Configuring AI search in Recommended Actions

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configuring AI search in Recommended Actions

    This guide helps ServiceNow administrators enable and configure AI search within the Recommended Actions feature. By integrating AI search, agents can efficiently find relevant resources and actionable recommendations directly from their workspace. This capability enhances agent productivity by providing tailored search results and related guidance.

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    Key Features

    • Enable AI Search Tab in UI Builder: Administrators must deselect the "Hide Search" button in UI Builder to display the AI search tab in the workspace’s contextual side panel.
    • Create Context and Select Search Application Configuration: Define contexts for agents to receive recommendations based on specific tables (e.g., Case table) and select AI search as the search engine. This includes setting search sources and genius result configurations.
    • Map AI Search Results with Guidance Inputs: Link AI search outcomes to appropriate guidance inputs so that results are displayed alongside relevant actions. This can also be automated for efficiency.
    • Configure Genius Results: Link specific Genius Result configurations to search profiles to display top actionable results from various record tables:
      • Catalog item: Displays top results from the Catalog Item table.
      • People: Displays results from the User table.
      • Q&A: Shows search results from Knowledge base articles with topic and answer snippets.
      • Now Assist Q&A: Uses Now LLM to extract answer snippets from Knowledge articles, including links to source content. Requires Now Assist in AI Search.
    • Customize Recommended Actions UI Builder Component: Modify titles, reorder or hide tabs (Recommended Actions and Search), and adjust display settings to match organizational needs. Advanced options include configuring result counts, genius results, and search sources.

    Practical Benefits

    By following these steps, ServiceNow customers can provide agents with a streamlined search experience that surfaces the most relevant information and actionable items. This configuration empowers agents to resolve issues faster and improves the overall efficiency of service operations.

    As an admin, configure AI search in Recommended Actions to enable agents to perform an AI search to find relevant resources.

    You can configure AI search in Recommended Actions by performing these procedures.
    Table 1. Steps to configure AI search
    Step Action
    Enable the AI search tab in UI builder Deselect the Hide Search button in UI Builder to display the AI search tab in the contextual side panel of your workspace.
    Create a context and select a search application configuration
    • Create a context so that agents can see recommendations for records from a specific table, such as the Case table.
    • Select a search application configuration to specify AI search as the search engine. This configuration includes search sources and genius result configurations.
    Map AI search results with guidance inputs in Recommended Actions

    Map AI search results with guidance inputs to enable the AI search results to be displayed with appropriate actions.

    Automatically map AI search results with guidance inputs

    Automatically create AI search results for a search configuration application in Recommended Actions.

    Configuring genius results

    In the search profile of your selected search application configuration, link the following Genius Result configurations to display actionable top results. For more information, see Link a Genius Result configuration to a search profile.

    Genius Result configuration Description
    Catalog item Displays top search results from the Catalog Item [sc_cat_item] table. Each answer card shows a single CI record.
    People Displays top search results from the User [sys_user] table. Each answer card shows a single user record.
    Q&A Displays top search results extracted from HTML fields of records on the Knowledge [kb_knowledge] table and tables that extend it. Each answer card shows a topic snippet and an answer snippet extracted from a single knowledge article.
    Now Assist Q&A Displays the top search results extracted from the HTML fields of the records on the Knowledge [kb_knowledge] table and the tables that extend it. Each answer card shows an answer snippet extracted by Now LLM from a knowledge article. For reference, the answer card also includes a link the user can select to view the source knowledge article.
    Note:
    Now Assist in the AI Search application (com.ais_assist) is required to link the Now Assist Q&A Genius Result configuration to your search profile. For more information, see Now Assist in AI Search.

    Customizing Recommended Actions UIB component for AI search

    Customize the Recommended Actions UIB component to align with your organization's requirements:
    • Modify titles for the main heading, Recommended Actions tab, and Search tab.
    • Modify the order of the Recommended Actions and Search tabs.
    • Hide or show Recommended Actions and Search tabs.
    For more information, see Recommended Actions UIB setup.

    Explore advanced customization options, such as adjusting the number of results to view on a page, identifying genius results to add to the search profile, and configuring search sources. For more information, see Configuring AI Search.