---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-administration

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration

ft:clusterId :

    - platadm

bundleId :

    - platadm

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Use global search

# Using global search with AI Search for Next Experience {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated July 24, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 8 minutes to read

Global search enables you to search multiple record types at once from the Next Experience
Unified Navigation search field. You can switch between global search results and results from workspace applications that you have access to.

## Search in the Unified Navigation search field {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_ypj_ktk_zsb}

To use global search, enter your search query in the Unified Navigation search field, then select View all results for "\<search-query\>" or press Enter.  

![Unified Navigation search field.]()  

![Unified Navigation search field with search terms entered, showing the View results link.]()  
The search results page displays a list of previews for records that match your search query. You can open any search result record in a new browser tab by selecting its preview in the list. Your search remains open in your original browser tab, so you can return to it and refine it.  
Note:  
AI Search administrators can configure search results to open in the same browser tab as the search. To make this change, edit the EVAM configuration bundle from the EVAM definition for the \[AIS\] Next Experience Search Configuration search application, setting the forceNewTab property to false in the relevant Search Result card EVAM view configurations. For more details on editing EVAM display settings for search results, see [Configure EVAM display settings for search results in AI Search applications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ZBCUKI0YUncjPFo9_5qLaA "Customize display settings for Search Result EVAM (Entity View Action Mapping) cards in portal and non-portal AI Search applications.") and [List of Search Result EVAM card properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/VE7H8A9ZBuGjvQwBr9b46w "You can customize the appearance of standard search results in your AI Search application by changing these properties in the application's Search Result EVAM (Entity View Action Mapping) cards.").  

<br />

Note:  
When you search with a search query, the system only displays results for records included in the AI Search index. Search queries won't match records that have never been indexed or records that have been purged from the index by a retention policy. AI Search administrators can configure indexing and retention policy settings. For details on these settings, see [Indexing content from AI Search indexed sources](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/04ZhBzF4VNO3j4BKYhssrg "AI Search indexes records on indexed source tables to make their content searchable.") and [Indexed source retention policies and filter conditions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/03aJI~h58vc6qEirx3gtyw "To limit the set of records indexed from source tables, you can configure retention policies and filter conditions for your indexed sources. AI Search also uses these settings to automatically purge stale records from the index, optimizing search performance.").

AI Search administrators can customize the index fields displayed on search result previews. For details, see the customization section found in this topic.

## Narrow your search by source on the search results page {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_w1d_1qq_btb}

You can narrow your search to display only results from a particular search source. When you select one or more of the search results page's source facet bucket options, the page shows only those matching records that come from
the selected sources. To return to viewing matching records from all sources, clear the selected source facet bucket options or select Clear in the Sources list.  

<br />

AI Search administrators can configure display settings for source facet buckets. For details, see [Configure source facet buckets in an AI Search application configuration](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/_QK62ovb2p0wJALT63_Z7Q "Define settings for source facet buckets in a search application configuration. Users of the application can select source facet buckets to refine their search query results by search source.").

## Narrow your search by field value on the search results page {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_a3q_fkr_btb}

After you select one or more source facet buckets, you may see a Filters list. Each facet filter in this list indicates a field from your selected search source(s). The filter displays the field's values that are found on one or
more of your currently displayed search result records. When you select a facet filter value, your search narrows to show only those matching records that include the specified field value.

For example, suppose you select the Incident source facet bucket to view only Incident records that match your search query. The Filters list appears, displaying facet filters for Incident fields such as
Priority, State, Category, and Assignment Group. Selecting the In Progress value from the
State facet filter narrows your search to show only matching records for Incidents that are in progress.  

<br />

To remove an applied facet filter, select Clear by the facet field name, or Clear all to remove all applied filters at once. You can hide the Filters list by selecting
Hide filters.

AI Search administrators can define facets in search application configurations. For details, see [Create a facet in an AI Search application configuration](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/TljxLuNSVDJtoj3Bv0B~Ug "Define facets to refine your searches using categories dynamically generated from the current search results.").

In the base system, facets don't appear in the Filters list until you've selected a source facet bucket. Administrators can override this behavior and show all available facets in the Filters list by creating a
glide.ui.ais.show_all_facets system property record and setting its value to true. For more details on this system property, see [AI Search for Next Experience properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/K_35yrC2OfyPmWx9KLMcBA "A system property allows you to control whether facets are shown when no source is selected in global search and workspace search results pages.").

The Filters list defaults to displaying a count of matching search results for each facet bucket. Search administrators can configure this behavior in search application configurations. To learn more about result counts for
facets, see [Show search result counts for facets on the results page for a search application](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/0av7J6O05uJAXuWkJMqF7g "Display search result counts for facets on the results page for AI Search applications that use Seismic components. Search result counts for facets show the number of matching search results for each source facet bucket.").

## Sort your search results {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_hnp_n3r_btb}

By default, AI Search displays the most relevant search results first. To change the display order for records on the search results page, select a sort option from the sort menu.  

<br />

AI Search administrators can configure search result sort options. For details, see [Search result sort options in AI Search application configurations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/jlz0y5zM0GNiRWbsCh6Mjg#sort-options-srch-app-cfg-ais "A search result sort option enables users to display search results in an order determined by their field values. Applying a search result sort option overrides the default AI Search relevancy-based result order. You can define custom search result sort options for your AI Search applications.").

## Return to your starting point from the search results page {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_mkz_rs5_xrb}

To return to the page where you initiated your search, select the link with a left arrow that appears above the source facet buckets on the search results page. The title of this link indicates the page it returns you to. For
example, if you searched from the Home page, the link text would be Home, but if you searched from the Dashboards page, the link text would be Dashboards Overview.  

