diff --git a/common/interfaces.ts b/common/interfaces.ts
index f55ae405..81f2b2dd 100644
--- a/common/interfaces.ts
+++ b/common/interfaces.ts
@@ -281,8 +281,8 @@ export type SearchPipelineConfig = {
 export type MLInferenceProcessor = IngestProcessor & {
   ml_inference: {
     model_id: string;
-    input_map?: {};
-    output_map?: {};
+    input_map?: {}[];
+    output_map?: {}[];
     [key: string]: any;
   };
 };
diff --git a/public/general_components/results/ml_response.tsx b/public/general_components/results/ml_outputs.tsx
similarity index 63%
rename from public/general_components/results/ml_response.tsx
rename to public/general_components/results/ml_outputs.tsx
index 036e3834..c9a82200 100644
--- a/public/general_components/results/ml_response.tsx
+++ b/public/general_components/results/ml_outputs.tsx
@@ -18,34 +18,26 @@ import {
   ML_RESPONSE_PROCESSOR_EXAMPLE_DOCS_LINK,
 } from '../../../common';
 
-interface MLResponseProps {
-  mlResponse: {};
+interface MLOutputsProps {
+  mlOutputs: {};
 }
 
 /**
- * Small component to render the ML response within a raw search response.
+ * Small component to render the ML outputs within a raw search response.
  */
-export function MLResponse(props: MLResponseProps) {
+export function MLOutputs(props: MLOutputsProps) {
   return (
     <>
       <EuiSpacer size="s" />
-      <EuiText size="s">
-        Showing results stored in <EuiCode>ext.ml_inference</EuiCode> from the
-        search response.{' '}
-        <EuiLink href={ML_RESPONSE_PROCESSOR_EXAMPLE_DOCS_LINK} target="_blank">
-          See an example
-        </EuiLink>
-      </EuiText>
-      <EuiSpacer size="m" />
-      {isEmpty(props.mlResponse) ? (
-        <EuiEmptyPrompt title={<h2>No response found</h2>} titleSize="s" />
+      {isEmpty(props.mlOutputs) ? (
+        <EuiEmptyPrompt title={<h2>No outputs found</h2>} titleSize="s" />
       ) : (
         <EuiCodeEditor
           mode="json"
           theme="textmate"
           width="100%"
           height="100%"
-          value={customStringify(props.mlResponse)}
+          value={customStringify(props.mlOutputs)}
           readOnly={true}
           setOptions={{
             fontSize: '12px',
@@ -55,6 +47,14 @@ export function MLResponse(props: MLResponseProps) {
           tabSize={2}
         />
       )}
+      <EuiSpacer size="s" />
+      <EuiText size="s" color="subdued">
+        Showing ML outputs stored in <EuiCode>ext.ml_inference</EuiCode> from
+        the search response.{' '}
+        <EuiLink href={ML_RESPONSE_PROCESSOR_EXAMPLE_DOCS_LINK} target="_blank">
+          See an example
+        </EuiLink>
+      </EuiText>
     </>
   );
 }
diff --git a/public/general_components/results/results.tsx b/public/general_components/results/results.tsx
index 3eac32ba..b6e4b46d 100644
--- a/public/general_components/results/results.tsx
+++ b/public/general_components/results/results.tsx
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import React, { useState } from 'react';
-import { get } from 'lodash';
+import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import { get, isEmpty } from 'lodash';
 import {
   EuiPanel,
   EuiFlexGroup,
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import {
 import { SearchResponse } from '../../../common';
 import { ResultsTable } from './results_table';
 import { ResultsJSON } from './results_json';
-import { MLResponse } from './ml_response';
+import { MLOutputs } from './ml_outputs';
 
 interface ResultsProps {
   response: SearchResponse;
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ interface ResultsProps {
 
 enum VIEW {
   HITS_TABLE = 'hits_table',
+  ML_OUTPUTS = 'ml_outputs',
   RAW_JSON = 'raw_json',
-  ML_RESPONSE = 'ml_response',
 }
 
