Meta adds AI answers to Facebook search using public posts
Facebook’s new AI Mode will generate search answers from public content across Meta apps, while letting users ask follow-up questions.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
Meta is adding an AI-powered search option to Facebook that can answer questions using public posts and other public content from across its apps. The change matters because material users make public on Meta services may now help shape automated search results inside Facebook.
Meta announced the feature as AI Mode, a new choice that appears in Facebook search next to existing categories such as People and Marketplace. The Verge reported that the tool is part of a broader set of AI updates Meta is beginning to roll out.
Instead of returning only a list of links or search categories, AI Mode produces generated answers based on information Meta’s systems find in public activity on its platforms, according to Meta. Users can also ask follow-up questions after receiving an AI-generated result, The Verge reported.
Public content feeds the answers
Meta said the Facebook search feature uses Meta AI to provide answers based on what people are sharing publicly across the company’s apps. The company has said its Muse Spark AI model will, over time, support features that cite recommendations and content shared across Instagram, Facebook and Threads.
The feature echoes another Meta product described by The Verge: an AI search function in the company’s Forum app, which is built around a Reddit-like format. The Verge also noted that Google has used Reddit discussions in search results and AI-generated summaries, putting Meta’s move in a wider push to use social posts as search material.
The Facebook AI Mode update does not apply to private posts based on the details Meta has disclosed. The available description centers on public content and on answers drawn from what people are publicly saying across Meta’s services.
More AI tools are arriving
AI Mode is one of several Facebook AI features Meta is introducing, according to the company. The rollout also includes photo presets that can place sports jerseys on fans in images and prompts that suggest collage templates.
Meta’s announcement places the search update inside a larger effort to add AI assistance to common Facebook tasks. For search, the company is shifting part of the experience from finding destinations inside the app to receiving synthesized answers based on public social activity.
The Verge reported that AI Mode will appear as a selectable option when users search on Facebook. Meta has not described in the reported announcement how broadly the feature will be available at launch or whether users will have separate controls tied specifically to having their public posts used in AI search answers.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.