How to use web search and site reading in the AI Assistant?
If an administrator enabled web search and/or URL fetching, the AI Assistant can supplement answers with public internet data. This does not replace ConnectiveOne documentation — platform questions still rely on built-in docs.
When you need this
- You need up-to-date information (news, rates, partner API updates).
- You have a link to a public page and want a summary or fact table.
- You want to collect reference data from an open website (product catalog, FAQ, public contact pages).
Good to know
- ConnectiveOne documentation takes priority for platform questions.
- The assistant cites sources (URLs) when using web search.
- One message allows a limited number of searches and page fetches; large jobs continue across several messages (“continue the next batch”).
- Internet content is reference only — verify critical decisions manually.
- Fetch URL returns page-based text, not raw HTML and not a guaranteed verbatim copy: the assistant produces model-generated summary via the selected provider API (Gemini / Claude / GPT). Large tables, exact numbers, or legal wording may be shortened — verify critical data at the source URL.
Before you start
Example requests
Current information (web search)
- “What are the latest Stripe API changes for charges?”
- “Find the official Telegram Bot API page about webhooks”
- “Briefly summarize what’s written today about [topic], with links”
Result: answer with source URLs. In debug mode — step Web search → "query" (N sources).
Single page by URL (Fetch URL)
- “Read https://docs.example.com/api/auth and explain OAuth steps”
- “Here is our public pricing page — extract the plan table: https://…”
Result: page summary (model-generated text, not HTML) or a structured fact table. If the URL is blocked (login, internal address), the assistant explains why.
Data from your public site (multiple pages)
State scope clearly:
- “I need the product catalog from
/shop/on site.example.com — find the sitemap first and show a plan for how many pages” - After the plan: “Continue the next 5 URLs from the queue”
- “Save the result as a table: name, price, URL”
Result: the assistant builds a URL queue (sitemap, robots.txt, or navigation), reads pages in batches, and reports progress. To load into Custom Data or a knowledge base — use Agent mode with edit permission and state the target explicitly.
Work modes
| Mode | Web search / URL | Platform changes |
|---|---|---|
| Ask | Yes (if enabled) | No |
| Agent | Yes | Yes, per role |
| Plan | Yes during discovery | After plan approval |
In Plan mode for large data collection, the assistant shows an execution plan first (scope, steps, where to store results).
How to verify it works
- The answer includes source links or quotes a specific URL.
- With Agent Debug Mode, you see Web search / Fetch URL steps.
- If the feature is off, the assistant says web access is unavailable and suggests contacting an administrator.
After you finish
- You get an answer backed by public sources or the content of a page at the URL you provided.
- For large sites, the assistant shows progress and may ask you to continue in the next chat message.