How does search work in Experience Cloud, including federated search?

Experience Cloud search has two modes:

1. Global Search — searches Salesforce records and Knowledge articles that the user has access to (respecting sharing and data category visibility). Results display in the Search Results page, which can be customized in Experience Builder.
2. Federated Search — extends search to external systems (external databases, SharePoint, etc.) using a configured search provider (via Salesforce Connect or custom Apex). Results from external systems appear alongside Salesforce results. Additional capabilities: Promoted Searches boost specific articles or records to the top of results for defined search terms. Spell Correction handles minor typos. Search Indexing Delay: newly created records may take up to 15 minutes to appear in community search results due to indexing latency.