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sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/delta-zurich-australia

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ft:locale :

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ft:publication_title :

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---

# Combined AI Search release notes for upgrades from Zurich to Australia

# Combined AI Search release notes for upgrades from Zurich to Australia {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated November 5, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 11 minutes to read
Summarize  
![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI  
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## Summary of Combined AI Search Release Notes for Upgrades from Zurich to Australia

This consolidated release notes document assists ServiceNow customers in preparing for AI Search upgrades from the Zurich to Australia release.
It summarizes new features, changes, and important upgrade considerations to ensure a smooth transition and to help optimize AI Search usage across your ServiceNow environment.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Features

* **Standard HTML Anchors for Links:** Both search suggestion links and search result title links can now be configured as standard HTML anchors. This preserves search state and enables users to open suggestions or results in new browser tabs via native browser functions, improving user navigation.
* **ServiceNow Otto for AI Search:** The conversational AI platform formerly known as Now Assist has been rebranded as ServiceNow Otto for AI Search. It provides agentic capabilities, multimodal interactions, and autonomous orchestration across workflows and channels. Key terminology updates accompany this change.
* **Multi-Content Synthesized Responses:** AI Search now synthesizes information from multiple indexed sources to generate richer, combined search answers.
* **Hybrid Search Mode:** Available starting with AI Search 15.0, hybrid search combines keyword-based and semantic search to improve result accuracy and reduce zero-result queries. Administrators can enable this on instances with ServiceNow Otto installed.
* **Third-Party Embedding Models:** Integration with custom and third-party embedding models via the AI Search RAG application enhances semantic search relevance.
* **Language Filtering for External Content:** AI Search filters external content results based on the user's session language, fallback languages, and global locale settings to improve result relevance.
* **Indexing Support for Catalog Item Variables:** Searchable content can now be indexed from Multiple Choice and Select Box variables in Catalog Item tables and their extensions.
* **New EVAM Card Display Properties:** Search result cards support new customizable display properties like custom icons, icon size, forced new tab opening, and attachment viewer usage.
* **Multimodal Captioning for Attachments (Australia release):** Automatically generates searchable captions for images, tables, charts, and other visual attachments to enable keyword-based attachment search.
* **AI Search as Source for Ask ServiceNow Otto Suggestions (Australia release):** Administrators can configure AI Search to power Ask ServiceNow Otto suggestions in enhanced chat, enabling suggestion highlighting, wildcard search, and lemmatization.

## Changes

* **Summary Genius Results:** Activating Summary Genius Results (formerly Multi-Content Response) in global or workspace search profiles overrides other Genius Result types to display only summary answers. Virtual Agent topic citations open in the ServiceNow Otto panel for continued user interactions.
* **Search Suggestions Administration:** The new aisadmin granular admin role allows search administrators controlled access to Search Suggestions tables without full admin permissions.
* **Search Preview UI Improvements:** A refreshed UI lets administrators preview search query results with options for keyword or hybrid search, EVAM card or JSON result display, and detailed query behavior analysis using new admin tools.
* **Consumer-Grade Search UI Enhancements:** Search results pages for portals, global, and workspace search now use source facet buckets instead of navigation tabs, open results in new tabs by default, and display minimum result counts reflecting content security filtering. Search terms are no longer highlighted in results.
* **Facet Bucket Sorting:** A new system property enables sorting facet buckets alphabetically instead of by result count.
* **Improved Grouped Attachment Display:** Attachments grouped with parent results appear collapsed by default with show more/less controls for better space management.
* **Coral Theme:** Introduced as the default theme for new portal, web, and mobile experiences, Coral offers a fresh, brand-neutral look with dark mode support.

## Upgrade and Activation Considerations

* AI Search is enabled by default as a ServiceNow AI Platform feature in both Zurich and Australia releases.
* For optimal AI Search performance, use the latest versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Internet Explorer is not supported.
* AI Search supports indexing and searching across all languages provided by the ServiceNow AI Platform, with features such as stop words and synonyms available in many supported languages.

