Unlocking hidden knowledge across websites and document libraries
The challenge
ADEPT asked us to rethink how users search their website.
Their Drupal site already held a wealth of information, but much of their most valuable content lived in a large library of PDF documents. Traditional search tools struggle to surface insights from these documents, making it difficult for users to find clear answers quickly.
The brief was to create a smarter, AI-powered search experience that could:
- Pull together information from across the website and PDFs
- Understand natural language questions
- Provide clear, concise answers rather than just lists of links
Our approach
We designed a solution that combines powerful search technology with AI, allowing users to ask questions in plain English and receive meaningful responses.
Rather than trying to force this into traditional website hosting, we recognised early that AI search requires a different technical approach. This meant building a flexible, cloud-based solution using best-in-class tools.
Choosing the right technology
- Search platform: We selected Algolia, a proven and highly scalable search platform used by major documentation and content-heavy websites.
- AI model: We integrated Google Gemini, chosen for its strong performance, safety standards, and alignment with ethical AI principles.
This combination gave us a robust foundation for both fast search and high-quality AI responses.
How it works (In Plain English)
At the heart of the system is a search index – a structured database that stores all the content from the website and documents in a way that can be quickly searched.
When a user asks a question:
- The AI interprets the question and identifies what the user is really looking for
- The system searches the index for the most relevant content
- The AI reads those results and generates a clear, human-friendly answer
We can also tailor the tone of voice, so responses reflect ADEPT’s style and audience.
Bringing website and PDF content together
A key part of this project was making sure both web pages and PDFs could be searched equally well.
Website content
Instead of relying on a basic crawler, we integrated directly with Drupal. This gave us greater control over how content is structured and indexed, improving the accuracy and relevance of results.
PDF library
PDFs posed a bigger challenge, as search engines can’t easily interpret them in their original format.
To solve this, we:
- Used Adobe PDF Services to extract structured text (including headings and lists)
- Converted documents into a format optimised for search
- Processed large volumes of files efficiently using cloud-based tools
This means users can now discover insights hidden within long reports and documents just as easily as web pages.
Built for reliability and scale
Behind the scenes, we implemented a queue-based system in Drupal to manage content processing and updates.
This approach allows the system to:
- Handle updates automatically when content changes
- Retry tasks if something fails (e.g. temporary API issues)
- Run processing in the background without affecting website performance
Because ADEPT’s platform is built on Drupal 11 (using the Symfony framework), we were also able to create a clean, modular architecture that supports automated testing and long-term maintainability.
Front-End experience
On the user side, we focused on creating a simple, intuitive experience.
We adapted modern UI components to integrate seamlessly with ADEPT’s existing design, ensuring the AI search tool feels like a natural part of the website.
The result is a clean interface where users can:
- Ask questions conversationally
- Receive instant, summarised answers
- Explore supporting content if needed
The result
The new AI-powered search transforms how users interact with ADEPT’s content.
Instead of hunting through pages and documents, users can now:
- Get quick, clear answers to complex questions
- Access insights from across the entire content ecosystem
- Discover valuable information that was previously hard to find
For ADEPT, this means:
- Better engagement with their audience
- Increased visibility of their knowledge and research
- A more accessible and user-friendly website
What this means for other organisations?
Many organisations have valuable content spread across websites, PDFs, and reports – but struggle to make it accessible.
This project shows how AI-powered search can unlock that content and turn it into a usable, engaging resource.
At Cosmic, we bring together:
- Deep experience with CMS platforms like Drupal and WordPress
- Strong understanding of accessibility and user needs
- Practical, ethical use of AI technologies
to deliver solutions that are not just technically impressive, but genuinely useful.