What's the difference between Squiz Funnelback Search and other site search tools?

How does Conversational Search – a capability of Funnelback Search – differ from traditional search tools?

Traditional keyword-based tools were designed for an earlier generation of the web, focused on exact matches and structured queries. While they still serve a purpose in some scenarios, they can fall short on large or complex websites where user intent is harder to predict.

The key difference is: keyword-based search looks for exact word matches, while Funnelback Search’s Conversational Search capability understands what the user actually means even if they don't phrase it perfectly.

This matters most on large or complex websites. Users don't always know the exact terms to search for, so matching keywords alone isn't enough. By understanding intent, Conversational Search helps users find the right content faster, which improves satisfaction, reduces frustration, and eases pressure on support teams.

But there are more differences than that. Here’s how the two approaches compare across core capabilities:

This is one of the defining Conversational Search advantages: giving users the freedom to ask natural questions and receive accurate, contextual responses powered by your approved content.

Check out more details on what Conversational Search is and how it works in this blog.

Use cases for conversation-based search vs traditional keyword-based search tools in key sectors

Both approaches serve important roles in helping users find information. The difference lies in how they handle complexity, intent, and accessibility across different contexts.

Here are use case examples across some content-heavy sectors:

How does on-site conversational search impact ROI?

With on-site keyword search, users may not always find the right content, which could result in missed opportunities, higher support costs, and underutilized digital assets. Conversational Search helps reverse that trend by making every interaction more purposeful, measurable, and aligned with user intent.

Here’s how improved search translates into stronger return on investment:

• Boost content discoverability: Instead of burying key information under broad or irrelevant results, Conversational Search delivers precise answers. This helps users complete tasks faster, whether that's enrolling in a course, renewing a license, or finding service details.
• Lower support costs: When users can find accurate answers on their own, fewer routine questions end up in your contact center or service desk queues. This frees your team to focus on complex or high-priority requests.
• Increase conversions: From form completions to sign-ups and downloads, smarter search shortens the path to action. By connecting intent to the right content, Conversational Search helps turn user queries into measurable outcomes.
• Maximize content investment: Content teams can see what users are searching for. They can also identify underperforming pages and content gaps. This leads to more focused content improvements and better returns from your existing library.

Beyond these measurable gains, Conversational Search also delivers a less obvious but equally valuable advantage: insight into your content quality. Every query reveals what users are really asking and whether your content answers it effectively. This intelligence helps you close gaps, clarify messaging, and strengthen your site as an authoritative source. That, in turn, ensures both your visitors and external AI search platforms (e.g. ChatGPT, Google AI Mode) represent your organisation accurately and consistently.

When your site search works smarter, your entire digital ecosystem performs better.

How does Funnelback Search power on-site conversational search?

Conversational Search is a capability of Squiz Funnelback Search: a high-performance engine trusted by service-led organizations.

It combines enterprise-grade retrieval with AI-ready capabilities, making it easier to deliver approved, helpful answers at scale. Key features include:

• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture: Ensures that AI answers are grounded in approved, indexed content, never generated in isolation.
• Guardrails in place: Answer guidelines and a default response you control help keep answers grounded in approved content and avoid hallucination risk.
• Answer guidelines: Configure the tone and structure of answers, plus a default response you control for when no answer is found, to align with your brand and governance requirements.
• Flexible indexing of structured and unstructured data: Finds answers from sources in different formats including PDFs, policy documents, web pages, and FAQs.
• Conversation insights: Admins can review live and test conversations and export questions and answers to see how the experience is performing.

Beyond the search bar, Funnelback Search underpins a complete search experience that's accurate, context-aware, and ready for the expectations of 2025.

What's required to migrate from keyword-based search to on-site conversational search?

Modernizing your site search doesn’t mean starting from scratch. In most cases, a phased rollout is the safest way to reduce risk, prove value early, and build a repeatable model you can scale.

Here’s what that process typically looks like:

• Start with a focused topic slice: Choose a targeted, high-value area of your site to begin, such as your help center, course catalog, student services, or key support content. Starting small makes it easier to validate answer quality and governance before you scale.
  This is where Squiz Content Intelligence comes in. Included with Funnelback Search, it’s a content health solution that helps you audit your site for AI readiness and accessibility, so you can strengthen the content foundation Conversational Search relies on. To help you choose a topic slice to start with, it organizes your site into clear topics and gives you an AI readiness status for each one – so you can make a more informed decision on where to begin – whether that’s a high-value topic that’s already in good shape, or a priority topic where you know content needs work before you roll out.
• Audit and fix your content: Start by listing common user questions. Then check if your site already answers them clearly. Identify where gaps, inconsistencies, or unclear formatting may affect the quality of AI answers.
  Content Intelligence helps you do this in a structured way. For each topic, it generates and tests the kinds of questions people are likely to ask, then shows how well your content supports clear, accurate answers. You’ll see where information is missing, unclear, or inconsistent, along with practical guidance on what to fix first so improvements are focused on impact, not guesswork.
• Configure and test: A conversational experience needs clear rules: what content is allowed to be used, how answers should be written and displayed, and what should happen when there isn’t a reliable answer. This is where trust is won or lost.
  With Conversational Search, you can control what content is in scope, keep answers tied to trusted sources, and define sensible fallback behaviour when content is missing or unclear. Then test early with real queries, review results with your team, and tune both the content and configuration before you scale.
• Scale with confidence: Once the first topic slice performs well, expand to additional topics and areas of your site. A step-by-step rollout keeps risk controlled and makes it easier to repeat what works.
  Content Intelligence helps you prioritize what to tackle next, with its topic-by-topic AI readiness status.

Your next steps: is it time to modernize your site search?

If users are struggling to find answers or if your current search setup limits discoverability, efficiency, or engagement, it might be time for a change.

Squiz Funnelback Search with Conversational Search offers a modern, AI-ready alternative that:

• Understands intent, not just keywords
• Grounds every answer in approved content
• Provides transparency and governance at every step
• Scales to meet the needs of both your organization and your audience

With the right combination of technology and content preparation, you can evolve your site search without unnecessary risk and start delivering the fast, relevant, trustworthy answers your users now expect.

Ready to explore how Squiz Funnelback Search can help you make the shift to Conversational Search?

Book a 30-min chat with a member of our team here.