Use AI Search for global search and configurable workspace search in Next Experience

Exploring AI Search Exploring AI Search

Learn about AI Search features that enable you to provide consumer-grade search experiences for your users.

Parent Topic: AI Search AI Search architecture

The AI Search index stores data from Now Platform records or external sources and makes that data available for users to search in multiple applications. Search query features use Now Platform technologies to improve the search user experience.

Figure 1. AI Search architecture diagram

AI Search configuration

Search administrators configure AI Search indexing and search settings in indexed sources, search sources, search profiles, and search application configurations.

Figure 2. AI Search configuration diagram

Index searchable content from Now Platform tables and external sources

Make record content searchable by configuring an indexed source to add it to the AI Search index.

Define an indexed source for each Now Platform table that you want to index records from. Search administrators can configure settings for each indexed source: Enable indexing for child tables of the source table. Configure indexing of source record tags, attachments, translated fields, and referenced fields. Map source table fields to AI Search index fields for ease of search.

The base system includes preconfigured indexed sources for Knowledge Base articles, Catalog Items, and user records. You can create your own indexed sources to index records from other Now Platform tables.

To learn more about configuring and using indexed sources for Now Platform table records, see Indexed sources .

By activating the External Content for AI Search plugin ( com.glide.ais.external_content ) , you can enable indexing and search for record content from external sources. Supported sources include SharePoint collections, Confluence sites, and remote tables . For more details, see Indexing and searching external content in AI Search .

Control access to searchable content using search sources

A search source defines a subset of indexed content that users can search using a search profile. Create search sources by applying filter conditions to content from indexed sources.

Search administrators link search sources to search profiles, enabling precise control of the content that users can search. For details on creating search sources, see Search sources .

Define search experience settings in search profiles

Search profiles define search sources and settings for linguistic search query features. Each search profile represents an individual search experience that you want to offer users in a supported Now Platform application.

Each search profile can include the following settings: One or more search sources defining content that users can search using the profile. Dictionaries of synonyms, stop words, and typo handling auto-correction terms applied to searches using the profile. Genius Result configurations applied to searches using the profile. Result improvement rules applied to searches using the profile.

Search administrators create search profiles, link search sources to them, configure their settings, and publish them. For information on creating, configuring, and publishing search profiles, see Search profiles .

Enable AI Search in supported Now Platform applications

Provide multiple search entry points across your organization by enabling AI Search as the search engine for search applications. The base system enables AI Search as the search engine for global and workspace search, Customer Service Management , Now Mobile , Service Portal , and Virtual Agent .

Search administrators define search application configurations for Now Platform applications. Each configuration links to a search profile defining the search experience for the application. Administrators can configure the application's behavior in the following ways: Enable or disable typo handling auto-correction for search queries. Configure navigation tab and facet filters to enable users to refine search results. Limit the maximum number of search suggestions and Genius Result cards the application can display for a search. Limit the number of search results the application displays on each result page.

To learn more about configuring and enabling AI Search in supported Now Platform applications, see Search application configurations and Enabling and configuring AI Search in Now Platform applications .

Provide users with powerful and flexible search

AI Search includes search features that help users find the answers they need.

Powerful query language

Query for indexed terms and phrases. Control query logic with Boolean operators. Match a range of indexed terms using wildcard operators.

For a complete guide to supported query language syntax and operators, see AI Search query language .

Auto-complete search queries

Display suggestions in the input field as users compose their searches. Suggestions include recent and popular search queries and results as well as entries from the user's personal search history.

Auto-complete suggestions are linguistic features that search administrators configure in search application configurations. For more information on auto-complete suggestion type settings, see Configure an auto-complete suggestion type in an AI Search application configuration .

Language-sensitive lemma and Unicode normalization of search query terms

Support natural language search by expanding search query terms to match alternate inflections and forms. AI Search supports language-specific lemma normalization for Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, French - Canada, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, and Traditional Chinese . It supports Unicode normalization for content in all Now Platform languages.

Lemma and Unicode normalization are linguistic features that don't require configuration. For more details on normalization behavior, see Lemma and Unicode normalization .

Expand search query terms using configurable synonyms

Improve search recall by configuring language-specific dictionaries of terms with equivalent meanings or usage. When a search query includes any of these terms, AI Search expands it to include all equivalent terms, providing users with a more natural search experience.

Synonyms are linguistic features that search administrators configure in search profiles. For details on configuring synonyms and synonym dictionaries, see Synonyms . AI Search supports synonym dictionaries for Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, French - Canada, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, and Traditional Chinese .

Remove excessively frequent search terms using configurable stop words

Increase search precision by configuring language-specific dictionaries of frequently appearing terms that dilute search relevancy. AI Search removes these stop words from user search queries to exclude irrelevant results.

Stop words are linguistic features that search administrators configure in search profiles. For details on configuring stop words and stop word dictionaries, see Stop words . AI Search supports stop word dictionaries for Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, English, French - Canada, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish .

Auto-correct typos in search query terms

Automatically replace misspelled search query terms with spellings found in indexed content. Typo corrections are displayed above search results. Users can always choose to repeat the search with their original query terms.

Typo handling auto-correction is a linguistic feature that search administrators configure in search profiles. For details on controlling the set of available auto-correction terms, see Typo handling . AI Search supports derivation of auto-correction terms for Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, English, French - Canada, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish .

Enable search result refinement filters

AI Search enables users to refine searches by filtering their results. Use navigation tabs to filter results by source, or select facets to apply filters dynamically generated from the result set.