## Practical Impact for ServiceNow Customers

Upgrading from Zurich to Australia enhances AI Search with improved user navigation, more relevant and precise search results through hybrid and semantic search, and a more intuitive search experience across portals and workspaces. The rebranding to ServiceNow Otto aligns AI Search with ServiceNow's broader conversational AI capabilities, enabling richer interactions and workflow automation. Administrators gain finer control over search suggestions, enhanced preview and analysis tools, and new display customization options that improve user engagement and search effectiveness. These improvements help ensure users find answers faster and interact more efficiently with AI-driven search within the ServiceNow platform.  
Consolidated page of all release notes for AI Search from Zurich to Australia.

## How to use this page

To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family AI Search release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Zurich to Australia.  
Tip:  
If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

## Important information for upgrading AI Search to Australia

Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__2}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## New features

Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for AI Search.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__8}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | [Display search suggestion links as standard HTML anchors](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-search-suggestion-links-standard-html-anchors&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Preserve your search state in portal search and global/workspace search by configuring display of search suggestion links as standard HTML anchors. With this setting configured, you can open search suggestions in new browser tabs using your browser's native right-click or long-press functionality. [Display search result title links as standard HTML anchors](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-search-result-links-standard-html-anchors&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Preserve your search state in portal search and global/workspace search by configuring display of search result title links as standard HTML anchors. With this setting configured, you can open search results in new browser tabs using your browser's native right-click or long-press functionality. [ServiceNow Otto for AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : ServiceNow Otto introduced AI on the platform. As that experience has evolved, there's a new name for the experience. ServiceNow Otto® is the conversational AI platform integrated into ServiceNow workflows. It provides agentic capabilities, supports multimodal interactions across web, mobile, and messaging channels, and enables autonomous orchestration for cross-system workflows. Name changes include but aren't limited to: * Now Assist in AI Search is now ServiceNow Otto for AI Search. * Now Assist Actions is now Actions. * Now Assist Q\&A is now Knowledge base articles. * Now Assist Multi-Content Response is now Summary. [Generate multi-content synthesized responses](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=generate-multi-content-synthesized-sources&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   AI Search can now use multi-source synthesis to gather and combine information from any indexed source in your system. [Improve search precision and contextual relevance with hybrid search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=hybrid-search-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Beginning with Now Assist in AI Search 15.0, customers with Now Assist in AI Search installed can enable the new hybrid search mode. Hybrid search combines keyword-based search with semantic understanding to deliver more accurate and relevant search results, with fewer zero-result searches. [Improve semantic search with third-party embedding models](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ais-rag&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use custom and third-party embedding models supported by the AI Search RAG application to generate more accurate and relevant semantic search results. [Filter external content search results by language](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=language-filtering-external-content&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   AI Search filters external content search results, displaying only results that contain content in languages relevant for the user's search. These languages include: * The search user's session language * The fallback language for the user's session language (if configured) * The language of the global fallback locale (if configured) [Indexing support for variables in records on Catalog Item and child tables](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=variable-types-ais-index&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Index searchable content from Multiple Choice and Select Box variables in records on the Catalog Item table and tables that extend it. [New display properties for Search Result EVAM cards](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=search-result-evam-card-opts&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Search Result EVAM cards include new customIcon, customIconSize, forceNewTab, and useAttachmentViewer properties that you can use to modify display settings and behavior for search results. |
| Australia | [Display search suggestion links as standard HTML anchors](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-search-suggestion-links-standard-html-anchors&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Preserve your search state in portal search and global/workspace search by configuring display of search suggestion links as standard HTML anchors. With this setting configured, you can open search suggestions in new browser tabs using your browser's native right-click or long-press functionality. [Display search result title links as standard HTML anchors](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-search-result-links-standard-html-anchors&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Preserve your search state in portal search and global/workspace search by configuring display of search result title links as standard HTML anchors. With this setting configured, you can open search results in new browser tabs using your browser's native right-click or long-press functionality. [ServiceNow Otto for AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-ais&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : ServiceNow Otto introduced AI on the platform. As that experience has evolved, there's a new name for the experience. ServiceNow Otto® is the conversational AI platform integrated into ServiceNow workflows. It provides agentic capabilities, supports multimodal interactions across web, mobile, and messaging channels, and enables autonomous orchestration for cross-system workflows. Name changes include but aren't limited to: * Now Assist in AI Search is now ServiceNow Otto for AI Search. * Now Assist Action Genius Results are now Action Genius Results. * Now Assist Q\&A Genius Results are now Knowledge base article Genius Results. * Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results are now Summary Genius Results. [MCP Server](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=mcp-platform-manager-landing&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   AI Search capabilities are now available through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Search tool category. [Generate multi-content synthesized responses](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=generate-multi-content-synthesized-sources&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   AI Search can now use multi-source synthesis to gather and combine information from any indexed source in your system. [Multimodal captioning for attachments](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=activate-multimodal-captioning&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Multimodal captioning automatically generates searchable descriptive captions for images, tables, charts, and other visual elements in indexed attachments. Find attachments by searching for keywords from generated captions. [Improve search precision and contextual relevance with hybrid search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=hybrid-search-ais&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Beginning with Now Assist in AI Search 15.0, administrators on instances with Now Assist in AI Search installed can enable the new hybrid search mode. Hybrid search combines keyword-based search with semantic understanding to deliver more accurate and relevant search results, with fewer zero-result searches. [Configure AI Search as the source for Ask ServiceNow Otto® suggestions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=configure-ai-search-source-ask-now-assist-suggestions&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Admins can configure the system to use AI Search as the source for Ask ServiceNow Otto® suggestions in enhanced chat. Making this change activates suggestion term highlighting in Ask ServiceNow Otto® and provides improvements such as wildcard searching and lemmatization for suggestions. |
[ ]

