Set up Answer Desk in four steps

The Answer Desk > Start here screen lists four steps in the order they must happen. Each one gets a tick when it is done, and the Switch on button becomes available only when all four are complete.

The four steps

1. Connect an AI provider: click Choose the provider and follow Connect an AI provider.
2. Give it something to read: click Add documents and follow Add documents and site pages.
3. Build the index: click Build it and follow Build the index.
4. Switch it on: test first (below), then switch on.

If you later edit an imported page or add documents, step 3 loses its tick and shows The index is out of date, and a notice with a Build the index link appears at the top of the admin screens until you build the index again. This does not switch the assistant off and does not block Switch on: the assistant keeps working, but it cannot find the new text by meaning yet.

Test it before visitors do

When the first three steps are done, a Try it card appears on Start here.

1. Type a question a customer would ask, for example "how long does the warranty last?".
2. Click Ask.
3. Read the answer and the list of extracts it used, each with a percentage showing how close it was to the question.

This uses your real documents and your real AI account, so each test costs what a real question costs. If an answer is wrong, check which extract it came from: usually the fix is a clearer document, not a different setting.

Switch it on

1. At the top of Start here, click Switch on.
2. You see The assistant is now running on your site. The bar now says Running.
3. Open your site in a new tab: a chat button appears in the bottom right corner.

To take it off the site, click Switch off on the same screen.

The numbers at the bottom

Start here also shows how many documents you have, how many chunks are indexed, conversations this week and answers today. If the AI provider returned errors recently, a Recent problems card lists them, so you find out before a customer tells you.

What to do next

• Write what it says when it does not know: Choose how it answers.
• Match the chat to your site: Place and style the chat.
• Check the privacy settings: AI notice, privacy and limits.