<br />

## Search suggestions in the Unified Navigation search field {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_hm2_kpr_btb}

AI Search displays auto-complete suggestions to help you get directly to the results you need. Suggestions may include recent search queries, recently viewed search results, or search queries or results that
match the terms you're typing into the search field.

Some suggestion types appear when you initially select the search field.  

<br />

Other suggestion types appear when you begin typing your search query into the search field.  

<br />

AI Search administrators can configure auto-complete suggestions. For details, see [Auto-complete suggestions in AI Search applications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/3webB35t96NRwaF09nqFeA#auto-complete-ais "Automatically display intelligent suggestions in your search application's input field, helping users formulate their searches or jump directly to relevant results. Suggestions can include relevant search results, popular queries, recent queries from the user's personal history, and popular search results.").

## Search for a specific record using Exact Match {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_hsy_nck_zsb}

Enter a record number into the Unified Navigation search field but don't press Enter or select View results. The search field displays a preview of the record with an Exact Match tag. Select the preview
to go directly to the matching record, bypassing the search results page.  

<br />

Note:  
When you search for a record by number, the system displays the matching record regardless of whether it's included in the AI Search index or not.

Exact matching returns results from tables with a prefix defined in the Number \[sys_number\] table. If the search includes a single term that starts with the table's prefix, AI Search returns an exact match result from the table if one exists. As an example, searching for the single term <kbd class="ph userinput">INC3263827</kbd> returns an exact match from the Incident \[incident\] table
because the search term starts with the INC prefix defined for that table.

If more than one record has a Number field value that exactly matches your search, AI Search displays the first exact match. An informational message reports the total number of exact matches and provides links to the other exact matches.

Search administrators can override the default exact match behavior by configuring custom search matchers. For details on this procedure, see [Create a custom search matcher for global search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/l~yu5auHaN1c94oigGHpeQ "Customize the global search experience to return exact match search results from a specified table and column (field). You can configure custom search matchers for search terms with prefixes followed by numbers, such as INT470271, or for numeric search terms with delimiter characters, such as 525-326-3827 or 2016/01/08.").

## View results for your search in an available workspace application {#using-ais-next-experience-app__id_bqw_xlv_trb}

If you have access to search in workspace applications, an arrow appears at the right of the Unified Navigation search field after you search that enables you to switch between the results in global search and in your workspace applications.  

<br />

For example, if the context menu in the illustration was available after you performed a global search, you could select CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace from the context menu to view results for the search
in CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace.

Exact matches open in the selected workspace application. For example, if you selected CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace, entered a record number, and selected the record preview in the search results, the
record would open in CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace.

## Customize display fields for your search result previews {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_yqv_bcy_dvb}

Search result previews display a default set of AI Search index fields. If you have the ais_admin role, you can customize the set of index fields a search result preview displays by modifying its EVAM view configuration. For information on EVAM view configurations, see [Entity View Action Mapping](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=exploring-entity-view-action-mapper&version=australia&pubname=australia-servicenow-platform&ft:locale=en-US).

When customizing a search result preview's EVAM view configuration, you can reference the AI Search index fields that exist on the previewed search result. To add a new AI Search index field to search results from an indexed source, define a map_to field setting. This field setting populates the index field on each affected search result with the value of
a field you specify from the search result's source record or document. For an overview of mapping source fields to AI Search index fields, see [Field settings for AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/n4utSaIdo7nxecr7ic7QWQ "A field setting controls indexing behavior for a specified field (column) on all records from an indexed source."). To create a new map_to field setting for one of your indexed sources, see [Create a field setting for an AI Search indexed source](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/3hmEkrK44opf2db6SqfMAw "Define an indexed source field setting to configure AI Search content indexing behavior for a specific field on source table records.").

## ServiceNow Otto® for Virtual Agent enhanced chat entry point {#using-ais-next-experience-app__section_u2j_qvk_13c}

If ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent enhanced chat is activated in the ServiceNow Otto panel, the search field in global and workspace search displays a search icon and Search or ask ServiceNow Otto® placeholder text. When you enter search terms, the search field displays ServiceNow Otto suggestions. Selecting a ServiceNow Otto suggestion takes you to enhanced chat in the dynamic window.  
Note:  
To see this enhanced chat entry point behavior, your instance must satisfy all of the following conditions:

* [ServiceNow Otto for AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/KKrNY4Mlb8okLL6_t88tFQ "The ServiceNow Otto for AI Search application combines the power of search with a large language model (LLM) to provide actionable AI-generated or AI-selected answers in user searches. By constraining the context passed to the LLM, ServiceNow Otto for AI Search can increase the likelihood that LLM responses are grounded in indexed content.") is installed.
* [ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-in-va-landing&version=australia&pubname=australia-conversational-interfaces&ft:locale=en-US) is installed.
* Enhanced chat is activated via the ServiceNow Otto panel. For details on activating enhanced chat, see [Activate ServiceNow Otto panel enhanced chat](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-panel-enhanced-activate&version=australia&pubname=australia-intelligent-experiences&ft:locale=en-US).

{#using-ais-next-experience-app__ul_hpn_vvk_13c}If these conditions aren't satisfied, the search field in global and workspace search doesn't display the icon and placeholder text or show ServiceNow Otto suggestions.

To learn about ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent enhanced chat, see [Enhanced chat](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-enhanced-chat&version=australia&pubname=australia-conversational-interfaces&ft:locale=en-US).