How AI Search works: FAQs

AI Search starts from your sitemap, then follows the links it finds on each page, the same way a person clicking around your site would.

The most common reason is that the page isn't in your sitemap and nothing else on your site links to it either. If a page can only be found by typing its exact address, or by clicking a button that isn't a real link (like a "load more" button), it won't be discovered. Adding it to your sitemap, or adding a normal link to it from another page, usually fixes this.

Only if each page in the list is in your sitemap, or has a real link to it. If moving between pages relies on "next page" style buttons rather than links, only the first page will be found unless the rest are covered by your sitemap. Linking to a few more pages directly, or extending your sitemap to include them, will bring the rest in.

It can read PDFs. Searching the contents of PDF documents is a capability that can be switched on, but it isn't enabled by default. Word documents aren't currently supported. If PDF content search isn't turned on for your site, AI Search can still link to a PDF in an answer, but won't be able to search what's inside it. Contact your account manager or raise a support ticket to check or enable this.

A few common reasons: the page isn't linked to from anywhere else and isn't in your sitemap, the information only exists inside a document and document search isn't switched on for your site, or the page is mostly a list of links with very little actual text on it for AI Search to draw from. Pages that are mostly navigation benefit from a short paragraph of real content.

For practical steps to fix these, see Getting your content found.

Your question is read and, if needed, clarified, for example correcting an obvious typo or expanding a shorthand phrase, before AI Search looks for an answer. It then finds the passages on your site that are the closest match in meaning to your question, not just the closest match in wording.

Every answer is generated from content already published on your own site. AI Search doesn't draw on outside knowledge or make things up, it writes the answer from the passages it finds, and links back to the pages they came from.

Yes. AI Search understands a follow-up in the context of what you asked before, so you can refine or continue a question without repeating everything.

Not automatically. AI Search doesn't have a built-in sense of how old a piece of content is, it can only go on whatever date is written in the page itself. Because of this, it's worth reviewing older news articles or time-sensitive pages (names, figures, ongoing projects) periodically, the same way you'd review any other part of your site for accuracy.

AI Search checks every question for attempts to manipulate it into behaving outside its normal rules, sometimes called "prompt injection," for example someone claiming to be a developer or claiming special access. These attempts are detected and blocked.

No. AI Search is designed to decline questions asking for someone else's personal information, such as who lives at a particular address. This has been tested and confirmed on live sites.

If you still need help after reading this article, don't hesitate to reach out to the Insytful community on Slack or raise a support ticket to get help from our team.