Web search and current information
When Ask researches the live web, how freshness is shown, and when an internal answer is preferred over an external one.
OpenFeather uses web research when a question needs information that is current, external, or not present in your connections — a competitor announcement, a provider policy change, or a general fact. It is not the default path for questions about your own product or your own data.
When web research runs
Web research is triggered by intent, not by keywords alone. Current-information phrasing, external entities, and research-shaped requests qualify. A product-help question about OpenbirdAI does not.
- External facts with a recent shelf life.
- Competitor, market or provider updates.
- Documentation and standards that change over time.
How freshness is shown
Sources carry their own dates. OpenFeather records the retrieval time and each source's published or updated date where the provider exposes one, and it flags when the evidence contradicts itself rather than silently choosing a side.
Content pages that change without a clear date, and answers that blend several sources into one confident paragraph, are both reasons to verify before acting.
Product questions should not hit the web
Questions about how OpenbirdAI itself works are answered from OpenbirdAI's own documentation knowledge base. OpenFeather prefers internal product documentation over a web result so it cannot give you a stale third-party answer about its own features.
- Ask "how do I connect Google" → internal documentation, no external search.
- Ask "what changed in Google Workspace policy this month" → live web research, because that is not OpenbirdAI knowledge.
When research is not appropriate
- The question is about your private data — use your connected sources instead.
- The answer is a matter of recorded fact inside your workspace, such as your team goals.
- The topic is regulated or high-impact; research is fine, but the result is not professional advice.
Common questions
How do I know an answer used the web?
The sources listed under the answer include external pages with their own dates.
Does web research cost extra credits?
Web research is one of the factors in the Core credit score, so a research-heavy question can cost more than a simple one. Deep Strategy is always charged at its fixed rate.