Discrepancies when using different AI search tools

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Different AI search tools may return different answers for the same or similar searches. This difference in results is expected. It occurs because each large language model (LLM) uses a different approach to find results and generate answers that match your search.

    Overview of how LLMs create responses

    Large Language Models don’t retrieve answers from a single source. Instead, they generate responses by predicting the next most likely word, one at a time, based on patterns they’ve learned from the data they were trained on.

    Because of that, several factors can make the answers vary each time. The factors include:
    • Probability
    • Multiple good answers
    • Context sensitivity
    • LLM variation

    Answer generation involves probability, context, and variation. Therefore, responses to the same question can differ slightly each time it is asked, and from provider to provider.

    For more information on differences in ServiceNow AI results, see Search result disparities between AI Search and Now Assist search features.

    Now LLM Service response vs. Azure response

    Figure 1. The difference in responses by Now LLM Service and Azure for information about tuition reimbursement
    The first image shows the response from Now LLM Service. The second image shows the response from Azure.