndexableDocument {
 	if m.Manager != nil {
 		m.ManagedBy = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", m.Manager.Kind, m.Manager.Identity)
 	}
+
+	m.Reference = make(map[string][]string)
+	for _, ref := range m.References {
+		// Group and Version are ignored for now. This could be revisited.
+		m.Reference[ref.Kind] = append(m.Reference[ref.Kind], ref.Name)
+	}
 	return m
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go b/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go
index a73b0249fce..503bd7a8dfb 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve.go
@@ -342,7 +342,6 @@ func (b *bleveIndex) BulkIndex(req *resource.BulkIndexRequest) error {
 				return fmt.Errorf("missing document")
 			}
 			doc := item.Doc.UpdateCopyFields()
-			doc.References = nil // remove references (for now!)
 
 			err := batch.Index(resource.SearchID(doc.Key), doc)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve_mappings.go b/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve_mappings.go
index 3a8c4e75420..9f08c01bedc 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve_mappings.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/search/bleve_mappings.go
@@ -137,6 +137,10 @@ func getBleveDocMappings(_ resource.SearchableDocumentFields) *mapping.DocumentM
 		IncludeInAll:       false,
 	})
 
+	referenceMapper := bleve.NewDocumentMapping()
+	referenceMapper.DefaultAnalyzer = keyword.Name
+	mapper.AddSubDocumentMapping("reference", referenceMapper)
+
 	labelMapper := bleve.NewDocumentMapping()
 	mapper.AddSubDocumentMapping(resource.SEARCH_FIELD_LABELS, labelMapper)
 
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/search/testdata/doc/dashboard-aaa-out.json b/pkg/storage/unified/search/testdata/doc/dashboard-aaa-out.json
index 964eb2fec41..5989ecb1804 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/search/testdata/doc/dashboard-aaa-out.json
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/search/testdata/doc/dashboard-aaa-out.json
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     ],
     "schema_version": 38
   },
-  "reference": [
+  "references": [
     {
       "relation": "depends-on",
       "group": "my-custom-plugin",
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/testing/search_backend.go b/pkg/storage/unified/testing/search_backend.go
index e42e3aae12e..505e1b1a43d 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/testing/search_backend.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/testing/search_backend.go
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func runTestSearchBackendTotalDocs(t *testing.T, backend resource.SearchBackend,
 }
 
 func runTestResourceIndex(t *testing.T, backend resource.SearchBackend, nsPrefix string) {
-	ctx := testutil.NewTestContext(t, time.Now().Add(5*time.Second))
+	ctx := testutil.NewTestContext(t, time.Now().Add(50*time.Second))
 	ns := resource.NamespacedResource{
 		Namespace: nsPrefix + "-ns1",
 		Group:     "group",
@@ -236,4 +236,100 @@ func runTestResourceIndex(t *testing.T, backend resource.SearchBackend, nsPrefix
 		require.NotNil(t, resp)
 		require.Equal(t, int64(3), resp.TotalHits) // Both doc1, doc2, and doc3 should have doc now
 	})
+
+	t.Run("Search by LibraryPanel reference", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Build index with dashboards that have LibraryPanel references
+		index, err := backend.BuildIndex(ctx, ns, 3, 0, nil, func(index resource.ResourceIndex) (int64, error) {
+			err := index.BulkIndex(&resource.BulkIndexRequest{
+				Items: []*resource.BulkIndexItem{
+					{
+						Action: resource.ActionIndex,
+						Doc: &resource.IndexableDocument{
+							Key: &resourcepb.ResourceKey{
+								Namespace: ns.Namespace,
+								Group:     ns.Group,
+								Resource:  ns.Resource,
+								Name:      "dash1",
+							},
+							Title: "Dashboard with Library Panel 1",
+							References: resource.ResourceReferences{
+								{
+									Relation: "depends-on",
+									Group:    "dashboards.grafana.app",
+									Kind:     "LibraryPanel",
+									Name:     "lib-panel-1",
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					{
+						Action: resource.ActionIndex,
+						Doc: &resource.IndexableDocument{
+							Key: &resourcepb.ResourceKey{
+								Namespace: ns.Namespace,
+								Group:     ns.Group,
+								Resource:  ns.Resource,
+								Name:      "dash2",
+							},
+							Title: "Dashboard with Library Panel 2",
+							References: resource.ResourceReferences{
+								{
+									Relation: "depends-on",
+									Group:    "dashboards.grafana.app",
+									Kind:     "LibraryPanel",
+									Name:     "lib-panel-2",
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					{
+						Action: resource.ActionIndex,
+						Doc: &resource.IndexableDocument{
+							Key: &resourcepb.ResourceKey{
+								Namespace: ns.Namespace,
+								Group:     ns.Group,
+								Resource:  ns.Resource,
+								Name:      "dash3",
+							},
+							Title: "Dashboard without Library Panel",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			})
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			return int64(3), nil
+		})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, index)
+
+		// Search for dashboards with specific LibraryPanel reference
+		resp, err := index.Search(ctx, nil, &resourcepb.ResourceSearchRequest{
+			Options: &resourcepb.ListOptions{
+				Key: &resourcepb.ResourceKey{
+					Namespace: ns.Namespace,
+					Group:     ns.Group,
+					Resource:  ns.Resource,
+				},
+				Fields: []*resourcepb.Requirement{
+					{
+						Key:      "reference.LibraryPanel",
+						Operator: "=",
+						Values:   []string{"lib-panel-1"},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			Query:  "",
+			Fields: []string{"title"},
+			Limit:  10,
+		}, nil)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, resp)
+		require.Equal(t, int64(1), resp.TotalHits) // Only dash1 should have lib-panel-1
+
+		// Verify the result
+		require.Len(t, resp.Results.Rows, 1)
+		row := resp.Results.Rows[0]
+		require.Equal(t, "dash1", row.Key.Name)
+		require.Equal(t, "Dashboard with Library Panel 1", string(row.Cells[0])) // title field
+	})
 }