## Changes

Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing AI Search features.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__14}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | [Summary Genius Results](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-multi-content-qna-genius-results&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   If you have Now Assist in AI Search installed, Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results are supported in global and workspace search. Activating Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results in global or workspace search profiles overrides all other Genius Result configurations, so that global and workspace searches only display Genius Result answers from Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results. Virtual Agent topic citations from Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Result answers in global or workspace search open the selected topic in the Now Assist panel so the user can continue their conversation on that topic. [Search Suggestions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=search-suggestions-overview&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Search administrators with the ais_admin granular admin role can access all Search Suggestions tables. Assign search administrators this role to eliminate needless propagation of full admin access. [Gain insights into search behavior with a refreshed and updated Search Preview UI.](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=search-preview-ui-new&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Preview search query results using settings from a search application configuration or a search profile. Choose between keyword and hybrid search modes. Display search results as individual EVAM cards or as a JSON-format search query response object, with search and syntax highlighting. Review search query behavior and results and specify search query settings with the new Summary, Genius Results, Details, and Profile admin tools. Coral theme :   Coral is now the default theme for new portal, web, and mobile experiences with Next Experience or Core UI enabled. This theme provides a fresh look and feel, featuring brand-neutral illustrations to enhance your user experience. A dark theme option is available for web and mobile experiences. [Consumer-grade search experience for search portals](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=viewing-search-results-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   The search results page for search portals has been revised to offer a more intuitive and consistent experience. Navigation tabs have been replaced with source facet buckets. All search results now open in a new browser tab, preserving your search in the existing browser tab. Facet buckets now show minimum search result counts, reflecting results removed by late binding content security. Search terms are no longer highlighted in search results. [Consumer-grade search experience for global search and workspace search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=using-ais-next-experience-app&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   The search results page for global search and workspace search has been revised to offer a more intuitive and consistent experience. Navigation tabs have been replaced with source facet buckets. All search results now open in a new browser tab, preserving your search in the existing browser tab. Facet buckets now show minimum search result counts, reflecting results removed by late binding content security. A new glide.ui.ais.show_all_facets system property enables you to display facets from all sources when no source is selected. (The default behavior is to hide facets until a source is selected.) Search terms are no longer highlighted in search results. [Sort facet buckets alphabetically](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-facet-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Override the default sorting of facet buckets by their search result counts and display them sorted alphabetically by their labels. [Improved display for grouped attachment search results](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=grouping-attachment-srch-results-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   When grouped with their parent search results, attachment search results now appear in collapsed form to save space. If a parent search result includes more than three grouped attachments, you can use the new Show more and Show less links to control how many attachments are visible. |
| Australia | [Summary Genius Results](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-multi-content-qna-genius-results&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   If you have ServiceNow Otto for AI Search installed, ServiceNow Otto® Summary Genius Results are supported in global and workspace search. Activating ServiceNow Otto® Summary Genius Results in global or workspace search profiles overrides all other Genius Result configurations, so that global and workspace searches only display Genius Result answers from Summary Genius Results. Virtual Agent topic citations from ServiceNow Otto® Summary Genius Result answers in global or workspace search open the selected topic in the ServiceNow Otto® panel so the user can continue their conversation on that topic. [Search Suggestions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=search-suggestions-overview&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Search administrators with the ais_admin granular admin role can access all Search Suggestions tables. Assign search administrators this role to eliminate needless propagation of full admin access. [Gain insights into search behavior with a refreshed and updated Search Preview UI.](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=search-preview-ui-new&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Preview search query results using settings from a search application configuration or a search profile. Choose between keyword and hybrid search modes. Display search results as individual EVAM cards or as a JSON-format search query response object, with search and syntax highlighting. Review search query behavior and results and specify search query settings with the new Summary, Genius Results, Details, and Profile admin tools. |
[ ]

