<h2>Semantic index configuration for indexed sources</h2><br/><div style="overflow-x:auto"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"><head><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><meta name="copyright" content="(C) Copyright 2026" /><meta name="DC.rights.owner" content="(C) Copyright 2026" /><meta name="generator" content="DITA-OT" /><meta name="DC.type" content="concept" /><meta name="DC.title" content="Semantic index configuration for indexed sources" /><meta name="abstract" content="The AI Search generalized RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) framework offers a streamlined way to configure semantic indexing settings for records indexed from ServiceNow AI Platform tables." /><meta name="description" content="The AI Search generalized RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) framework offers a streamlined way to configure semantic indexing settings for records indexed from ServiceNow AI Platform tables." /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/ai-search/concept/indexed-sources-ais.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/general/concept/intro-now-platform-landing.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/general/concept/config-now-platform-core-features.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/search-administration/reference/search-administration.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/ai-search/concept/overview-ais.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/ai-search/concept/configuring-ais.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/ai-search/task/configure-semantic-indexing-ais.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/ai-search/concept/ais-rag.html" /><meta name="DC.creator" content="ServiceNow" /><meta name="DC.date.created" content="2024-10-01T12:01:17-04:00" /><meta name="DC.date.modified" content="2025-02-27" /><meta name="DC.format" content="XHTML" /><meta name="DC.identifier" content="semantic-index-cfg-ais" /><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../CSS/commonltr.css" /><title>Semantic index configuration for indexed sources</title></head><body id="semantic-index-cfg-ais"> <div class="breadcrumb"><a class="link" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/general/concept/intro-now-platform-landing.html" title="As a platform administrator, you have the power of the ServiceNow AI Platform at your fingertips. 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Customize your UI, handle user and data administration, and localize your instance for time zones, currencies, and more.">Configure ServiceNow AI Platform Core Features</a> > <a class="link" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/search-administration/reference/search-administration.html" title="The ServiceNow AI Platform includes multiple search engines and interfaces to help users easily and quickly find the information they need.">Search administration</a> > <a class="link" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/concept/overview-ais.html" title="The ServiceNow AI Search application provides a consumer-grade search engine for ServiceNow Service Portal, ServiceNow Now Mobile, and ServiceNow Virtual Agent . Intelligent query features help you quickly find the answers you need.">AI Search</a> > <a class="link" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/concept/configuring-ais.html" title="Plan and configure your AI Search implementation.">Configuring AI Search</a> > </div> <h1 class="title topictitle1" id="ariaid-title1">Semantic index configuration for indexed sources</h1> <div class="body conbody"><p class="shortdesc">The <span class="ph">AI Search</span> generalized RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) framework offers a streamlined way to configure semantic indexing settings for records indexed from <span class="ph">ServiceNow AI Platform®</span> tables.</p> <div class="section" id="semantic-index-cfg-ais__section_qgb_kbh_xcc"><h2 class="title sectiontitle">Semantic index configuration overview</h2> <p class="p"><span class="ph">AI Search</span> admins can configure semantic indexing settings for an indexed source. These settings specify how <span class="ph">AI Search</span> indexes content from the indexed source for use with semantic vector search. The group of semantic indexing settings for a particular indexed source is called a semantic index configuration.</p> <div class="p">Each semantic index configuration includes the following elements:<dl class="dl"> <dt class="dt dlterm">Indexed source</dt> <dd class="dd"> <p class="p">A reference to an existing indexed source with field values or attachments that you want indexed for semantic vector search.</p> <p class="p">For more information on indexed sources, see <a class="xref" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/concept/indexed-sources-ais.html" title="Indexed sources designate ServiceNow AI Platform tables and external document sets with alphanumeric text and string field content that you want to make searchable. AI Search ingests text and string fields from table records or external documents and stores their searchable alphanumeric content in its search index.">Indexed sources in AI Search</a>. To learn more about semantic vector search, see <a class="xref" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/concept/semantic-search-ais.html" title="Semantic vector search allows the Now LLM Service to find results based on how similar they are in meaning to your search terms. Now Assist Q&A Genius Results and Now Assist in Virtual Agent use semantic vector search to improve recall with natural language interpretation of search queries.">Semantic vector search in AI Search</a>.