How Retrieval Works
How customer answers come from the business sources you have prepared
How Retrieval Works#
There is no retrieval setup on this page. When a customer asks a question, the agent looks through the business information you have prepared and answers from what it finds.
Uploading a file, discovering website pages, and training are different steps. A source that is not trained is not available as an answer. A website is not ready because its pages were found.
What can answer a question#
| Source | What the agent can use |
|---|---|
| Files and text | Trained document text or a trained note |
| Q&A | The approved answer for the questions you listed |
| Website | Pages that were extracted and trained, not every address that was discovered |
| Google Drive | Linked files after they are downloaded and trained |
| Structured data | Mapped rows. An upload is a snapshot. Live lookup, when enabled, reads current rows from a connected sheet or API |
| Time-sensitive content | Promotions, closures, and other dated facts only while they are in effect |
| Social Feed | Nothing, until you turn a post into a trained source or an active time-sensitive update |
| Learned Style | How replies sound. It does not supply prices, policies, or other facts |
Source Health reviews gaps, conflicts, duplicates, and weak sources. It does not change what customers hear until you update the source and train when training is required.
A live lookup can read current stock or availability. It does not reserve inventory or create a booking.
When an answer is weak#
| What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
| The agent says it does not know | The source exists, is trained, and actually contains the fact |
| The answer is old or contradicts another source | Update the source that should win, remove the duplicate, and train again |
| A Q&A is missed | Add the way the customer asked, then train again |
| A price or stock answer is stale | Use a connected structured-data source with live lookup, or a time-sensitive update for a temporary price |
| The tone is wrong | Change Guidance or Learned Style. Do not hide tone instructions in a price list |
Retest the same question in Playground after the source status says the content is available.