Filter results by source using navigation tabs

Display pre-defined categories that users can select to immediately exclude unwanted search results.

Search administrators configure navigation tabs in search application configurations. For details on available settings, see Configure navigation tabs in an AI Search application configuration .

Filter results dynamically using facets

Display field value-based filter selections generated dynamically from the search query's result set. Users can select multiple facet values to narrow their area of focus. Facets only display when they produce results, so users never need to worry about dead ends.

Search administrators define facets in search application configurations. For details on creating and configuring facets, see Create a facet in an AI Search application configuration .

Display relevant and actionable search results

AI Search provides users with clear answers for their search queries.

Hit highlighting

AI Search highlights search query terms that appear in search results. This highlighting enables users to see which query terms contributed to record matches.

Display the most relevant results first with machine learning relevancy

AI Search orders search results in decreasing order of relevancy. Machine learning automatically tunes and improves search result relevancy scoring for each search profile based on aggregated user interaction data and A/B testing evaluations of live search traffic.

Machine learning relevancy is automatically enabled and not configurable, though search administrators can exclude specific search profiles from automatic relevancy-model updates. For more details on automatic relevancy score tuning, see Machine learning relevancy in AI Search .

Display the best answers as actionable Genius Result cards

Configure Genius Results to analyze search query intent and put the best answers first. Search users can read a Knowledge article, view a user's profile or organization chart, or request a Catalog Item directly from a Genius Result answer card.

Search administrators can link Genius Results to search profiles, modify their settings, and create new configurations. To learn more about Genius Results configurations, see Genius Results .

Boost, block, or promote search results

Define result improvement rules with configurable trigger conditions. A rule can boost search result relevancy based on the search query or user context, or can block or promote specific results for a particular search query.

Search administrators define result improvement rules in search profiles. For details on creating rules and configuring their boost, block, or promote actions, see Result improvement rules . AI Search supports result improvement rules for Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, French - Canada, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, and Traditional Chinese search queries.

Content security in AI Search

When indexing records, AI Search preserves their Now Platform security features. At query time, AI Search filters search query results and displays only records that the user can access.

For more information on how AI Search handles security features for Now Platform table records, see Content security in AI Search .

Internationalization support

AI Search supports indexing and search for all languages offered by the Now Platform . Search administrators can configure AI Search search features for languages activated in your instance.

For full details on language support in AI Search search features, see Internationalization support for AI Search .

Search features The following table displays the set of AI Search search features available for specific Now Platform languages. Table 1. Search features supported by language Language Search features supported English Genius Results Language identification Lemma and Unicode normalization Result improvement rules Stop words Synonyms Typo handling

Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, French, French - Canada, Italian, and Spanish Language identification Lemma and Unicode normalization Result improvement rules Stop words Synonyms Typo handling German and Swedish Language identification Lemma and Unicode normalization (including decompounding) Result improvement rules Stop words Synonyms Typo handling Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese Language identification (including text-region and search-term identification) Lemma and Unicode normalization Result improvement rules Stop words Synonyms Korean Language identification Lemma and Unicode normalization (including decompounding) Result improvement rules Stop words Synonyms

All other Now Platform languages activated in your instance

Unicode normalization Result improvement rules Stop words Synonyms

Translated content search By default, AI Search only returns results for records with translated content, such as Knowledge articles, that are in the user's Now Platform session language. You can modify this default behavior in several ways: Assign Knowledge article search languages by country

Improve multilingual search recall by defining a set of Knowledge article search languages for each user country. User searches can match Knowledge articles in any of the search languages specified for their country as well as in the language associated with their Now Platform session.

Configure globally searchable Knowledge articles

Define an encoded query to match Knowledge articles that you want to make searchable regardless of the user's session language.

Configure a fallback language

Set a fallback language for the user's session language. AI Search returns translated content results from the selected fallback language as well as the user's session language.

Enable a global fallback locale for translated content

Configure a global fallback locale to use for all translated content searches. AI Search returns translated content results from the global fallback locale's language as well as the user's session language. Note: The global fallback locale works best if you want to make all English-language records globally searchable.

Use AI Search for global search and configurable workspace search in Next Experience

AI Search is the default search engine for Unified Navigation searches in Next Experience , including global search and configurable workspace search.

Search administrators can configure global search and configurable workspace search settings using the AI Search for Next Experience application. Note: The AI Search for Next Experience application is automatically installed and enabled in new Vancouver instances. If you upgrade to Vancouver from a previous release, your administrators can manually install and enable the application.

For details on AI Search for Next Experience , including configuration steps and a usage guide, see AI Search for Next Experience .

Deflect incidents in Service Portal with the AI Search Assist widget

Improve incident deflection for Service Portal users by displaying the most relevant search results within a record producer.

AI Search Assist can help an agent or user find the most relevant items in a search on your portal. For example: An agent, working on an Incident record, can use AI Search Assist to find and attach Knowledge articles, order a catalog item on behalf of the caller, or search for an article and link it to a related incident or problem. A user, creating an Incident via the Service Portal , can see related Catalog Items that the user can order. The user can also view related Knowledge articles to help them resolve the issue on their own without involving the service desk operators.

AI Search Assist helps with incident deflection for the following areas: Incident record producers: Deflect incidents by helping end users resolve issues before they raise an incident. Incident forms: Help service desk staff resolve incidents quickly by providing relevant knowledge. Incident email notifications: Help end users resolve their incidents themselves without requiring manual intervention from service desk staff.

To learn more about configuring and using the AI Search Assist widget in Service Portal , see AI Search Assist record producer integration for Service Portal .