Search and Chat with Knowledge Agents
Guru makes it easy to find the information you need through two powerful approaches: AI-powered search for quick, precise answers and conversational chat for deeper exploration and follow-up questions. Learn how to use both features to get the most from your team's knowledge.
Understanding search and chat in Guru
Guru combines traditional keyword search with AI-powered chat in a unified experience. Both options help you find answers from your team's Cards and connected external sources like Google Drive, Salesforce, and Slack.
Search provides quick, precise answers to specific questions using keyword matching and AI-generated responses.
Chat offers a conversational interface where you can ask follow-up questions, get clarifications, and conduct deeper research on complex topics.
How to access search and chat
- Click the Ask Guru button in the top navigation bar. From here you can open up a specific Knowledge Agent to search, or you can use the default Guru Knowledge Agent, which will search across everything you have access to.
- The modal opens in your last-used mode (Search or Chat).
- Use the toggle at the top to switch between Search and Chat modes.
Your choice persists across sessions, so you won't need to switch every time you log in.
Using search to find information
Search works best when you need quick answers to specific questions or want to explore what information is available on a topic.
Performing a basic search
- Open the Ask Guru modal. Click the Knowledge Agent dropdown.
- Choose the agent that best fits your question (HR, IT, Sales, etc.).
- The agent will respond using its specialized knowledge and tone.
- If needed, toggle to Search mode.
- Type your question or keywords in the search bar.
- Press Enter or click the search button.
Guru displays AI-generated answers followed by relevant Cards and external sources.
Understanding search results
Search results include several types of content:
- AI-generated answers: Direct responses based on your team's verified knowledge
- Cards: Guru Cards that match your search terms
- External sources: Content from connected systems like Salesforce, Google Drive, or Slack
- Citations: Links to the original sources used to generate each answer.
Using search filters
Filter your results to find exactly what you need:
- Source: Narrow results to specific systems (Salesforce, Google Drive, etc.)
- Collection: Focus on Cards from particular Collections
- Author: Find content created by specific team members
- Tag: Search for Cards with specific tags
- Verification status: Show only verified or unverified Cards
Title-only search
For quick access to Cards you know by name, Guru offers title-only search suggestions in the first three dropdown options as you type. This provides faster results when you remember the exact Card name.
Using chat for conversational assistance
Chat excels when you need to ask follow-up questions, explore complex topics, or want a more natural interaction with your knowledge base.
Starting a chat conversation
- Open the Ask Guru modal, or select Start Chat in the top left corner.
- Toggle to Chat mode if needed.
- Type your question naturally, as you would ask a colleague.
- Press Enter to send your message.
Chat responds with AI-generated answers that include citations and feedback options.
Continuing the conversation
Unlike search, chat maintains context across multiple exchanges:
- Ask follow-up questions in the same conversation
- Request clarifications or additional details
- Explore related topics without starting over
- Build on previous answers to dive deeper
Example conversation flow:
- "What's our return policy?"
- "What about returns after 30 days?"
- "How do international customers handle returns?"
TipUse Research Mode to perform deep analysis across all of your connected sources.
Providing feedback and building trust
Both search and chat include features to help you verify information and improve results over time.
Rating responses
Help improve AI answers by providing feedback:
In the web app or browser extension:
- Click 👍 to mark helpful answers
- Click 👎 to flag incorrect or unhelpful responses
- Click the same icon again to undo feedback
In Slack:
- Click 👍 for helpful answers
- Click 👎 to flag issues (cannot be undone in Slack)
Understanding answer sources
Every AI-generated answer includes transparency features:
Citations: Click hyperlinked sources below answers to view the original Cards or external content used to generate the response.
Answer details: Click Answer Details to see:
- The reasoning behind the answer
- Specific sources consulted
- Search terms that were applied
Sharing answers with teammates
To share a helpful answer:
- Look for the link icon at the bottom of AI-generated answers.
- Click to copy a shareable link to your clipboard.
- Send the link to teammates who need the same information.
Shared links preserve proper permissions, ensuring recipients only see content they're authorized to access.
