How the assistant answers questions | Civio Civio Assist Knowledge Base [Skip to content](#main) [ ![Civio Civio Assist Knowledge Base](/civio-light.svg) ](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.civio-assist-docs.dh1.amazee.io) [Product documentation](/articles) [Release notes](/releases) [ Support portal ](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.civio-assist-docs.dh1.amazee.io/portal/login) Toggle navigation [Product documentation](/articles) [Release notes](/releases) [Support portal](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.civio-assist-docs.dh1.amazee.io/portal/login) 1. [Home](/) › 2. [Product documentation](/articles) › 3. [How the chatbot works for your users](/articles?category=3) › 4. How the assistant answers questions How the assistant answers questions =================================== Updated 3 weeks ago · 3 min read Search Search Knowing how the chatbot arrives at an answer helps you judge its replies, explain the service to colleagues, and shape what goes into its knowledge base. It answers from your knowledge base ----------------------------------- Civio Assist indexes the pages and documents your organisation has approved. When a user asks a question, the chatbot searches that indexed content, finds the passages that address the question, and writes a reply based on them. That approved content is the chatbot's **knowledge base**. It is the only place answers come from. The chatbot is not searching the open internet, and it is not drawing on general knowledge about services like yours. Answers point back to your pages -------------------------------- Where the source is a page on your site, the reply usually includes a link back to it. This lets users read the full detail themselves, and lets your team check an answer against the page it came from. ![A chatbot reply in the chat window with source links to the organisation's web pages shown beneath the answer](https://assist.knowledge.civ.io/storage/tD3RBEchy2r4EPHhsaVNVbdOksG0ETGc6qmM67hh.png) Conversations have a short memory --------------------------------- Within a single conversation the chatbot remembers what has already been said, so a user can ask a follow-up like "how much does that cost?" without repeating themselves. After a period of inactivity the session expires and the next message starts a fresh conversation, with no memory of the earlier one. The default is 30 minutes, and it can be set differently for your bot. When a question could mean several things ----------------------------------------- Some questions have more than one answer depending on a detail the user has not given: which permit they mean, where they live, or which of several fees applies. Rather than settling on one of those cases and answering as though it were the only one, the chatbot asks a single question that narrows it down, naming the options where it can. That reply is read as part of the same conversation, so the answer that follows is the one that fits their situation. When it cannot answer --------------------- If the chatbot cannot find relevant content, it says so rather than inventing an answer. Depending on how your bot is set up, it may also point the user towards a contact page or a human. See [When the chatbot hands over to your team](/articles/escalation-and-redirects). Some questions are declined deliberately because they fall outside the topics the chatbot covers. See [Safety guardrails](/articles/safety-guardrails). A "sorry, I cannot help with that" on a question your chatbot *should* handle usually means the bot’s scope needs updating or the knowledge base extending. You can propose the content yourself: see [Creating an additional knowledge entry](/articles/manual-context). What it will not do ------------------- - It cannot answer on topics that are out of scope or not in the knowledge base. - It cannot look up an individual's account, application, payment or case. - It is not a substitute for staff advice on complex, personal, or legal matters. - It does not take payments or complete transactions. Answers can lag behind your website. The knowledge base is refreshed on a schedule, so a page edited this morning may not be reflected in replies immediately. If a page has changed and the chatbot needs to know straight away, tell your Civio representative. Was this article helpful? ------------------------- Your feedback helps us prioritise what to rewrite. Yes No [ Back to How the chatbot works for your users ](/articles?category=3) On this page ### Still need help? Raise a request in the support portal and track it to resolution. [ Submit a support request ](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.civio-assist-docs.dh1.amazee.io/portal/login) **Need additional help?** Contact our support team at [help@assist-support.civ.io](mailto:support@civ.io) © 2026 [Civio](https://civ.io)