Using user search metrics with Virtual Agent

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Using user search metrics with Virtual Agent

    The User Search Metrics feature in the Virtual Agent application enables ServiceNow customers to analyze user queries and their search results. This insight helps identify areas for improving Virtual Agent’s search effectiveness to deliver more meaningful results and enhance user experience.

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    Access to these metrics is provided through the User Search Metrics tab within the Conversational Analytics dashboard, requiring either the chat analytics admin or chat analytics viewer role.

    Key Features

    • User Search Metrics tab: Displays key indicators about user queries and search results, answering questions such as which queries had no results, which search results were not useful, and the most frequent user queries.
    • AI Search integration: Virtual Agent can leverage AI Search to provide intelligent, relevant search results by analyzing user queries.
    • Contextual Search: Matches keywords with existing database searches to resolve user queries within Virtual Agent topics.
    • Topic Links: Some Virtual Agent topics include embedded links to useful resources that appear automatically when invoked, bypassing the need for backend searches.

    User Search Indicators

    The following user search indicators are visualized in the User Search Metrics tab to help understand user interaction with search results:

    • Total number of queries with no clicks: Queries where users did not select any search results.
    • Top 10 queries with no clicks: Most frequent queries with no user clicks on results.
    • Total number of queries with no results: Queries that returned zero search results.
    • Top 10 queries with no results: Most common queries without any results.
    • Total number of queries: Overall queries handled by Virtual Agent.
    • Top 10 queries: Most frequently asked queries by users.
    • Total number of search results clicked: Count of user clicks on search results.
    • Top 10 search results clicked: Search results that received the most user clicks.

    Practical Benefits

    By leveraging user search metrics, ServiceNow customers can:

    • Identify gaps where Virtual Agent search results need improvement.
    • Discover popular user queries to optimize content and topic coverage.
    • Enhance user satisfaction by reducing queries with no results or no clicks.
    • Integrate AI and contextual search capabilities to elevate search relevance.

    By using user search metrics with the Virtual Agent application, you can see your users' queries and the results from their searches. With these metrics, you can identify the areas where you can improve Virtual Agent to offer more meaningful search results.

    Use the User Search Metrics tab in the Conversational Analytics dashboard to view key indicators about the queries that users searched on and the corresponding search results. By using this tab, you can get the answers to the following questions:
    • Which search results were not useful to the users?
    • Which queries did not have any search results?
    • Which were the most common queries from users?
    • Which search results did the users select most often?

    To access the User Search Metrics tab, you must have the chat analytics admin role or the chat analytics viewer role. The following example shows the data included in the User Search Metrics tab.

    Figure 1. User Search Metrics tab
    Conversational Analytics dashboard user search metrics tab.

    AI Search

    Virtual Agent topics may use AI search to suggest helpful resources to the user. When a user enters a query, AI search provides the most relevant results by using intelligent query features. To know more about AI search, see AI Search . To integrate Virtual Agent with AI Search, see Improving the user experience with AI Search.

    Contextual Search

    Contextual search matches keywords to an existing database search to find potential matches to a query. Virtual Agent topics may use contextual search to resolve queries. For more information, see Maximizing code reuse with topic blocks.

    Topic Links

    Some Virtual Agent topics have links to useful resources that are embedded within them. When a user invokes one of these topics, the link shows up without having to do any back-end search.

    User Search information

    The following table describes user search indicators visualized on the User Search Metrics tab.
    Table 1. User search indicators
    Visualization Description
    Total number of queries with no clicks Number of queries that users did not click on any of the search results provided.
    Top 10 queries with no clicks Most commonly asked queries where users did not click on any of the search results provided.
    Total number of queries with no results Number of queries that did not yield any search result.
    Top 10 queries with no results Most commonly asked queries that did not yield any search results.
    Total number of queries Total number of queries handled by Virtual Agent.
    Top 10 queries Most commonly asked queries.
    Total number of search results clicked Number of search results that users clicked on.
    Top 10 search results clicked Search results that users clicked on the most.