Why use Web Search?
Most AI models have a “knowledge cutoff” date, meaning they don’t know about
events that happened recently. Web Search bridges this gap, giving you access
to the latest news, stock prices, competitor updates, and more.
How Web Search Works
Web Search is integrated directly into the chat experience. You don’t need to switch tools or leave Omnifact to get external information.Automatic Detection
In Auto response mode, Omnifact automatically detects when a question requires outside information. For example, if you ask about “today’s news” or “current stock prices,” the assistant will recognize the need for live data and trigger a search.Explicit Requests
You can also specifically ask Omnifact to search. Simply start your prompt with instructions like:- “Search for…”
- “Find the latest information on…”
- “Look up the current status of…”
Web Search is only available in Auto mode. If you are using Quick Response (for speed) or Simple Lookup (for Knowledge Base only), web search is disabled to ensure faster or strictly internal answers.
The Search Process
When Omnifact searches the web, you’ll see transparency at every step:- Searching: You’ll see a status indicator saying “Searching the web…” as it queries external search engines.
- Reading: If needed, the AI will visit specific webpages to read their content (indicated by “Reading [URL]…”). It can read up to 2MB of text from a page to understand the details.
- Answering: The AI synthesizes the information it found to answer your question.
- Citing: Finally, the response will include citations (numbered references) that link back to the original sources, so you can verify the information yourself.
Privacy and Security
Your privacy remains a top priority, even when searching the web. The Privacy Filter applies to searches too. Before any search query is sent to a search provider, Omnifact’s scans it.- If your query contains sensitive information (like a name or account number) that is masked by the Privacy Filter, the search will be blocked to prevent leaking that data to the search engine.
- You will receive a message explaining that the search was blocked due to privacy settings.
- To proceed, you would need to rephrase the query to remove specific sensitive details or use the “Click to Reveal” feature if appropriate (and safe) to do so.
When to Use Web Search
Web Search is powerful, but it’s best used for specific types of tasks:Current Events
Finding news, sports scores, or recent announcements that happened after the
AI’s training data cutoff.
Company Research
Looking up competitor pricing, new product launches, or recent press
releases.
Fact Checking
Verifying specific dates, statistics, or quotes from public sources.
Technical Documentation
Finding the latest API documentation or software updates that might have
changed recently.
Limitations
While powerful, Web Search has a few boundaries:- Paywalls & Logins: Omnifact cannot access content behind paywalls, login screens, or private corporate intranets (unless connected via Cloud Storage integrations).
- Media: The browsing tool reads text (HTML). It generally does not watch videos or interpret complex interactive charts on websites.
- Speed: Because the AI has to go out to the internet, read pages, and process them, a response with Web Search will take longer than a standard reply.