Making exact match false in AI Search Application Configuration

[mickydash2001]

We are using AI search in our portal & in vancouver release, the 'Enable Exact Match field' has been enabled by default.

However, there is a info message at the top which says that users may experience navigation issue. 

Could anyone please help me in understand if disabling the Exact Match will have any disadvantage or any downstream impact?

[Iraj Shaikh]

Hi @mickydash2001 

Disabling the 'Enable Exact Match' feature in ServiceNow's AI Search may lead to less precise search results and potentially more noise, as the search won't prioritize results that exactly match the search query. However, it could resolve navigation issues caused by the exact match prioritization. The downstream impact of disabling it could include a change in user search behavior and possibly an increase in support queries due to users not finding specific results as easily. It's important to weigh the pros and cons based on your users' needs and monitor the impact of any changes made.

Please mark this response as correct or helpful if it assisted you with your question.

[Priyanka_786 · Accepted solution]

Hi @mickydash2001 ,

By default, the "Enable Exact Match" feature is enabled in the search application configuration in ServiceNow. This means that when performing a global search, only exact matching records are displayed. This feature ensures that the search results are more precise and relevant to the user's query. Enabling exact match in the search application configuration helps users bypass the search results page and directly access the record they are looking for when the search query exactly matches the Number field value for a searchable record. This can improve the user experience and save time by reducing the need to navigate through search results.

When the exact match option is enabled, users may experience difficulties in finding the desired content or navigating to the correct page. This is because the search results will only display exact matches, and if the content or page they are looking for does not have an exact match, it may not be included in the search results.

So in my understanding, no impact if exact search is disabled in that case when users perform a search in a portal, the search results are typically based on relevance and may include partial matches or related content based on the search query, even if they are not exact matches.(Not specifically with exact match).

Please mark helpful/accepted if it helps.

Regards,

Priyanka Salunke

[Stephen Moore]

I want to reply to this as our Company just upgraded to Washington and had to Disable this "Enable Exact Search" property on our Search Applications Configuration due to the fact it opens everything(meaning all record types) in the native UI.

This is a terrible customer experience for our My Service Portal(ECPro) users as they want to stay in portal after searching an exact result. 

[_Damian]

We are facing exactly the same problem... if you search using number on ESC portal and you have exact match then you are redirected to core ui. Anyone know how to change that?