Types of Search

Convictional's search provides two powerful modes to help you find information across your organization's knowledge base. Each mode is designed for different types of information needs.

Ask Mode

Ask mode is optimized for quick, focused answers to specific questions. It's ideal when you need immediate information or straightforward answers about your organization.

When to use Ask mode

• When you need a quick answer to a specific question

• When looking for factual information about your organization

• When seeking information about specific people, processes, or policies

Example questions for Ask mode

• "What is our company policy on laptop replacements?"

• "Who is the owner of our Hubspot account?"

• "What is our relationship with [vendor]?"

• "When is the next board meeting scheduled?"

• "What was the outcome of the pricing strategy discussion?"

Tips for Ask mode

• Be specific and direct in your questions

• Include relevant keywords to help the search find the right information

• For targeted results, try: "Please search specifically for [keyword]"

• Expect quick responses with direct citations to sources

Research Mode

Research mode provides comprehensive, in-depth analysis on complex topics. It synthesizes information from multiple sources to create thorough reports on broad or complex questions.

When to use Research mode

• When you need a comprehensive understanding of a topic

• When your question spans multiple documents or sources

• When you need analysis rather than just facts

• When preparing for important meetings or presentations

Example questions for Research mode

• "What happened while I was on PTO last week?"

• "What updates has the engineering team shipped in the past month?"

• "I have a meeting with [customer]. What are their concerns and areas of opportunity?"

• "How are we tracking towards our revenue goal for Q2?"

• "What is our design philosophy and how has it evolved?"

• "What have we accomplished since our last investor update?"

Tips for Research mode

• Provide detailed context in your question for better results

• Be specific about the timeframe, team, or scope you're interested in

• Expect the process to take a few minutes as it searches and synthesizes information

• Use the example below to structure complex requests:

"What did the engineering team accomplish last week? I want to understand things that were merged, discussed, decided, etc. Please cover all engineering, research, data, design, and product work. Be thorough in your response, assign ownership or contributors, and reference dates. I want a comprehensive overview of everything that happened. Please be sure to only include work accomplished last week."

Customizing Your Search Sources

When searching, you can select which information sources to include:

1. Convictional - Content within the platform (meetings, decisions, discussions)

2. Connected services - Content from your integrated tools:

   • Google Drive documents

   • Slack conversations

   • GitHub repositories

   • And other connected services

3. Web - Information from the wider internet

Select the sources most relevant to your query to get the most accurate results.

Understanding Citations

Both Ask and Research modes provide citations to source documents. These citations:

• Link directly to the original content

• Help you verify the information provided

• Allow you to explore related topics in the source material

• Enable you to judge the relevance and reliability of the information