Search Application Configuration form

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  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Search Application Configuration form

    The Search Application Configuration form in ServiceNow enables you to create and manage configurations for AI Search applications. This form defines how a search application behaves, including search engine selection, result limits, and specialized options like typo handling and exact match. Proper configuration ensures optimal search performance and user experience within your ServiceNow instance.

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    Key Features

    • Name: Assign a unique identifier to the search application configuration.
    • Search Engine: Choose between AI Search or Zing engines. AI Search requires the application to have “Enable AI Search” enabled, while Zing is for applications without this option. Mismatched settings trigger error messages.
    • Search Profile: Select a search profile to tailor how AI Search conducts queries (visible only when AI Search engine is selected).
    • Search Results Limit: Set the maximum number of search results shown per page and the minimum number that triggers automatic query broadening for more comprehensive results.
    • Genius Results Limit: Define how many AI-generated answer cards appear on search pages (AI Search only). When set to 2 or more, answer cards display in a scrollable carousel, with a maximum of 10 cards shown regardless of higher settings.
    • Attachment Limit: Control how many grouped attachments display by default on parent search results, with excess hidden until expanded.
    • Enable Typo Handling: Option to auto-correct user search terms based on a typo dictionary for improved search accuracy (AI Search only).
    • Enable Exact Match: Allows instant navigation to a record if its Number field exactly matches the query, bypassing the search results page. Note: Not supported in portals due to potential navigation issues.
    • Show parent for results that are attachments: Choose whether attachment results display grouped inline with their parent records or separately.
    • Filter Genius Results by tab: Restricts AI answer cards to match the selected source facet in the search application, ensuring relevance of Genius Results based on user filters.
    • Show Search Results Count: Toggle the display of result counts next to facets on the search results page to inform users of available matches.

    Practical Implications

    Configuring the Search Application carefully allows ServiceNow customers to align search behavior with user expectations and application capabilities. Selecting the correct search engine and enabling relevant features like typo handling or exact match can improve search accuracy and user satisfaction. Limits on results and attachments help manage the volume of data presented, preventing information overload. Filtering Genius Results by source ensures AI-generated answers remain contextually appropriate. Understanding these settings helps customers optimize search applications for their environment.

    The Search Application Configuration form enables you to create a search application configuration for an AI Search application.

    For details on creating or modifying a search application configuration for use with AI Search, see Create a search application configuration for AI Search.

    Table 1. Search Application Configuration form
    Field Description
    Name Name for the search application configuration.

    Type: string

    Search Engine Search engine to use in the ServiceNow AI Platform® search application that links to the search application configuration.

    Type: choice list

    Default value: AI Search

    Supported values:
    • AI Search: Use AI Search as the search engine for the application. Select this search engine if your search application has the Enable AI Search option enabled.
    • Zing: Use the Zing text indexing and search engine as the search engine for the application. Select this engine if your search application has the Enable AI Search option disabled, or if it lacks this option.
    Note:
    If your search engine selection conflicts with your search application's Enable AI Search setting, the system displays an error message. Before changing search engines, first make sure that your search application has the proper Enable AI Search setting.
    Search Profile Search profile to use for searches in the application. This field appears only when you select AI Search as the application's search engine.

    Type: reference to a record from the Search Profile [ais_search_profile] table

    Search Results Limit Maximum number of search results the application should display on each search results page.

    This limit also specifies the minimum number of search results each query should return. When a search query returns less than this number of results, AI Search attempts to broaden the result set by automatically resubmitting the query with modified parameters. For more details on query resubmission, see Automatic search query resubmission.

    Type: integer

    Default value: 10

    Supported values: 0 or positive

    Genius Results Limit Maximum number of Genius Result answer cards the application should display on the search results page. This field appears only when you select AI Search as the application's search engine.

    Type: integer

    Supported values: 0 or positive

    When Genius Results Limit is set to 2 or greater and a search returns multiple Genius Result answers, the answer cards display in a carousel. You can scroll the carousel and select the answer card you want to take action from.

    Note:
    Search applications display a maximum of 10 answer cards per search query. If you set this limit to 11 or more, the search application still displays a maximum of 10 answer cards.
    Starting with version 6 of Now Assist in AI Search, installing Now Assist in AI Search makes the value of this field default to 10 instead of 1 when you create a new search application configuration or edit an existing one.
    Attachment Limit Maximum number of grouped attachments to display by default on a parent search result when attachment grouping is specified in Show parent for results that are attachments.

    Attachments beyond this limit are hidden by default and only shown when you select Show more in the parent search result's attachments list.

    Type: integer

    Default value: 5

    Supported values: 0 or positive

    Enable Typo Handling Option to auto-correct search query terms to match terms found in the search profile's typo handling dictionary. This field appears only when you select AI Search as the application's search engine.

    For more details on typo handling auto-correction configuration and behavior, see Typo handling.

    Type: true | false

    Supported values:
    • true: Auto-correct search query terms in the search application.
    • false: Don't auto-correct search query terms in the search application.
    Enable Exact Match Option to use exact matching in the search application.
    When this option is selected, if a search result's Number field exactly matches the search, the application displays the record or document associated with that search result, bypassing the search results page. Exact matching also bypasses any custom matchers defined for the search application.
    Important:
    Exact match is not supported in portals. If you enable this option for a portal, users searching in that portal may experience navigation issues.

    Exact match behavior is controlled by the com.snc.agent_workspace.global_search.typeahead.exact_match_request_criterion_regex system property. This property's value is a Java regular expression pattern. Only search queries that match the regular expression pattern are evaluated as possible exact record matches. For details on Java regular expression pattern syntax, see the Javadoc for the java.regex.util.Pattern class.

    Type: true | false

    Default value: true

    Supported values:
    • true: Use exact matching in the search application.
    • false: Don't use exact matching in the search application.
    Show parent for results that are attachments Option to display attachment search results inline with their parent results on the search application's results page. If cleared, attachment search results display separately from their parent results.

    For more details on the effects of attachment grouping, see Grouping attachment search results with their parent search results.

    Type: true | false

    Default value: true

    Supported values:
    • true: Group attachment search results inline with their parent results in the search application.
    • false: Display attachment search results separately from their parent results in the search application.
    Filter Genius Results by tab Option to filter Genius Result searches based on the selected source facet bucket.

    In a search application that has this option enabled, when you select a source from the application's source facet, Genius Result searches honor the source filter and so can only return results from the selected source. This means that only Genius Result configurations that include information from the selected source can generate Genius Result answers in the search application. Genius Result configurations that don't include information from the selected source don't return any search results and thus can't generate Genius Result answers.

    As an example, suppose you select the Knowledge source facet bucket in a search application that has this option selected. With that Knowledge source selection applied, Q&A Genius Results, which include information from the Knowledge source, can still find search results and generate Genius Result answers. But Catalog Item Genius Results, which include information from the Catalog Item source which isn't selected, can't find search results and so can't generate Genius Result answers.
    Note:
    The Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results configuration (from the Now Assist in AI Search ServiceNow Store application) includes information from multiple sources, so it can generate Genius Result answers no matter which source is selected. To learn more about Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results, see Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results.
    Show Search Results Count Option to display search result counts for facets on the search application's results page.

    For more details on this option, see Show search result counts for facets on the results page for a search application.

    Type: true | false

    Default value: true

    Supported values:
    • true: Display search result counts for facets on the search application's results page.
    • false: Don't display search result counts for facets on the search application's results page.