Now Assist in AI Search release notes
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Summary of Now Assist in AI Search Release Notes - Zurich
Now Assist in AI Search integrates advanced AI-powered search capabilities with the Now LLM Service agentic AI model to deliver actionable, AI-generated or selected answers directly within user searches. The Zurich release introduces significant enhancements aimed at improving search precision, user experience, and configuration simplicity for ServiceNow customers.
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Key Features
- Disambiguation for Broad Queries (Zurich Patch 8): Now Assist can prompt users with clarifying questions to better understand broad or unclear search intents, increasing accuracy and control.
- Automatic Activation (Zurich Patch 4): Guided Setup now automatically activates Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results for relevant search profiles, simplifying deployment.
- Hybrid Search: Combines keyword and semantic vector search to enhance recall and contextual relevance across knowledge articles, catalog items, external content, and topic retrieval.
- AI Search as Source for Ask Now Assist: Administrators can configure AI Search to power Ask Now Assist suggestions, enabling richer suggestion highlighting and flexible search operators within enhanced chat.
- Focused Auto-Complete Suggestions: Auto-complete respects user domain restrictions and excludes unwanted terms based on a configurable exclusion list, improving suggestion relevance in Virtual Agent prompts.
- Expanded AI Model Providers (Zurich Patch 1): Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude on AWS are added alongside Now LLM Service and Azure OpenAI, broadening AI model options for Now Assist skills and agents.
- Semantic Vector Indexing Enhancements: Catalog Item short descriptions are now indexed for improved search recall and consistency between keyword and semantic searches.
- Microsoft SharePoint Integration: Users are prompted to log in to SharePoint Online to view files shared with them when interacting with Knowledge Graph user citations in Multi-Content Response Genius Results.
- UI Improvements: The new Coral theme is now the default for portals, web, and mobile experiences, featuring brand-neutral illustrations and a dark theme option to enhance usability and reduce eye strain.
Changes and Maintenance
- Usage Measurement Update (Zurich Patch 5): Now Assist usage tracking shifts from a 365-day look-back model to a 365-day burn-down model, resetting at contract anniversaries for clearer usage analysis.
- Now Assist Q&A and Actions Genius Results: Both features enter maintenance mode with no new enhancements but continued support. Their functionalities are superseded by the newer Multi-Content Response Genius Results.
Activation and Availability
Now Assist in AI Search is available through the ServiceNow Store and installs automatically with various licensed Now Assist applications across multiple domains such as ITSM, HRSD, CSM, and more. This integrated activation ensures customers receive AI-enhanced search capabilities seamlessly with their existing ServiceNow products.
Localization and Accessibility
The application supports Dynamic Translation in Genius Results to cater to diverse language needs. The Coral theme includes a dark mode option to improve readability and reduce eye strain for web and mobile users.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Improved search relevance and precision through hybrid search and disambiguation, leading to faster and more accurate information retrieval.
- Simplified setup and activation processes reduce administrative overhead and speed time to value.
- Expanded AI model choices offer flexibility to align AI services with organizational preferences or compliance requirements.
- Enhanced user experience with updated UI themes and smarter auto-complete suggestions tailored to user domains.
- Integration with Microsoft SharePoint Online enhances content accessibility directly from search results.
The ServiceNow® Now Assist in AI Search application combines the power of search with the Now LLM Service agentic AI model to provide actionable AI-generated or AI-selected answers in user searches. Now Assist in AI Search was enhanced and updated in the Zurich release.
Now Assist in AI Search highlights for the Zurich release
Zurich Patch 8
- Search can prompt users with clarifying questions for broad queries, improving intent matching and control.
Zurich Patch 5
- Review changes to Now Assist usage measurement.
Zurich Patch 4
- Simplify setup with automatic activation of Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results for search profiles when you use Guided Setup to activate the Now Assist panel.
- Increase search precision and contextual relevance for knowledge article, Catalog Item, external content, and topic retrieval searches with hybrid search.
- Improve the enhanced chat experience by configuring the system to use AI Search as the source for Ask Now Assist suggestions.
- Provide more focused auto-complete suggestions for enhanced chat that honor the search user's domain restriction and the exclusion list for unwanted suggestions.
Zurich Patch 1
- Use Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude on AWS as AI model providers for Now Assist skills and AI agents in addition to Now LLM Service and Azure OpenAI.
- Improve search recall and accuracy with semantic vector indexing of Catalog Item short descriptions.
- Prompt users to log in to Microsoft SharePoint Online as needed to see files shared with them when viewing Knowledge Graph user citations in Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Result answers
See Now Assist in AI Search for more information.
