1. A method for executing a query, the method comprising: receiving, by an application having a first user interface, a request to execute a query by the application, the request including selection criteria for the query that includes a business object (BO) instance to be queried; determining whether to execute the query by the application or a search engine having a second user interface that is separate and distinct from the application that executes queries independent of the application, the determining based on metadata associated with the BO instance referenced in the request to execute the query, the metadata including an indication of a type of query method to provide for the BO instance; sending the selection criteria to the search engine to execute the query in response to the determination that the query is to be executed by the search engine; receiving, by the application, a result of the query execution from the search engine; and providing an output of the query result.