Build an AI Knowledge Assistant

Who it's for and what you get

For AI content managers who want an assistant that knows your company: your policies, product guides, price lists, help articles or website.

When it is done:

• an AI profile that searches your documents and data before it answers;
• answers that show the documents they came from, as references;
• if you want, an assistant that answers only from your knowledge and says so when it cannot find the answer;
• the same knowledge available wherever that profile is used: the admin chat, the website widget, or an AI agent answering customers.

Before you start

The AI does not read your files whole. It splits them into passages and stores them in a search index, so it can find the right passage for each question. That index runs on a search service such as Elasticsearch or Azure AI Search, which IT provides.

You need	Who sets it up
A search service (Elasticsearch or Azure AI Search) for the knowledge indexes	IT; see the AI documents and AI data sources technical pages
An AI connection with a chat deployment, and one that can create the search data (embeddings)	Your administrator or AI content manager; see AI connections
For documents: AI Documents for Profiles, the indexing feature for your search service (AI Documents indexing using Elasticsearch or AI Documents indexing using Azure AI Search), and AI Documents (PDF) or AI Documents (OpenXml) for PDF, Word and PowerPoint files	Your administrator, in Tools > Features
For data sources: the data source feature for your search service (AI Data Sources - Elasticsearch or AI Data Sources - Azure AI Search; AI Data Sources - PostgreSQL for a database), and AI Web Crawlers or AI File Sources if the knowledge lives on a website or a file server	Your administrator
Permission to manage AI profiles and AI data sources	Your administrator; see Roles and permissions

Can't find it?

What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

Steps

1. Set up the knowledge indexes. The administrator adds the indexes under Search > Indexing and picks the default document index under Settings > Artificial Intelligence. See Knowledge.
2. Pick the profile. Create or open the AI profile that should use the knowledge, under Artificial Intelligence > Profiles. See AI profiles.
3. Upload documents. On the profile's Knowledge tab, upload your files: text, Markdown, HTML, PDF, Word or PowerPoint, depending on the features that are on. They become background knowledge for every conversation with the profile. See Knowledge.
4. Connect larger or changing knowledge as a data source. For your site's own content, a search index, a database table, or a website, add a data source under Artificial Intelligence > Data Sources with Add Data Source. Website pages are collected by a web crawler under Artificial Intelligence > Web Crawlers. Data sources keep themselves up to date as the source changes. See Knowledge.
5. Attach the data source to the profile. Pick the data source on the profile's Knowledge tab.
6. Decide how strict it is. Tick Restrict answers to retrieved data only if the assistant must not answer from general knowledge. Leave it off if your knowledge should come first but the AI may fill gaps. See Knowledge.
7. Test and refine. Chat with the profile and ask questions your documents answer. Check the references under each answer. See AI chat.
8. Put it to work. Use the profile on your website, in the admin, or as an AI agent that answers customers. See Put an AI assistant on your website and Let the AI answer your customers.

Check that it works

1. Ask a question whose answer is only in one of your documents. The answer should match the document and list it as a reference.
2. Ask a question your knowledge does not cover. With Restrict answers to retrieved data only on, the assistant should say it cannot find the answer instead of guessing.
3. Change a page or record in a data source, wait for it to sync, and ask again.

Tips

• Start with a few good, current documents rather than everything you have. Out-of-date files lead to out-of-date answers.
• Remove a document from the profile when it is replaced, and upload the new one.
• Spreadsheets cannot be uploaded as profile knowledge; they are for data analysis in chat, not for answering questions.
• If the profile shows a warning that the index is not configured, ask your administrator to pick the document index under Settings > Artificial Intelligence.
• To let people upload their own files during a chat, see Chat interactions.