ai_search
ChatGPTTranslate a natural-language query into a validated SciLeads filter and run the search. Consumes one AI-search credit. Use for the first search of a topic, or for conceptual refinements; prefer refine_search for structural changes (add a city, exclude an org).
userQuery is capped at 500 characters - pass a focused search phrase, and summarise a longer ask rather than pasting it verbatim (an over-long query is rejected without consuming a credit). The response also returns two optional query improvements it did NOT apply — pluralVariants (grammatical forms of a term) and relatedTerms (broader/narrower concepts). Their exact JSON shape is in the output schema; offer them as follow-ups per the guidance below. Related terms and plural variants — offer as follow-ups, never up-front friction ai_search runs the search on the extracted filter term(s) only. It also returns two kinds of optional query improvements that were not applied. Present the results first, then — when it helps — offer these as follow-ups to broaden or narrow. Never gate results on them, never auto-apply them, and never comment on their quality (they exist to improve recall; the user judges relevance, not you). To actually apply one the user picks, add it via refine_search (structural) or a follow-up ai_search (conceptual). `pluralVariants` — offer FIRST (cheap recall). Plural/grammatical forms of a term (e.g. mutation → mutations) — the same concept, just pluralised, so the lowest-risk way to catch more results. The shape is nested so you can see each variant's source: the outer key is the extracted term, the inner key is the phrase the variant is a plural of — the base term itself, or one of its related terms. A variant off the base term is a pure recall win; a variant off a related term only matters once that related term is adopted. > "Want to include plural variants (e.g. mutation → mutations) to catch more results?" `relatedTerms` — offer AFTER plurals (broaden/narrow by intent). Ranked related concepts (broader or narrower), best first. On the SciLeads platform roughly the top 5 per term are pre-selected; here they are suggestions only, never applied. Frame them by what the user wants — focus vs widen — you need not use all of them, and you may add your own when they fit the natural-language query. > "I can narrow or broaden this — e.g. add pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma to focus, or > carcinoma to widen. Want any of these?"