</p> </dd> <dt class="dt dlterm">Embedding models</dt> <dd class="dd"> <p class="p">A list of one or more embedding models for the system to use when indexing content from the indexed source for semantic vector search.</p> <p class="p">An embedding model specifies how information found in your indexed content is encoded in a vector map. Semantic vector search uses the encoded information from the vector map to find search results that have meanings similar to those of your search terms.</p> </dd> <dt class="dt dlterm">Chunking strategy and related parameters</dt> <dd class="dd"> <p class="p">A chunking strategy and related parameter values that together determine how content from the indexed source's selected fields and attachments is handled during indexing for semantic vector search.</p> <p class="p">Chunking is the process of breaking text down into smaller portions (called chunks) during indexing. By chunking your content, <span class="ph">AI Search</span> reduces search load and improves context and relevancy for semantic vector matches.</p> <p class="p">The following image shows how a two-paragraph block of sample field value text might be broken into chunks for semantic indexing. As shown, chunks can contain multiple sentences and may span paragraph breaks found in the original text.<img class="image" id="semantic-index-cfg-ais__image_ysr_1wz_fdc" src="../image/chunking-text-example.png" alt="Two paragraphs of sample text and four multi-sentence text chunks identified when the text is semantically indexed." /></p> </dd> <dt class="dt dlterm">Semantic index fields</dt> <dd class="dd"> <p class="p">References to one or more semantic index fields that provide semantic indexing settings for content from the indexed source.</p> <p class="p">Each semantic index field defines semantic indexing settings for a single field from the indexed source table, or for attachments from that table. You can specify the order in which semantic index fields are evaluated when indexing content from the indexed source for semantic vector search.</p> </dd> </dl> <div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:</span> You can define multiple semantic index configurations for an indexed source, but each configuration after the first imposes an additional performance cost at indexing time.</div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="semantic-index-cfg-ais__section_tgb_lbh_xcc"><h2 class="title sectiontitle">Activating semantic index configuration</h2> <p class="p">Semantic index configuration functionality is provided by the <span class="ph"><span class="ph" id="semantic-index-cfg-ais__ais-semantic-controller-plugin-name-ph"><span class="ph">AI Search</span> Semantic Controller</span> plugin (<span class="ph" id="semantic-index-cfg-ais__ais-semantic-controller-plugin-id-ph">com.glide.ais.semantic_search</span>)</span>. This plugin is automatically activated for your instance when you install any <span class="xref"><span class="ph">Now Assist</span> application</span>.</p> <p class="p">You can verify whether semantic index configuration is activated by navigating to <span class="ph menucascade"><span class="ph uicontrol">All</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol"><span class="keyword">AI Search</span></span> > <span class="ph uicontrol"><span class="keyword">AI Search</span> Index</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Indexed Sources</span></span> and selecting an indexed source record. If you see the Semantic Index Configuration related list on the Indexed Source form, the plugin is activated.</p> </div> </div> <div class="related-links"> <ul class="ullinks"><li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/task/configure-semantic-indexing-ais.html">Configure semantic indexing settings for an indexed source</a></strong><br /> Specify the semantic indexing configuration settings you want to apply when <span class="ph">AI Search</span> indexes records from your indexed sources.</li><li class="link ulchildlink"><strong><a href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/concept/ais-rag.html">AI Search Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)</a></strong><br /> You can enhance the search accuracy of your <span class="ph">AI Search</span> results by using the <span class="ph">AI Search</span> <span class="ph">Retrieval Augmented Generation</span> (<span class="ph">RAG</span>) application. With <span class="ph">RAG</span>, you can limit a large language model's (LLM's) focus to a specific, contextual dataset, instead of the broad, general data that it was trained on.</li></ul> <div class="familylinks"> <div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent Topic:</strong> <a class="link" href="https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/xanadu-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/concept/indexed-sources-ais.html" title="Indexed sources designate ServiceNow AI Platform tables and external document sets with alphanumeric text and string field content that you want to make searchable. AI Search ingests text and string fields from table records or external documents and stores their searchable alphanumeric content in its search index.">Indexed sources in AI Search</a></div> </div> </div></body></html></div>