Configure results for the search widget

This section describes how to configure results for the search widget, depending on the type of search app you have.

If you use third-party access control for your data sources, these configuration settings also apply to the web app.

Search widget concepts

Here are some concepts to help you understand how to use the controls on the UI tab.

  • Snippet. A short section of text, typically a sentence, under the document title. By default, a snippet is displayed for each search result for website and unstructured data.

  • Search with an answer. This feature provides a paragraph of information (the answer) synthesized from the top results of website or unstructured data. You can customize the number of top results that the answer is based on. By default, the top five results are summarized to create the answer. Search with an answer cannot be combined with Search with follow-ups.

  • Search with follow-ups. This feature for website and unstructured data allows for follow-up questions that keep the context of the initial search query. For more information, see Search with follow-ups.

  • Autocomplete. Suggests search queries based on the first letters that users enter into the search bar. For more information, see Configure autocomplete.

  • Feedback. Provides buttons thumb_up and thumb_down so that users can rate the quality of the search results. This information is sent only to Google. For more information, see Configure widget feedback.

  • Metadata. If the data is structured or contains metadata, you can configure which metadata fields to include in the search results. You can also map fields to display names for facets. For more information, see Configure facets for the search widget.

  • Turning off Advanced LLM features. If you turn off Advanced LLM features for a search widget that is using search with follow-ups or search with an answer, the widget stops working for all users. See Turn Advanced LLM features on or off.

  • Search-as-you-type. Available only for media apps. This feature performs a search after each keystroke. You don't need to press Enter to get a search result. For more information, see Get search-as-you-type results for a media app.

Configure search results for unstructured or website data

The search widget for unstructured and website data offers the following search customizations:

  • Search (single-turn)
  • Search with an answer (single-turn search with summarization)
  • Search with follow-ups (multi-turn search)

For search with an answer and search with follow-ups, you need turn on some advanced settings:

To configure how the widget displays search results for unstructured data:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agent Builder page.

    Agent Builder

  2. Click the name of the app that you want to edit.

  3. In the navigation menu, click Configurations.

  4. Click the UI tab.

  5. Edit the fields on the tab.

  6. Use the Preview pane to make sure your changes are displayed as expected.

  7. Click Save and publish to apply your changes.

Configure search results for healthcare data

The search widget for healthcare data offers the following search customizations:

  • Search
  • Search with an answer

For search with an answer, turn on advanced LLM features.

To configure how the widget displays search results for healthcare data:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agent Builder page.

    Agent Builder

  2. Click the name of the app that you want to edit.

  3. In the navigation menu, click Configurations.

  4. Click the UI tab.

  5. In the Search type list, select one of the following:

    • Search: to perform a single-turn search
    • Search with an answer: to perform a single-turn search with a generative AI generated answer.

  6. In the Large language models for summarization section, select one of the following:

    • Text-Bison: a stable, generally available model that's based on the text-bison model. This is the default model. For more information, see Generally available (GA) models.
    • Gemini Pro: a preview model that's based on the gemini-pro model. For more information, see Preview models.
    • MedLM: a preview model trained on medical data that's based on the MedLM model. For more information, see MedLM model.

  7. Click Save and publish to apply your changes.

Configure search results for structured data

For structured data, by default, the widget displays all of the name-value pairs for each item in the search results. You can use the Configurations page in the Google Cloud console to customize how the widget displays search results.

The following list shows the primary fields for displaying search results:

  • Title. An item title that a user can click to select that item in a search result.
  • Thumbnail. The URL of an image to be shown next to the item title in a search result.
  • URL. A URL that the user is taken to when they click the item's title.

You can display up to three additional fields in your search results and configure how they appear.

In addition, you can select facets to filter search results on and set display names for them. For more about configuring widget facets, see Configure facets for the search widget.

To configure how the widget displays search results for structured data:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agent Builder page.

    Agent Builder

  2. Click the name of the search app that you want to edit.

  3. Click Configurations.

  4. Click the UI tab.

  5. If you have multiple data stores connected to your app, select the data store to configure results for.

  6. Expand the Configure fields in results section.

  7. In the Preview pane, type a query and press Enter to view how search results are displayed with your current settings. The preview updates automatically when you enter new settings.

  8. Optional: Click a device icon to see the preview in desktop or mobile format.

  9. To configure the primary fields (Title, Thumbnail, and URL) in your search results:

    1. Click the Title box and select a field to map to the titles of your search results. Or, select None if you don't want titles to appear in search results.

    2. Click the Thumbnail box and select a field to map to the thumbnail images in your search results. Or, select None if you don't want thumbnail images to appear in search results.

    3. Click the URL box and select a field that maps to the items that open when users click item titles in search results. Or, select None if you don't want item titles in your search results to link to items.

  10. To add additional fields to your search results:

    1. Click the Text 1 box and select a field that you want to display in your search results. By default, only the field value is displayed in search results.

    2. Click the arrow next to the Text 1 box to display the Template box. The {value} field in Template box represents the field value to display in the search result. Add text before or after the {value} field (or both) to give context to the value in the search results. For example, suppose you selected price in the Text 1 box, and the price value for a particular item is 42. If you update the Template field to "Total Price: {value} USD", then "Total Price: 42 USD" is displayed in the search results for that item.

    3. To add additional fields, repeat these steps for the Text 2 and Text 3 boxes.

  11. To configure facet settings:

    1. Expand the Facet settings section.

    2. Select a field to set as a facet and enter a display name.

    3. To add more facets, click Add facet.

  12. Check the Preview pane to make sure your changes display correctly.

  13. Click Save and publish to apply your changes.

Next steps