Important:
Now Assist in AI Search is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.
New in the Zurich release
- Zurich Patch 8
- Configure disambiguation
- If a search is broad or unclear, Now Assist in AI Search may ask follow-up questions before answering. This disambiguation step helps clarify what the user is looking for and is configurable.
- Zurich Patch 4
- Automatic activation for Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results
- When you use Guided Setup to activate the Now Assist panel, Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results are automatically activated for relevant search profiles.
- Hybrid search
- Hybrid search blends keyword search and semantic vector search to offer a blend of superior search recall and contextual relevance for knowledge article, Catalog Item, external content, and topic retrieval searches.
- Configure AI Search as the source for Ask Now Assist suggestions
- Admins can configure the system to use AI Search as the source for Ask Now Assist suggestions, enabling suggestion term highlighting and more flexible search operators in enhanced chat.
- Zurich Patch 1
- New third-party AI model provider options available for all Now Assist applications
- Google Gemini and AWS Claude are available for Now Assist skills and AI agents in addition to Now LLM Service and Azure OpenAI.
UI changes
- Zurich Patch 1
- 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.
Changed in this release
- Zurich Patch 5
- Changes to Now Assist usage measurement
- Starting with Zurich Patch 5, Now Assist usage measurement is transitioning from a 365-day look-back model to a 365-day burn-down model, with usage resetting at the contract anniversary date. For more information, refer to KB KB2704710: Now Assist Usage - Overview & New Measurement Logic.
- Zurich Patch 4
- Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversational prompt auto-complete suggestions
- Auto-complete suggestions for Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversational prompts are only returned from the search user's domain. Suggestions are disabled if they match any exclusion rule entry from the Search Suggestion Exclusion List [sys_search_suggestion_blacklist] table. The system scores suggestions based on how search users interact with and rate their Genius Result responses, and preferentially displays higher-scored suggestions.
- Zurich Patch 1
- Semantic vector search indexing includes Catalog Item short descriptions
- Semantic indexing now indexes short descriptions from Catalog Item source records to improve search recall and make field indexing more consistent between legacy (keyword) and semantic indexing.
- Now Assist Q&A Genius Results
- The Now Assist Q&A Genius Results feature is in maintenance mode. This feature will have no new enhancements but will have continued support. Similar and improved functionality is available in the newer Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results feature. For more details on this feature, see Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results.
- Now Assist Actions Genius Results
- The Now Assist Actions Genius Results feature is in maintenance mode. This feature will have no new enhancements but will have continued support. Similar and improved functionality is available in the newer Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results feature. For more details on this feature, see Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Results.
- Microsoft SharePoint Online login prompts in Knowledge Graph user citations
- If you're not logged in to Microsoft SharePoint Online, Knowledge Graph user citations in Now Assist Multi-Content Response Genius Result answers now prompt you to log in. When logged in, you can check any user citation in a Genius Result answer to see the list of files the cited user has shared with you in Microsoft SharePoint Online.
Activation information
Now Assist in AI Search is installed when you install any of the following licensed applications from the ServiceNow Store.
- Now Assist for Accounts Payable Operations (APO)
- Now Assist for Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
- Now Assist for Customer Service Management (CSM)
- Now Assist for Enterprise Architecture (EA)
- Now Assist for Operational Sustainability Management
- Now Assist for Field Service Management (FSM)
- Now Assist for Financial Services Operations (FSO)
- Now Assist for Hardware Asset Management (HAM)
- Now Assist for Health and Safety
- Now Assist for HR Service Delivery (HRSD)
- Now Assist for IT Operations Management (ITOM)
- Now Assist for IT Service Management (ITSM)
- Now Assist for Legal Service Delivery (LSD)
- Now Assist for Public Sector Digital Services (PSDS)
- Now Assist for Integrated Risk Management (IRM)
- Now Assist for Security Incident Response
- Now Assist for Software Asset Management (SAM)
- Now Assist for Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO)
- Now Assist for Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM)
- Now Assist for Supplier Lifecycle Operations (SLO)
- Now Assist for Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT)
- Now Assist for Third-party Risk Management (TPRM)
- Now Assist for Workplace Service Delivery (WSD)
- Now Assist in Contract Management
- Now Assist in Conversational Spokes
- ServiceNow AI Lens
Accessibility information
- Dark theme
- The new Coral theme includes a dark theme option for web and mobile experiences. This option is commonly used to alleviate eye strain and improve readability.
Localization information
Now Assist in AI Search supports Dynamic Translation in Now Assist Genius Results. For details, see Dynamic Translation for Now Assist Q&A Genius Results and Dynamic Translation for Now Assist Actions Genius Results.