Knowledge base best practices for AI

Plans and permissions:

• Add-on: AI agents or Copilot, billed separately

Use these practices to get more accurate answers from AI agents and Copilot. They answer from your knowledge base, so the quality and structure of your articles decide how often they find the right information and how well they use it. The same practices make articles easier for customers to read.

To see which articles AI agents and Copilot can use, go to Configure > Knowledge. See Knowledge management.

Write clear, complete content

Use clear and concise language

Plain, direct writing helps both people and AI understand your content.

Write sentences that stand alone

Give each piece of information in a complete sentence, so it makes sense on its own. AI often uses one part of an article without the rest.

For example: instead of “Available in Rose Gold and White”, write “The phone is available in Rose Gold and White.”

Avoid technical jargon

Use words most people understand. If you need a technical term, define it.

For example: “Our app uses end-to-end encryption, a method of secure communication that prevents third parties from accessing data.”

Be specific

Precise wording leaves less room for the AI to guess or make something up.

For example: instead of “It can take some time”, write “The process takes about 15 minutes.”

Use your customers’ words

Use the words and phrases your customers use for your products and services. When your articles match the way customers ask questions, the AI is more likely to match a question to the right answer.

Structure each article

• Use headings and subheadings. Break content into logical sections. The AI pulls in the section most relevant to a question, so clear sections help it find the right part of an article.
• Use bulleted and numbered lists. Break up complex or multi-part information so people and AI can follow it.

Prefer text to complex formats

AI handles plain text well, but can struggle with graphs and complex tables.

Turn tables and graphs into sentences

If important information is in a table or graph, write it out as sentences too.

For example: instead of a table of shipping rates, write “Shipping costs $5 for orders under $50, and is free for orders over $50 within the continental U.S.”

Keep necessary tables simple

If you need a table, give it clear headers, and don’t merge cells or nest tables. For example:

Avoid embedded and interactive content

Embedded spreadsheets, interactive charts, and other multimedia can confuse AI and lead to inaccurate answers. Put the information in text.

Organize your knowledge base

Use clear, separate categories

• Keep categories distinct. Give each topic one place, so categories don’t overlap.
• Organize the way customers think. Group content the way customers look for it. The AI is then more likely to find information the way your customers search for it.

Limit your sources of truth

The fewer knowledge systems you connect, the more consistent and accurate the AI’s answers are.

• Less conflicting information. Fewer systems mean fewer chances for articles to contradict each other or go out of date.
• Easier maintenance. Fewer sources are easier to keep up to date.

A single source isn’t always possible, but keeping the number of sources low helps.

Assign knowledge managers

Make someone responsible

Give specific people responsibility for keeping your knowledge base accurate. Even part-time ownership makes a noticeable difference to content quality.

Keep formatting and style consistent

A consistent style across your help center makes it easier for AI to search and find the right articles.

• Use a style guide for writing and formatting.
• Standardize formatting, such as headings and styles, across your knowledge base.

Review content regularly

• Audit on a schedule. Update or remove outdated content.
• Monitor AI answers. Review how AI agents and Copilot perform to find gaps. Knowledge opportunities shows the topics where AI agents couldn’t find what they needed, and Quality review lets you check individual answers.
• Ask for feedback. Encourage your support team and customers to say when an article doesn’t help, and remove articles that are unhelpful or out of date.