AI Search readiness for AI on the ServiceNow AI Platform

---
title: AI Search readiness for AI on the ServiceNow AI Platform
description: ServiceNow Otto for AI Search is built directly on the foundation of ServiceNow AI Search. AI Search provides the underlying infrastructure that enables ServiceNow Otto to retrieve and rank enterprise content—such as knowledge articles, records, and documentation—based on relevance and access permissions.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/intelligent-experiences/sn-ai-impl-ai-search.html
release: australia
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
keywords: [Now Assist, agentic AI, AI readiness]
breadcrumb: [Application readiness, Assessing your AI readiness, Getting started with AI, Enable AI Experiences]
---

# AI Search readiness for AI on the ServiceNow AI Platform

ServiceNow Otto for AI Search is built directly on the foundation of ServiceNow® AI Search. AI Search provides the underlying infrastructure that enables ServiceNow Otto to retrieve and rank enterprise content—such as knowledge articles, records, and documentation—based on relevance and access permissions.

Because AI Search adheres to ServiceNow security models, responses are grounded in content the user is authorized to access. Additionally, AI Search admin tools give you control over relevancy tuning, allowing you to refine how content is surfaced and verify that ServiceNow Otto delivers relevant results.

Every AI-generated answer includes citations and references, allowing users to see exactly where the information came from. Citations and references let users verify the source of information, helping to ground outputs in your organization's actual content.

Activate AI Search before implementing AI more broadly. After activation, it powers actionable Q&A through Genius Results cards in global search, Service Portal, Employee Center, and Virtual Agent.

## High-level checklist

-   **1. Verify AI Search status**

    Verify that AI Search is active on your instance. To check status, navigate to **All** > **AI Search** > **AI Search Status**. If AI Search is not active, select the **Request AI Search** button to initiate activation.

    See:

    -   [Configuring AI Search](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/configuring-ais.md)
    -   [Enable AI Search in supported ServiceNow AI Platform® applications](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/explore-now-platform-apps-ais.md)
-   **2. Review search sources**

    Configure search sources to determine what data will be searched by user queries.

    See:

    -   [Control access to searchable content using search sources](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/explore-search-sources-ais.md)
    -   [Create a search source for AI Search](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/create-search-source-ais.md)
-   **3. Configure search sources for external content**

    Enables Q&A search to include external content.

    See:

    -   [Indexing and searching external content in AI Search](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/external-content-ais.md)
    -   [Create an indexed source](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/create-indexed-source-ais.md)
    -   [Configuring External Content Connectors](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/configuring-ext-cont-connectors.md)
-   **4. Enable AI Search on one or more portals**

    Display AI Search results in the portals on your instance.

    See:

    -   [Search application configurations](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/defining-search-app-cfgs-ais.md)
    -   [Enabling and configuring AI Search in ServiceNow AI Platform® applications](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/enable-configure-apps-ais.md)
-   **5. Install ServiceNow Otto for AI Search**

    Install a ServiceNow Otto product in the AI Admin Hub console.

    See: [Install ServiceNow Otto for AI Search](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/install-now-assist-ais.md)

-   **6. Enable Q&A Genius Results in AI Search portals**

    Specify the Genius Result types you want to make available in each of your AI Search portals. Multi-Content Response Genius Results use an LLM to generate search and chat responses that synthesize information from knowledge articles, Service Catalog items, and other available content types. Answers are presented in Q&A format.

    See:

    -   [Enable ServiceNow Otto for AI Search Genius Results in AI Search portals and mobile applications](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/enable-now-assist-gr-ais-apps.md)
    -   [Knowledge base articles Genius Results](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/now-assist-qna-genius-results.md)
-   **7. Verify AI Search widget customizations**

    Customized AI Search widgets may not correctly show Q&A search results even when configured for ServiceNow Otto, since customizations get skipped during upgrades.

    See: 


The ServiceNow AI Platform® offers a variety of search tools, which may return different answers for the same or similar searches. This disparity in results is expected. For more information, see [Search result disparities between AI Search and ServiceNow Otto® search features](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-administration/search-disparities-ai-search-now-assist.md).

For more information, see [ServiceNow Otto for AI Search FAQ](https://www.servicenow.com/community/now-assist-articles/now-assist-in-ai-search-faq/ta-p/2686538) in ServiceNow Community.