ServiceNow Otto for AI Search properties

Release version: Australia

Updated July 25, 2026

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Summary of ServiceNow Otto for AI Search properties

ServiceNow Otto for AI Search properties enable you to customize how the AI Search Genius Results feature operates, particularly in handling Knowledge base articles answers. These system properties allow you to control caching behavior, query handling, answer generation timeouts, and input sanitization to optimize AI Search performance and relevance.

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Key Features

Semantic Cache Mode (snaisassist.semanticcachemode): Controls the caching and use of the Now LLM Service for Knowledge base articles Genius Results. You can configure three modes:
- off: Uses only the first-level cache and the Now LLM Service. Directly queries LLM if no exact cache match exists.
- offline: Uses first- and second-level caches but does not query the Now LLM Service. Returns no answer if caches miss.
- online: Uses both cache levels and the Now LLM Service if caches miss, updating caches with new answers.
This property is not present by default and must be added manually to override the default off setting.
LLM API Timeout (snaisassist.ullmapitimeout): Specifies the maximum wait time in seconds for receiving answer generation results from the LLM. The default is 120 seconds. This property also requires manual addition to modify.
Question Regex Filter (snaisassist.uquestionregex): Defines a case-insensitive Java regular expression pattern that restricts which search queries are eligible for Q&A answer generation. For example, a pattern can limit eligibility to questions starting with common interrogatives like "what," "where," or "how." If unset, all supported searches are eligible.
HTML Sanitization Option (snaisassist.usanitizehtml): Enables removal of HTML tags from knowledge article content before sending to the LLM. Default is false. This can improve answer quality by providing clean text input. This property is not available by default and must be added if needed.

Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers

By configuring these properties, you can tailor AI Search behavior to meet your organization’s needs:

Optimize performance and cost: Choose cache modes to balance between response speed, LLM usage, and answer freshness.
Control answer eligibility: Use regex filtering to focus AI answer generation on relevant question types.
Improve answer quality: Enable HTML sanitization to provide cleaner content to the LLM.
Manage response time: Adjust the API timeout to fit your operational requirements.

To apply these customizations, you must add or modify corresponding system properties in the sysproperties table using the ServiceNow interface.

System properties that you can use to modify behavior for ServiceNow® Otto for AI Search Genius Results.

These properties are available for ServiceNow Otto for AI Search.

Note:

To open the System Property [sys_properties] table's list view, select All, enter sys_properties.list in the Filter field, and press Enter.

Table 1. Properties for ServiceNow Otto for AI Search
Property	Description
sn_ais_assist.semantic_cache_mode	Operational mode for the Knowledge base articles Genius Results caches. Use this mode to control how AI Search uses the caches and the Now LLM Service when looking for Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers. For details about how AI Search caches Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers, see Caching for Knowledge base articles Genius Results. Type: string Default value: off Supported values: off: Use the first-level cache and the Now LLM Service to find Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers. AI Search looks in the first-level cache for Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers that exactly match your search query and knowledge article result. If it doesn't find a matching answer, it sends your query and Knowledge article sys_id to the Now LLM Service for answer generation. Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers generated by the Now LLM Service populate the first-level cache. When using Dynamic Translation, AI Search bypasses the caches and queries the Now LLM Service to generate an answer for the Knowledge base articles Genius Result. offline: Use the first-level and second-level caches to find Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers. Don't submit queries to the Now LLM Service. AI Search looks in the first-level cache for Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers that exactly match your search query and knowledge article result. If it doesn't find a matching answer, it uses semantic vector search to look for answers that match the meaning of your query in the second-level cache. If no cached answers match your query and knowledge article result, AI Search returns no answer for the Knowledge base articles Genius Result. Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers found in the second-level cache populate the first-level cache. When using Dynamic Translation, AI Search bypasses the caches and returns no answer for the Knowledge base articles Genius Result. online: Use the first-level and second-level caches and the Now LLM Service to find Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers. AI Search looks in the first-level cache for Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers that exactly match your search query and knowledge article result. If it doesn't find a matching answer, it uses semantic vector search to look for answers that match the meaning of your query in the second-level cache. If no cached answers match your query and knowledge article result, AI Search submits the query and article sys_id to the Now LLM Service for answer generation. Knowledge base articles Genius Result answers generated by the Now LLM Service populate the first-level and second-level caches. When using Dynamic Translation, AI Search bypasses the caches and queries the Now LLM Service to generate an answer for the Knowledge base articles Genius Result. Location: Not present in the System Property [sys_properties] table by default. To override the default value, add this property by following the steps in Add a system property.
sn_ais_assist.u_llm_api_timeout	Maximum time in seconds to wait for Knowledge base articles Genius Result answer generation results from the LLM. Type: integer Default value: 120 Location: Not present in the System Property [sys_properties] table by default. To override the default value, add this property by following the steps in Add a system property.
sn_ais_assist.u_question_regex	Case-insensitive Java regular expression pattern that defines searches eligible for Q&A answer generation. As an example, the pattern `^(what\|where\|when\|why\|who\|whom\|which\|how)\b` restricts eligibility to search queries that begin with one of the specified keywords. When this system property has a value defined, only searches in supported applications that match the specified pattern are eligible for Q&A answer generation. When no value is defined, all searches in supported applications are eligible for Q&A answer generation. Type: string Default value: none Location: System Property [sys_properties] table To learn about Java regular expression pattern syntax, see the Javadoc for the java.regex.util.Pattern class.
sn_ais_assist.u_sanitize_html	Option to remove HTML tags from knowledge article text before sending to the LLM for Knowledge base articles Genius Result answer generation. Type: true \| false Default value: false Location: Not present in the System Property [sys_properties] table by default. To override the default value, add this property by following the steps in Add a system property.