Using Dapper-dot-net...
The following yields no results in the data object:
var data = conn.Query(@\"
select top 25
Term as Label,
Type,
Try:
term = "whateverterm";
var encodeForLike = term => term.Replace("[", "[[]").Replace("%", "[%]");
string term = "%" + encodeForLike(term) + "%";
var data = conn.Query(@"
select top 25
Term as Label,
Type,
ID
from SearchTerms
WHERE Term like @term",
new { term });
There is nothing special about like operators, you never want your params inside string literals, they will not work, instead they will be interpreted as a string.
note
The hard-coded example in your second snippet is strongly discouraged, besides being a huge problem with sql injection, it can cause dapper to leak.
caveat
Any like
match that is leading with a wildcard is not SARGable, which means it is slow and will require an index scan.