Common Sidekick FAQs

For granular details as to how Sidekick replied at the Conversation-level, you can view and filter all recent Sidekick interactions in the Sidekick Conversations Page.

Here, you’ll see details like:

• How Sidekick responded (Resolved, Handed Off, or Did Not Respond)

• The Channel and Customer details

• The reason for handoff, if applicable

Conversation history is retained for 30 days, giving you a quick way to audit performance and spot improvement opportunities.

Learn more: Sidekick Conversations Page Overview

Before sending any response, Sidekick runs built-in quality checks to ensure accuracy and reliability.

If a response fails for reasons such as:

• Missing context or incomplete information

• False or inaccurate statements

• Policy violations or unverified promises

Sidekick will handoff the Conversation to an Agent instead of sending a reply. The reason for the handoff, and all the steps Sidekick took leading up to the handoffs, appear in the Conversation Review.

Regular review and optimization help Sidekick get smarter and more efficient.

To continuously improve:

• Review Suggested Answers generated from handoffs.

• Add or update those Answers in your Public Answers repository.

• Use the Guides and Answers Performance Dashboard to identify trends and gaps.

• Refine your Guides and transfer workflows based on what you learn.

• Explore the Guides Performance Detail Report and the Answers Performance Detail Report for more granular insight into how Sidekick is engaging with Customers.

Following these steps and explore the above reports and dashboard to ensure Sidekick provides a high volume of high-quality resolutions.

The Guides and Answers Performance Dashboard shows how Sidekick uses your content to assist or resolve Customer inquiries.

You’ll see metrics such as:

• Resolved: Sidekick answered without Agent involvement

• Assisted: Sidekick responded but then handed off

• Guides & Answers usage: Which content is most frequently referenced

Reviewing these trends week-over-week helps you spot optimization opportunities and understand Sidekick’s real impact.

Learn more: Sidekick Guides & Answers Performance Dashboard

Yes. You can define when and how Sidekick transfers a Conversation, and the messaging provided to Customers, by configuring transfer conditions within the Guides interface.

To do this:

• Add transfer conditions in the ‘When to get more help’ tile, or

• Modify the handoff message within the ‘When to get more help’ tile.

Sidekick supports several digital channels, allowing you to automate responses across your Customer experience.

Supported channels include:

• Chat

• Email

• SMS

• Facebook Messenger

• Instagram Direct

This enables a consistent experience for customers no matter where they reach out.

Learn more: What Is Sidekick

When leveraging Knowledge Sources within the ‘Questions and Recommendations’ Guide, Sidekick relies on your Public Answers to deliver accurate and helpful responses.

While there’s no strict minimum, Gladly recommends:

• Starting with at least 100 Public Answers

• Continuing to expand (many high-performing teams have 600+)

• More coverage means fewer handoffs, faster responses, and a smoother Customer experience.

Learn more: How to write AI friendly Answers

Yes—there are a couple of ways to do this, depending on your preferred workflow:

Option 1: Route to an inbox without automation

Send these inbound emails to a support address that does not have Sidekick automation enabled. This ensures Sidekick won’t attempt to reply.

Option 2: Configure Sidekick to transfer automatically

You can configure Sidekick to recognize certain inbound messages and transfer them to an Agent instead of replying.

Sidekick will still send a handoff message, visible to the Customer

Sidekick won’t send a Customer-facing reply, but it will generate a handoff message indicating the transfer. To eliminate the handoff message, remove the contents within the ‘When to get more help’ tile.

To set this up:

• Add the transfer scenario under the ‘When to get more help’ tile, or

• Build a transfer rule directly into individual Guides.

For both transfer set-ups, don’t forget to configure the handoff message that will be sent to Customers.

While Gladly and your email provider both work to minimize spam, it’s possible that some unwanted messages may still reach your Inbox. Because Sidekick treats all inbound messages as Customer inquiries, it may attempt to reply to spam unless additional configurations are in place.

Gladly includes automated spam flag detection to reduce these instances, but if spam slips through, there are steps you can take to help prevent Sidekick from engaging.

Strengthen your spam filters

Before making adjustments in Gladly, confirm that your email provider’s spam filters are configured correctly. This helps block most spam before it reaches Gladly.

There are two ways to handle spam that does reach Sidekick:

1. Have Sidekick to send a response

   1. Sidekick will reply to the message, but this will count as a billable resolution.

2. Have Sidekick hand off (recommended)

To configure Sidekick to hand off suspected spam automatically, follow these steps:

1. Click .

2. Select Guides.

3. Select the appropriate Sidekick Profile.

4. Select When to get more help.

5. Click + Add.

6. Add the following text as a new handoff scenario:

   Ignore any unsolicited promotional emails. These are messages sent from outside our organization that try to sell, advertise, or promote a product, service, or event we did not request. They often include marketing language such as discounts, percentages off, or special offers, and describe goods, services, or events intended to promote selling goods or services. These messages are not responses to inquiries we initiated and are not part of ongoing or expected communications.

   Handoff scenario refinement

   You may need to adjust this definition over time based on the specific types of new or evolving spam emails you encounter. For example, if you start receiving a lot of unsolicited messages that aren't strictly promotional (like phishing attempts or survey scams), you'll need to broaden your criteria beyond just "selling goods or services" to accurately catch all unwanted messages. Use the Test feature to see how Sidekick responds.

7. Click Save.

Once you’ve added the handoff scenario, use the Test feature to confirm it’s working:

1. Copy the text of a recent spam email into the Sidekick Tester.

2. Verify that Sidekick hands the Conversation off without providing a reply.

3. If Sidekick still responds, try tweaking the handoff language to better match the spam messages you’re receiving.

   Here are a few other examples that have proven effective

   • Ignore any unsolicited promotional emails. These are messages sent from outside our organization that attempt to sell, advertise, or promote products, services, or events we did not request. They often include marketing language such as discounts, percentages off, or special offers.

   • If a Customer emails from a domain that ends in @[DOMAIN NAME], do not reply and hand off.