External Content Q&A Genius Results

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of External Content Q&A Genius Results

    External Content Q&A Genius Results provides AI-generated, concise answers sourced from documents within your Microsoft SharePoint Online environment. This feature integrates with ServiceNow AI Search by using an Integration Hub subflow to locate relevant documents and the Now LLM Service to generate answers based on their content and metadata. Each answer card includes the AI-generated response along with a link to download the source documents, allowing users to verify accuracy.

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    Users authenticate with their Microsoft SharePoint Online credentials, ensuring answers are generated only from documents they have access to. Feedback via thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons helps improve answer quality over time.

    Important: This feature is being prepared for future deprecation starting with the Now Assist in AI Search 10 release. It remains supported only on existing instances where it is currently in use and is no longer installed on new instances.

    Enabling External Content Q&A Genius Results

    To activate this capability, administrators must:

    • Ensure the ServiceNow IntegrationHub Enterprise Pack Installer plugin is installed.
    • Create and configure an OAuth application in the Microsoft Azure portal to authorize ServiceNow AI Platform connections.
    • Add the AllSites.FullControl SharePoint delegated permission with admin consent to the OAuth app.
    • Set the necessary OAuth configuration settings specific to External Content Q&A Genius Results.
    • Enable External Content Q&A Genius Results within one or more AI Search portals.

    After these steps, end users can authorize searches by signing into Microsoft SharePoint Online, granting the feature access to relevant documents.

    Note: Once enabled, all users with SharePoint Online credentials who use the configured AI Search portals can leverage the feature.

    Limitations

    • Supported by default only for English-language searches; additional languages can be enabled via Dynamic Translation.
    • Answers are generated exclusively from documents in SharePoint Online, not from other sites within your ServiceNow instance.

    Interaction with Other Search Features

    When generating answers, External Content Q&A Genius Results do not apply certain AI Search optimizations, including:

    • Result improvement rules
    • Stop word removal
    • Synonym expansion
    • Typo correction

    This ensures that the AI answer generation operates directly on the exact search terms and documents retrieved from SharePoint Online.

    Configuration Highlights

    • SharePoint API Permissions: The OAuth 2.0 application must have the AllSites.FullControl delegated permission with admin consent to enable document search access.
    • OAuth Settings: Required OAuth configurations must be defined to establish communication between ServiceNow and SharePoint Online.
    • Content Scope Restriction: Administrators can restrict searchable SharePoint sites by defining Microsoft Keyword Query Language (KQL) queries, limiting the documents eligible for answer generation.
    • User Authorization: End users must sign in to SharePoint Online to obtain an OAuth token that authorizes document searching and answer generation.

    External Content Q&A Genius Results display concise, actionable AI-generated answers derived from documents in your Microsoft SharePoint Online instance.

    Important:
    Starting with the Now Assist in AI Search 10 release, the External Content Q&A Genius Results feature is being prepared for future deprecation. This feature is no longer installed on new instances and is removed from instances where it's not in use, but will continue to be supported on instances where it's in use. For details, see the Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    External Content Q&A Genius Results overview

    The External Content Q&A Genius Result configuration searches for documents relevant to your search using an Integration Hub subflow. If it finds sufficiently relevant documents, it sends them to the Now LLM Service, which generates answers from their content and metadata.

    Each External Content Q&A Genius Result answer card includes a generated answer. For reference, the answer card also includes a link you can select to download the source documents.
    Note:
    Because the External Content Q&A Genius Result answer is automatically generated, it's a good idea to review it for accuracy. You can provide feedback on the answer by selecting the thumbs-up icon if the generated answer is accurate, or the thumbs-down icon if it's not. Your feedback helps ServiceNow improve future versions of this Genius Result configuration.

    When searching for relevant documents, the system uses your Microsoft SharePoint Online credentials and user profile, so your searches generate External Content Q&A Genius Result answers from documents that you can access.

    Enabling External Content Q&A Genius Results

    To make External Content Q&A Genius Results available for use in AI Search applications, administrators first need to perform the following steps:
    1. Verify that the ServiceNow IntegrationHub Enterprise Pack Installer [com.glide.hub.integrations.enterprise] plugin is installed on your instance. If this plugin isn't installed, you can request it. For details on requesting IntegrationHub plugins, see Request an Integration Hub plugin.
    2. Create and configure an OAuth application in the Microsoft Azure portal to verify and authorize connection requests from your ServiceNow AI Platform® instance. To learn about this procedure, see Configure OAuth application in Microsoft Azure.
    3. Add the AllSites.FullControl SharePoint delegated permission (and grant admin consent) to your new OAuth application in the Microsoft Azure portal. For details on this procedure, see Configure SharePoint API permissions for your External Content Q&A Genius Results OAuth 2.0 application.
    4. Define OAuth configuration settings for External Content Q&A Genius Results. For full details on the required OAuth settings, see Configure OAuth settings for External Content Q&A Genius Results.

    Next, search administrators need to enable External Content Q&A Genius Results in one or more AI Search portals. To learn about this procedure, see Enable Now Assist Genius Results in AI Search portals and mobile applications.

    After all these steps are completed, AI Search portal users can authorize External Content Q&A Genius Results for their searches by authenticating with Microsoft SharePoint Online. For details on this authentication procedure, see Sign in to Microsoft SharePoint Online to authorize External Content Q&A Genius Results.
    Note:
    When you activate External Content Q&A Genius Results in a search application, they're available to all users with Microsoft SharePoint Online credentials who search using that application.

    Limitations

    By default, External Content Q&A Genius Results only support English-language searches. Administrators can enable support for other languages by activating Dynamic Translation. To learn more about how content and answers are translated, see Dynamic Translation for Now Assist Q&A Genius Results. For more details on Dynamic Translation, see Dynamic Translation.

    External Content Q&A Genius Results only generate answers from documents found in your Microsoft SharePoint Online instance. They don't generate answers from sites found in your instance.

    Interaction with other search features

    The following table describes the interactions between External Content Q&A Genius Results and other search features.

    Feature Interaction with External Content Q&A Genius Results Genius Results
    Result improvement rules When computing External Content Q&A Genius Result answers, AI Search doesn't apply your result improvement rules because they don't operate on documents from your Microsoft SharePoint Online instance.
    Stop words When computing External Content Q&A Genius Result answers, AI Search doesn't remove stop words from your search.
    Synonyms When computing External Content Q&A Genius Result answers, AI Search doesn't expand synonyms found in your search.
    Typo handling When computing External Content Q&A Genius Result answers, AI Search doesn't correct misspelled search terms.