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Best Bets created for sites under one site collection are not being reflected in the search results for sites in different site collections.  

Best Bets are only associated with the site collection under which they were created. 

This may appear to be unexpected behavior, but it is the intended design of the product. Best Bets and Visual Best Bets are only associated with the site collection under which they were created. Below is an example of how this is designed to work:

Site Collection 1 – http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo1
(http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo1)

                Sub Site – http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo1/search
(http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo1/search)

Site Collection 2 – http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo2
(http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo2)

                Sub Site – http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo2/search
(http://intranet.contoso.com/sites/demo2/search)
 

Based on the above example, there are two separate places to define Best Bets and Visual Best Bets: one under site collection 1, and another under site collection 2. Both will share their Best Bets and Visual Best Bets with their sub sites (‘demo1/search’ and ‘demo2/search’, respectively), but not with each other.

If it is desired for the Best Bets and Visual Best Bets to be added in one place, and have them reflected in all the sites, one can proceed by either of the below methods:

1. Create the additional sub sites under the same top-level site so that they are within the same site collection, and therefore can share the Best 
 Bets/Keywords/etc.
 
2. Continue to define the Best Bets & Keywords under multiple site collections, but configure a PowerShell script that will periodically synchronize (copy/update/delete) all the Best Bets/Keywords/etc. between the two site collections. The PowerShell script will perform the task of syncing (copy/update/delete) all the Best Bets/Keywords/etc. between the two site collections.  

Information regarding how to create the scripts for importing and exporting the Keywords, Best Bets and more using a CSV file can be found at the below pages:

Script to export – http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/6b9b2e1c-7521-4091-b2a0-348bfd213a23
(http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/6b9b2e1c-7521-4091-b2a0-348bfd213a23)

Script to import – http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/9ad93d90-9ca7-4515-b81e-441eda0390c3
(http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/9ad93d90-9ca7-4515-b81e-441eda0390c3)

Once the script performs the sync (copy/update/delete) of all the Best Bets/Keywords/etc between the two site collections, the Best Bets and Visual Best Bets will work on both site collections.

Note This is a “FAST PUBLISH” article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use
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for other considerations.