Rule - Action Mapping form

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated March 28, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Rule - Action Mapping form

    The Rule - Action Mapping form in ServiceNow's AI Search enables you to associate a boost action with a result improvement rule within a search profile. This configuration allows you to influence search result relevancy dynamically based on defined criteria, enhancing the effectiveness of search results for your users.

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    Key Features

    • Label: Assign a unique identifier for each boost action.
    • Type and Application: Automatically set to "Boost Action" and scoped to the current application.
    • Order: Determines the sequence in which boost actions are evaluated within the result improvement rule.
    • Boost Type: Defines how the boost action applies relevance adjustments to search results from a specified indexed source. Supported boost types include:
      • Boost All Documents In Indexed Source: Applies a relevancy boost to all results from the indexed source.
      • Boost By User Context (dynamic): Applies boost if a search result’s field value matches a value dynamically derived from the searcher's context.
      • Boost By Field Match (static): Applies boost when the search result’s field matches a specified static value.
      • Boost By Synonym Dictionary: Applies boost if the search result’s field matches any synonym defined in a synonym dictionary.
    • Indexed Source: Specifies the data source to which the boost action applies.
    • Boost Weight: An integer value that adjusts the relevancy score. Positive values increase relevancy (each unit adds 0.1% of the original score), while negative values decrease it. Multiple boosts on a single result sum their weights to determine the final relevancy adjustment.
    • Conditional Fields: Depending on the boost type, you configure fields such as:
      • When: Field from the indexed source to evaluate for boosting.
      • Matches the Searcher's Dynamically Populated User Context Element: For dynamic user context boosts, selects the user context field to match against the result’s field value.
      • Contains: For static boosts, defines the static value to compare.
      • Matches A Synonym Dictionary: For synonym-based boosts, selects the synonym dictionary to use.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring boost actions with this form, you can tailor search relevancy precisely to your organizational needs, improving search result quality and user satisfaction. Whether boosting based on user context, specific field values, or synonym matches, you gain granular control over how search results are ranked and displayed.

    Understanding and applying boost weights allow you to fine-tune the impact of each rule, ensuring that the most relevant results are prioritized while less relevant ones are demoted, directly influencing the efficiency and effectiveness of your AI Search deployments.

    The Rule - Action Mapping form enables you to link a boost action to a result improvement rule in an AI Search search profile.

    For information on configuring boost actions in result improvement rules, see Boost search results using a result improvement rule.

    Table 1. Rule - Action Mapping form
    Field Description
    Label Unique label for the boost action.
    Type Action type. This field is automatically set to Boost Action.
    Application Application scope for the boost action. This field is automatically set to the name of the current application.
    Order Order of evaluation for the boost action in the context of the result improvement rule.
    Boost Action
    Boost Type Type of boost the action applies to search results from the selected indexed source.
    Supported types include:
    • Boost All Documents In Indexed Source: Applies relevancy boost to every search result from the indexed source.
    • Boost By User Context (dynamic): Applies relevancy boost to search results from the indexed source if they include a value for the selected field that matches a field value specified in the dynamically populated user context.
    • Boost By Field Match (static): Applies relevancy boost to search results from the indexed source if they include a value for the selected field that matches a specified static value.
    • Boost By Synonym Dictionary: Applies relevancy boost to search results from the indexed source if they include a value for the selected field that matches any synonym defined in a synonym dictionary.
    Indexed Source Reference to an indexed source. The boost action only applies to search results for records from this indexed source.
    Boost Weight Integer value that AI Search uses to alter the relevancy scores for search results affected by the boost action. Boost weights can be positive or negative.

    Positive boost weights increase the relevancy scores for boosted search results. Each boost weight of 1 increases a boosted search result's relevancy score by 0.1% of its original value. For example, if you set a boost weight of 100, you increase each boosted search result's relevancy by +10%, so a search result with an original relevancy score of 60 gets a final relevancy score of 66. Setting a boost weight of 1000 adds +100%, doubling the relevancy scores for boosted search results.

    Negative boost weights reduce the relevancy scores for boosted search results. Each boost weight of –1 reduces a boosted result's relevancy score by 0.1% of its original value. As an example, if you set a boost weight of –150, you reduce a boosted search result's relevancy by 15%, so a search result with an original relevancy score of 100 gets a final relevancy score of 85. Any boost weight of –1000 or lower reduces a boosted search result's relevancy score to 0, causing it to appear at the end of the search result list.

    When a single search result is affected by multiple boost actions, AI Search adds the individual boost weights together to determine the total relevancy score modifier. For example, a search result boosted by three rules with boost weights 100, 150, and –25 has a total boost weight of 225, increasing its final relevancy score by 22.5% of its original value.
    When Name of a field from the selected indexed source. This field appears only when you select Boost By User Context (dynamic), Boost By Field Match (static), or Boost By Synonym Dictionary as the boost type.
    Matches the Searcher's Dynamically populated user context element to compare with a search result's value for the field selected in the When field. This field appears only when you select Boost By User Context (dynamic) as the boost type.

    The choice list displays the source table and field for each user context element. As an example, the Language user context element is populated using the User [sys_user] table's language field value for the search user.
    Contains Static value to compare with a search result's value for the field selected in the When field. This field appears only when you select Boost By Field Match (static) as the boost type.
    Matches A Synonym Dictionary Synonym dictionary to check for synonyms that match a search result's value for the field selected in the When field. This field appears only when you select Boost By Synonym Dictionary as the boost type.