How to set up the Web Search using Google Gemini for AI Agents and Virtual Agent
[Updated as of Yokohama Patch 6]
NOTE: As of Yokohama Patch 6/Zurich Patch 1, it is no longer necessary to purchase your own LLM/cloud subscriptions. ServiceNow now provides AI Web Search out-of-the-box, powered by Google Gemini. Simply update your instance, and then your Now Assist store apps. Be sure to update the "AI Websearch" store app.
Web Search is a powerful tool available for ServiceNow AI Agents, new in the Yokohama release. It can provide information beyond what’s available in your ServiceNow instance to power your AI Agent knowledge and workflows. By using AI answers, you are calling an LLM to generate an answer. The two options are Gemini (the default) or Perplexity (requires separate subscription). Gemini uses the Pro 2.5 model.
Using the Web Search tool in AI Agents
In the "Add Tool" drop-down, select "Web Search". Then open the Web Search tool, give the tool a name, and set “Output Transformation strategy” to something other than “None”. Otherwise, you’ll get technical jargon.
In the testing tab, select the AI Agent with the Search tool and type in a query. Note: The query example below is overly specific. Web Search may not provide relevant search results with vague queries so it’s always good to test.
Results:
Configuring Now Assist in Virtual Agent to use Web Search
- Navigate to the "Now Assist – Web Search" topic in VA Designer > Properties and enable topic for your assistant. The topic should be Active and Published
3. Ensure that your assistant's fallback topic is "Now Assist Fallback" in the Now Assist in VA setup page > Chat Experience > Advanced.
4. Set system property: sn_nowassist_va.websearch_fallback_enabled to values: no_response_from_ai_search, no_response_from_llm
Result: The user will be asked if they want to run web search as fallback.