 /**
@@ -31,8 +31,14 @@ enum VIEW {
  * or the raw JSON response.
  */
 export function Results(props: ResultsProps) {
-  // selected view state
+  // selected view state. auto-navigate to ML outputs if there is values found
+  // in "ext.ml_inference" in the search response.
   const [selectedView, setSelectedView] = useState<VIEW>(VIEW.HITS_TABLE);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!isEmpty(get(props.response, 'ext.ml_inference', {}))) {
+      setSelectedView(VIEW.ML_OUTPUTS);
+    }
+  }, [props.response]);
 
   return (
     <EuiPanel
@@ -55,12 +61,12 @@ export function Results(props: ResultsProps) {
                 label: 'Hits',
               },
               {
-                id: VIEW.RAW_JSON,
-                label: 'Raw JSON',
+                id: VIEW.ML_OUTPUTS,
+                label: 'ML outputs',
               },
               {
-                id: VIEW.ML_RESPONSE,
-                label: 'ML response',
+                id: VIEW.RAW_JSON,
+                label: 'Raw JSON',
               },
             ]}
             idSelected={selectedView}
@@ -73,14 +79,14 @@ export function Results(props: ResultsProps) {
             {selectedView === VIEW.HITS_TABLE && (
               <ResultsTable hits={props.response?.hits?.hits || []} />
             )}
+            {selectedView === VIEW.ML_OUTPUTS && (
+              <MLOutputs
+                mlOutputs={getMLResponseFromSearchResponse(props.response)}
+              />
+            )}
             {selectedView === VIEW.RAW_JSON && (
               <ResultsJSON response={props.response} />
             )}
-            {selectedView === VIEW.ML_RESPONSE && (
-              <MLResponse
-                mlResponse={getMLResponseFromSearchResponse(props.response)}
-              />
-            )}
           </>
         </EuiFlexItem>
       </EuiFlexGroup>
diff --git a/public/pages/workflows/new_workflow/quick_configure_modal.tsx b/public/pages/workflows/new_workflow/quick_configure_modal.tsx
index 854be4ac..6f307327 100644
--- a/public/pages/workflows/new_workflow/quick_configure_modal.tsx
+++ b/public/pages/workflows/new_workflow/quick_configure_modal.tsx
@@ -741,8 +741,7 @@ function updateRAGSearchResponseProcessors(
   llmInterface: ModelInterface | undefined
 ): WorkflowConfig {
   config.search.enrichResponse.processors.forEach((processor, idx) => {
-    // prefill ML inference. By default, store the inference results
-    // under the `ext.ml_inference` response body.
+    // prefill ML inference
     if (processor.type === PROCESSOR_TYPE.ML) {
       config.search.enrichResponse.processors[idx].fields.forEach((field) => {
         if (field.id === 'model' && fields.llmId) {
@@ -785,7 +784,7 @@ function updateRAGSearchResponseProcessors(
                 ...outputMap[0],
                 value: {
                   transformType: TRANSFORM_TYPE.FIELD,
-                  value: `ext.ml_inference.${fields.llmResponseField}`,
+                  value: fields.llmResponseField,
                 },
               };
             } else {
diff --git a/public/utils/config_to_template_utils.ts b/public/utils/config_to_template_utils.ts
index 2b0c6552..65c7b093 100644
--- a/public/utils/config_to_template_utils.ts
+++ b/public/utils/config_to_template_utils.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  */
 
 import { FormikValues } from 'formik';
-import { isEmpty } from 'lodash';
+import { get, isEmpty } from 'lodash';
 import {
   TemplateFlows,
   TemplateNode,
@@ -233,6 +233,31 @@ export function processorConfigsToTemplateProcessors(
           );
         }
 
+        // process where the returned values from the output map should be stored.
+        // by default, if many-to-one, append with "ext.ml_inference", such that the outputs
+        // will be stored in a standalone field in the search response, instead of appended
+        // to each document redundantly.
+        const oneToOne = formValues?.one_to_one as boolean | undefined;
+        if (
+          oneToOne !== undefined &&
+          oneToOne === false &&
+          processor.ml_inference?.output_map !== undefined
+        ) {
+          const updatedOutputMap = processor.ml_inference.output_map?.map(
+            (mapEntry) => {
+              let updatedMapEntry = {};
+              Object.keys(mapEntry).forEach((key) => {
+                updatedMapEntry = {
+                  ...updatedMapEntry,
+                  [`ext.ml_inference.${key}`]: get(mapEntry, key),
+                };
+              });
+              return updatedMapEntry;
+            }
+          );
+          processor.ml_inference.output_map = updatedOutputMap;
+        }
+
         // process optional fields
         let additionalFormValues = {} as FormikValues;
         Object.keys(formValues).forEach((formKey: string) => {