Introduction
With the switch to AI Search, the Meta field no longer serves as a traditional keyword matching tool or to add "search weight" to an article, but helps the AI Search in providing context, internal acronyms, or specific system names that writers may not have included in the body of the article.
Instructions
| To produce the best search results, the primary focus should be to write knowledge articles concisely, clearly, and consistently rather than rely on the Meta field alone. The search engine within ServiceNow gives the best search results when solid technical writing practices are followed. |
Best Practices for the Meta Field:
- Avoid random or duplicate words.
- Use words or phrases that visitors would use when searching to find the article, particularly if there are alternate spellings for a term (e.g., Level-2 vs Level 2) or if the article does not contain an alternate phrase (e.g., "I need help with email" could be placed on an Outlook page).
- While tags can be separated by commas, placing each tag on its own line will produce better results.
- Phrases can used as tags and, while underscores can be used to tie keywords together in a single phrase, they can provide mixed results. The best practice is to just use spaces and place each tag on its own line.
- Focus on alternative phrasing, acronyms, and specialized terminology not already prominent in the Short Description or body of the article.
- Adding common misspellings of complex technical terms or software names.