AI Search for Sourcing and Procurement Operations

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of AI Search for Sourcing and Procurement Operations

    The AI Search application offers a modern, consumer-grade search experience across the Service Portal, Employee Center (EC), Mobile, and Virtual Agent specifically tailored for Sourcing and Procurement Operations in ServiceNow. It enables users to efficiently search for suppliers, supplier products, and purchasing information, enhancing sourcing and procurement workflows.

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    New customers receive the AI Search application preconfigured with their base system for Sourcing and Procurement Operations. Existing customers can integrate AI Search with their PSM-specific Shopping Hub search application by following provided configuration steps.

    Configuration

    To set up AI Search for your procurement environment, navigate to AI Search > Search Applications > Search Application Configurations and associate the AI Search engine with your Shopping Hub search application. Selecting a Search Profile is a crucial step, as it defines the search sources, conditions, and criteria powering your search results.

    The base system includes default search sources such as Supplier and Purchasing for EC and Service Portal, enabling searches across suppliers and their products. For the Shopping Hub application, only the Purchasing search source is available, focusing on supplier products. These sources appear as separate navigation tabs during searches.

    Additional configurable features within the search profile include synonyms, stop words, typo handling, Genius Results, and result improvement rules, allowing customization to refine search relevance.

    Note that the user interface of search results, including facets and filters, cannot be modified within Shopping Hub. However, AI Search faceting is supported in Shopping Hub results visible in Employee Center and Service Portal.

    Integration and Administration

    AI Search is automatically integrated with Shopping Hub. For extending AI Search to other applications or platforms, specific integration guidance is available. Administrative controls cover indexing and search behavior to optimize performance and accuracy.

    Using AI Search Across Platforms

    • ServiceNow Mobile: Supports advanced text search configurations to enable AI Search capabilities on mobile devices.
    • Service Portal and Employee Center: AI Search can be enabled to provide users with powerful and intuitive search experiences within these interfaces.
    • Virtual Agent: Utilizes AI Search to deliver relevant search results within bot conversations when predefined topics are unavailable, enhancing virtual assistance.

    Key Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Improves search relevance and user experience in sourcing and procurement contexts by leveraging AI-powered search capabilities.
    • Facilitates quick access to supplier and purchasing information, accelerating procurement processes.
    • Provides configurable search profiles and sources to tailor search behavior based on organizational needs.
    • Seamlessly integrates with multiple ServiceNow interfaces, including Mobile, Service Portal, Employee Center, and Virtual Agent.

    The AI Search application provides a modern consumer-grade search engine for the Service Portal, Employee Center (EC), Mobile, and Virtual Agent.

    New customers automatically have the AI Search application configured with their base system for Sourcing and Procurement Operations. Existing customers can configure the PSM-specific Shopping Hub search application to use the AI Search application by following the configuration steps.

    For more information, see AI Search.

    Configuration
    For detailed information on configuring the AI Search application, see Configuring AI Search.
    Navigate to AI Search > Search Applications > Search Application Configurations to associate the AI Search engine with your Shopping Hub search application.
    Note:
    For more information, see Create a search application configuration for AI Search.
    In the Search Application Configuration form of your application, select a Search Profile to get started. A search profile determines the search sources, conditions, and criteria that power your search.
    Under each search profile, there are a series of tabs that enhance the AI search. The base system provides the following that you can also modify:
    • Search Sources: Along with the default search sources, Supplier and Purchasing are provided on EC and Service Portal for Sourcing and Procurement Operations, so that the applications are capable of searching through suppliers and supplier products for purchasing as well. For the PSM-specific Shopping Hub search application however, only the Purchasing search source is available, allowing you to search only for supplier products. These search sources are rendered as separate tabs when you search on these applications, and are listed under Navigation Tabs.
      Note:
      You can find more information on reviewing and updating your search sources here.
    • Synonyms
    • Stop Words
    • Typo Handling
    • Genius Results
    • Result Improvement Rules
    Note:

    For more information, see Defining search profiles.

    You cannot configure the UI of search results or change the available facets and filters from Shopping Hub. AI Search faceting is supported in Shopping Hub results in Employee Center and Service Portal.

    Integration
    AI Search is automatically integrated with Shopping Hub. For detailed information on integrating AI Search with other applications, see Integrating AI Search into your application.
    Administration
    To learn how the AI Search features and behavior affect indexing and search, see Administering AI Search.
    Using
    For information on how AI Search displays results, refinement filter options, and Genius Result answers, see Using AI Search.
    ServiceNow® Mobile
    To configure AI Search for the ServiceNow® Mobile, see Advanced text search in mobile.
    Service Portal or Employee Center
    To configure AI Search for the Service Portal or EC so that your users can take advantage of this powerful search tool, see AI Search in Service Portal.
    Virtual Agent
    Virtual Agent uses AI Search to return search results in bot conversations when there are no relevant topics to display. For more information, see Virtual Agent integration with AI Search.