Creating content from chat conversations
Transform your chat interactions into structured knowledge that benefits your entire team.
Generating draft cards
Use natural language to create Cards directly from chat:
- "Create a Card about this process"
- "Turn this into a troubleshooting guide"
- "Make a how-to Card from our conversation"
- "Use our X Card template to draft a Card"
The chat will generate a draft Card that you can edit and publish to share with your team.
NoteBe specific about what you want to draft, as the word "draft" can be ambiguous in different contexts.
Advanced search capabilities
Guru's search includes intelligent features that work behind the scenes to improve results.
How Guru processes your searches
Query interpretation:
- Recognizes alternate word forms ("ran" matches "run" and "running")
- Applies spell checking and fuzzy matching
- Handles punctuation variations ("self service" vs "self-service")
- Considers synonyms ("vacation" may match "holiday")
Semantic understanding:
- Uses machine learning to understand query meaning
- Goes beyond exact keyword matching
- Learns from team search patterns over time
Result ranking factors:
- Location of matches (title, tags, content)
- Card activity (views, favorites, recent updates)
- User behavior patterns
- Content freshness and relevance
Exact phrase searching
For precise matches, use quotation marks around your search terms:
"engineering onboarding"finds only content with that exact phrase- Regular searches without quotes find related content more broadly
- Stop words like "a," "the," and "is" are excluded from exact match searches.
File content search
Guru automatically extracts and searches text from uploaded files:
Supported file types:
- PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations
- Excel spreadsheets, plain text files
- Images (PNG, Photoshop, Illustrator files)
NoteGuru can search across images and extract text, but it can't understand an image contextually (ie. understanding what date a specific event is occurring on a image of a calendar).
Guru will also link to images as sources, but it will not display an image in the search results.
File limitations:
- Maximum size: 500MB (10MB for PNG files)
- Maximum pages: 3,000 per file
- Text must be horizontal and at least 15pt at 150 DPI
Image search capabilities and limitations: Guru can search across images in limited ways, but has several important restrictions:
Understanding Web Search Results
When your Knowledge Agent has web search enabled, answers may include content from external websites. You'll see:
- Mixed citations: Internal sources appear alongside web results
- Source URLs: Each web result shows its origin URL
- Website icons: Visual indicators for external sources
- Search transparency: Click Answer Details to see:
- Which search queries were performed
- How many results were found
- Why specific sources were selected
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Search and Chat? Search provides quick, keyword-based results similar to traditional search engines. Chat offers conversational interactions where you can ask follow-up questions and explore topics in depth.
Can I use both Search and Chat? Yes! You can easily toggle between modes in the same interface. You can also click "Continue in Chat" from search results to explore a topic further.
How do I know which Knowledge Agent to use? Choose the agent that best matches your question's domain. For example, use the HR agent for policy questions or the IT agent for technical support. If unsure, the default Guru agent can access all available sources.
Why don't I see Chat mode? Chat access is currently in Early Access, so this depends on your team's configuration. If you only see Search, your Admin may not have enabled Chat for your role or the Knowledge Agents you have access to.
How accurate are AI-generated answers? Guru generates answers from your team's verified content rather than generic AI knowledge. However, always check the citations and provide feedback to help improve accuracy over time.
Can I search content from external systems? Yes, if your Admin has connected external sources like Google Drive, Salesforce, or Slack. You can filter results by source or search across all connected systems.
What happens to my chat conversations? Chat interactions are tracked for you individually and may be reviewed by Admins and Knowledge Agent owners for training and improvement purposes.
How can I improve search results? You can provide feedback on results using the thumbs up/down buttons to help train the system. Admins and SMEs (using custom roles) can review feedback and flagged answers in the AI Agent Center to make improvements, assign questions to subject matter experts, and refine Knowledge Agent prompts for better results over time.
Want a closer look at some key Guru features and best practices?Check out our events page for demos, workshops, new release roundups, Getting Started bootcamp, guest panelists and more! For upcoming live events and a series of past recordings: Click here to register
Updated 3 days ago