## Removed

Between your current release family and Australia, some AI Search features or functionality were removed.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__20}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Deprecations

Between your current release family and Australia, some AI Search features or functionality were deprecated.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__26}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Activation information

Review information on how to activate AI Search.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__32}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | Activation information :   AI Search is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
| Australia | Activation information :   AI Search is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
[ ]

## Additional requirements

If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for AI Search we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__38}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Browser requirements

If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for AI Search we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__44}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | Browser requirements :   For optimal performance, use AI Search in the latest release of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. AI Search doesn't support Internet Explorer. |
| Australia | Browser requirements :   For optimal performance, use AI Search in the latest release of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. AI Search doesn't support Internet Explorer. |
[ ]

## Accessibility information

Review details on accessibility information for AI Search, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__50}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Localization information

If there are specific localization considerations for AI Search we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__56}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | Localization information :   AI Search supports indexing and search in all languages offered by the ServiceNow AI Platform. Search features, such as stop words and synonyms, are available in many supported languages. For details of language support by feature, see [Internationalization support](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=international-language-support-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US). |
| Australia | Localization information :   AI Search supports indexing and search in all languages offered by the ServiceNow AI Platform. Search features, such as stop words and synonyms, are available in many supported languages. For details of language support by feature, see [Internationalization support](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=international-language-support-ais&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US). |
[ ]

## Highlight information

If there are specific highlight considerations for AI Search we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-aisearch-summary__entry__62}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Zurich | * Index and search text and attachments from ServiceNow AI Platform tables and external document repositories. * Machine learning relevancy intelligently tunes search result relevancy scores based on previous search users' selections. * Semantic vector search and hybrid search modes find results that match the intent and context of your search. * Genius Results highlight the best answers for a search query and provide immediate access to relevant actions. * Content security preserves user access permissions for your searchable content. See [AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=overview-ais&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. |
| Australia | * Index and search text and attachments from ServiceNow AI Platform tables and external document repositories. * Machine learning relevancy intelligently tunes search result relevancy scores based on previous search users' selections. * Semantic vector search and hybrid search modes find results that match the intent and context of your search. * Genius Results highlight the best answers for a search query and provide immediate access to relevant actions. * Content security preserves user access permissions for your searchable content. See [AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=overview-ais&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. |
[ ]


