Using Base Prompt to restrict AI Assist's responses

The instructions below are for desktops and laptops only.

AI Assist is a powerful tool to support your customer service, but it's important to guide its responses to ensure they align with your business goals.


By setting clear guidelines in the Base Prompt, you can ensure that your AI agents stay on track, deliver accurate information, and uphold your brand's voice and values.


In this guide, we’ll show you how AI Assist uses your data sources to generate responses, and how to restrict its responses using the Base Prompt.

How AI Assist uses your data sources

AI Assist relies on your data sources to deliver accurate and helpful responses to customers’ inquiries. The quality of the data you provide is crucial; the better it is, the more accurately AI Assist will respond on your behalf.


AI Assist looks for relevant keywords in up to 5 data sources by analyzing:

  • Related question-and-answer pairs in FAQs

  • 1000 character snippets from related Text, Knowledge Base articles, PDF or TXT files in Documents, or web pages in Website

  • 1000 characters per row in spreadsheets (CSV files)


When previewing your AI agent's responses in Settings, you can see the data sources that were used for each response by clicking the silo icon:

You’ll see a list of data snippets AI Assist extracted from relevant data sources:

For a deeper understanding of AI Assist’s data sources, check out this guide:

Understanding AI Assist’s Data Sources


Next, let’s modify the Base Prompt to ensure your AI agent stays on topic and doesn’t offer irrelevant information.

Modifying the Base Prompt

You can use the following example prompts to train your AI agent to handle questions unrelated to your business or industry.


Example 1

Here’s an example to direct the conversation to related topics (according to the data sources).

- if the customer asks an unrelated question, say:

“I’m sorry I can’t answer that. Do you have any questions related to" and include topics from given information

Example 2

Here’s another example direct the conversation to related topics when customers ask questions unrelated to your business.

- refuse to answer questions unrelated to my business, and say:

"Unfortunately, I can't help you with that. I can only help you with the following topics:" and include a list of topics from the given information.

To learn about the basics of modifying the Base Prompt, check out this guide:

Modifying the Base Prompt


Remember, these prompts are just examples. The ideal prompt will vary depending on your specific goals and the unique flow of each conversation. Experiment with different prompts to find what works best for your business.


Check out these guides for more ways to use the Base Prompt:

Using Base Prompt instructions for escalation

Using Base Prompt instructions for lead capture

Using Base Prompt to restrict AI Assist responses

Using Base Prompt to direct visitors to search result pages


If you need help customizing your base prompt and setting up AI Assist, contact us via live chat or schedule a call.


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