---
sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/platform-administration
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- australia
ft:locale :
- en-US
ft:publication_title :
- Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration
ft:clusterId :
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bundleId :
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workflow :
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---
# Zing indexes punctuation as part of some words
# Zing indexes punctuation as part of some words {#ariaid-title1}
Release version: Australia
Updated March 12, 2026
 2 minutes to read
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## Summary of Zing Indexes Punctuation as Part of Some Words
Zing enhances search results by indexing certain punctuation marks as part of words, particularly for common search terms.
This approach helps improve the accuracy of search results for company names, product numbers, and other terms containing specific punctuation.
Understanding how Zing indexes these characters can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your searches.
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## Key Features
* **Ampersands (\&), Plus Signs (+), Hyphens (-):** Zing indexes these characters in company names. Searches like "H\&R Block" or "Coca-Cola" return exact matches.
* **Apostrophes ('):** Proper names are indexed, with trailing possessives ignored. For example, "O'Reilly's" retrieves results for both "O'Reilly" and "O'Reilly's."
* **Periods (.):** Zing recognizes acronyms whether separated by periods or not, e.g., "u.s.a." and "usa." Additionally, it locates host names and IP addresses formatted with periods.
* **Numbers \[123\]:** Zing identifies product and record numbers that follow specific patterns, allowing for searches like "PROD-10-987" or "INT1234567" to yield exact matches.
* **Underscores ():** Like hyphens and periods, underscores are part of the indexed product number patterns.
## Key Outcomes
By understanding how Zing processes punctuation, ServiceNow customers can expect improved search precision for relevant terms. Utilizing the correct formatting in search queries ensures that users can quickly locate the exact information they need, enhancing overall productivity and user experience within the platform.
Zing indexes some punctuation marks as part of some words to improve search results for common search terms.
{#c_PunctuationForSearchResults__table_vyb_g1w_1q__entry__3}
| Punctuation | Indexed to find | Search behavior |
|-|-|-|
| Ampersands \[\&\] | Company names | Zing locates terms containing punctuation characters that are common in company names: ampersands (\&), plus signs (+), or hyphens (-). For example, a search for H&R Block locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Apostrophes \['\] | Proper names | Zing ignores trailing possessives and retains most others to find company names. For example, a search for O'Reilly's locates matches to O'Reilly and O'Reilly's. |
| Hyphens \[-\] | Company names | Zing locates terms containing punctuation characters that are common in company names: ampersands (\&), plus signs (+), or hyphens (-). For example, a search for Coca-Cola locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Hyphens \[-\] | Product numbers | Zing locates product numbers that follow a typical pattern. To meet this pattern, search terms must contain frequent numbers and only include underscores (_), hyphens (-), or periods for punctuation. For example, a search for PROD-10-987 locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Numbers \[123\] | Product numbers | Zing locates product numbers that follow a typical pattern. To meet this pattern, search terms must contain frequent numbers and only include underscores (_), hyphens (-), or periods for punctuation. For example, a search for PROD10987 locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Numbers \[123\] | Record numbers | Zing locates record numbers that follow a typical pattern. To meet this pattern, search terms must start with a recognized record number prefix. For example, a search for INT1234567 locates exact matches to the Incident record. |
| Periods \[.\] | Acronyms | Zing locates acronyms whether they are separated by periods or not. For example, a search for u.s.a. locates matches to usa or u.s.a.. Note that wildcard searches may affect acronym handling. In another example, a search for u.s.* may yield better results than a search for u.s*. |
| Periods \[.\] | Host names | Zing locates sequences of letters and numbers separated only by periods. For example, a search for en.myhost123.com locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Periods \[.\] | IP addresses | Zing locates numbers that follow a typical IPv4 address pattern. For example, a search for 10.0.0.1 locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Periods \[.\] | Product numbers | Zing locates product numbers that follow a typical pattern. To meet this pattern, search terms must contain frequent numbers and only include underscores (_), hyphens (-), or periods for punctuation. For example, a search for PROD.10.987 locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Plus signs \[+\] | Company names | Zing locates terms containing punctuation characters that are common in company names: ampersands (\&), plus signs (+), or hyphens (-). For example, a search for Google+ locates exact matches to the search term. |
| Underscores \[_\] | Product numbers | Zing locates product numbers that follow a typical pattern. To meet this pattern, search terms must contain frequent numbers and only include underscores (_), hyphens (-), or periods for punctuation. For example, a search for PROD_10_987 locates exact matches to the search term. |
[Table 1. Punctuation indexed as part of a word]
{#c_PunctuationForSearchResults__table_vyb_g1w_1q}
Note:
The punctuation handling described here doesn't affect wildcard and boolean operators. These operators provide separate Zing functions.
**Related concepts**
* [Zing indexes some HTML elements](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/l658Km_8z~zUHoKqIJRSPA "Zing indexes the contents of certain HTML elements to improve document search results. This indexing is addition to the normal indexing by word.")
**Related tasks**
* [Configure a table for indexing and searching](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/tGjLTZp7DjqRoLySY3fkRw#configure-single-table-for-indexing "Enable Zing text indexing for a table to allow users to search its records for string values. Configure the table's text indexing attributes, stop words, and synonym dictionaries to control search behavior.")
* [Configure a text index group to search across multiple tables](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/M3e3rxPePmL_U7XikfeITA "Update tables to the V4 indexing format and include them in a text index group to facilitate searching across multiple tables.")
* [Regenerate a text index for a table](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/M~u7MUy5V2ht2yaD6ybXGA "You can regenerate a table text index when you change table stop words or display values.")
* [Remove an index](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/S~8lzZM37NJ6mJdABJpULw "You can remove the index for a table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that table. This procedure also removes the index for all tables that extend the specified table.")
* [Remove an index for a specific field](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/SOH2OX45K3L61sw2PCZ8aA "You can remove the index for a specific field in a table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that field.")
* [Remove the text index for a child table](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/jFxJ9GwTi46kMpnejqe0KQ "You can remove the text index for a child table if you no longer want the search engine to return results for that child table.")
* [Change the query mode of an indexed table](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/td1bDNAODjshNod59PirVQ "Set the query mode to specify whether searches on an indexed table must match all or only some of the search terms.")
* [Enable indexing of text in multi-row variable sets](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/cMdokNV8a3D3G45zt4m9dg "Make text from multi-row Service Catalog variable sets searchable in global search.")
* [Configure tables to use the Japanese tokenizer](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/UndgcCRxjvZf3nTBwdZBkg "Improve search results in Japanese language searches by configuring individual tables to use the Japanese tokenizer.")
**Related reference**
* [Zing index and search dictionary attributes](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/nCTCmrzIZKpvNpfvLPQRyA "The following dictionary attributes either affect the way Zing indexes tables or ranks search results.")
* [Text indexing statistics and status](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/_J7QtLIq9TIVGDSJ~GKtgA "To view text indexing statistics and status, navigate to All > System Definition > Text Indexes .")