How To Write Sidekick (AI) Friendly Answers

Sidekick improves communication and satisfaction in Channels like Chat and SMS by understanding and responding like humans. Still, AI technologies like generative AI or LLM (large language models) used by Sidekick need resources and information to feed and improve their responses to inquiries. When creating content optimized for AI in your articles, it is essential to organize your information to enhance clarity, readability, and searchability.

Create each Answer to address one question

Avoid creating one Answer with many FAQs in the content body, even if they are related.

Each Answer should be assigned to address one question or a specific topic. Avoid intermixing topics, especially if they are unrelated. For example, think of an automobile manual. Each section of the manual is assigned a topic, whether an overview of the driver’s dashboard or the audio interface. Then, in the following sections, there are pages detailing the interfaces' functions. They don’t mix the “Whats” and “Hows.” The same principles should be applied when writing Answers. Using an e-commerce example, you may write Answers for these topics:

What types of payments do you accept?
How long does shipment usually take?
What’s your refund policy?
How long do I have to return an item?

In the example list above, you shouldn’t combine “What’s your refund policy?” and “How long do I have to return an item?” in a single Public Answer, even though they could be related since a return could trigger a refund. Instead, it would be best if you deep-linked related Public Answers in the content body to relate each Answer.

The image below illustrates what to avoid. In this scenario, the best approach is to create an Answer for each FAQ.

Frequently asked questions about refund, return, exchange, and shipping policies.

Writing tips

Guideline	Details
Use Real-World Scenarios	AI understands content better when it includes examples. “If your package is delayed, check your tracking number. If it hasn't updated in 48 hours, contact support.”
Clarify Exceptions and Next Steps	Instead of: "Discount codes don’t always work," explain why: "Discount codes don’t work if they’ve expired, been used already, or don’t meet the order minimum."
Provide Step-by-Step Instructions	AI and users both benefit from numbered steps. How to Change Your Delivery Address: Log into your account. Go to "Orders." Select the order you want to update. Click "Edit Address" and enter your new address.
Use FAQs and Direct Questions	AI responds well to question-based formats. Example: “How do I return an item?” “Can I get a refund for my order?” “Why is my payment not going through?”
Write the most important in an Answer first	AI prioritizes early keywords, so start with the key action or answer to a question: Avoid: “If you want to change your delivery address, you need to log into your account.” Do: “To change your delivery address, log into your account.”
Create clear formatting	Use bold or italics for key terms you want to highlight to a Customer.
Use Present-Tense and Active Voice	AI prefers clear, direct instructions. Avoid: “The refund will be processed by our team within 5 days.” Do: “Our team processes refunds within 5 days.”
Use Familiar Words and Phrases	Customers use natural language, so match common phrasing. Instead of “Authenticate your credentials,” use “Log in to your account” Instead of “Terminate subscription,” use “Cancel your subscription”
Be explicit	Avoid ambiguous pronouns like “it” when referring to multiple concepts. For example: Avoid: “It will process the request.” Do: “<brand> will process the request.”
Be Specific with Timeframes & Conditions:	Instead of “soon” or “a few days”, say: “Your refund will appear in your account within 3–5 business days.”
Include Synonyms and Alternative Phrasing:	AI scans for variations, so consider the different ways users ask questions, which you can include as part of the content of Answer. Example: Instead of just saying, "How do I reset my password?", also include: "I forgot my password. What do I do?" "Help with logging in"

Guideline

Details

Use Real-World Scenarios

AI understands content better when it includes examples.
- “If your package is delayed, check your tracking number. If it hasn't updated in 48 hours, contact support.”

Clarify Exceptions and Next Steps

Instead of: "Discount codes don’t always work," explain why:
- "Discount codes don’t work if they’ve expired, been used already, or don’t meet the order minimum."

Provide Step-by-Step Instructions

AI and users both benefit from numbered steps.
- How to Change Your Delivery Address:
- Log into your account.
- Go to "Orders."
- Select the order you want to update.
- Click "Edit Address" and enter your new address.

Use FAQs and Direct Questions

AI responds well to question-based formats.
- Example:
  - “How do I return an item?”
  - “Can I get a refund for my order?”
  - “Why is my payment not going through?”

Write the most important in an Answer first

AI prioritizes early keywords, so start with the key action or answer to a question:
Avoid: “If you want to change your delivery address, you need to log into your account.”
Do: “To change your delivery address, log into your account.”

Create clear formatting

Use bold or italics for key terms you want to highlight to a Customer.

Use Present-Tense and Active Voice

AI prefers clear, direct instructions.
- Avoid: “The refund will be processed by our team within 5 days.”
- Do: “Our team processes refunds within 5 days.”

Use Familiar Words and Phrases

Customers use natural language, so match common phrasing.
- Instead of “Authenticate your credentials,” use “Log in to your account”
- Instead of “Terminate subscription,” use “Cancel your subscription”

Be explicit

Avoid ambiguous pronouns like “it” when referring to multiple concepts. For example:
Avoid: “It will process the request.”
Do: “<brand> will process the request.”

Be Specific with Timeframes & Conditions:

Instead of “soon” or “a few days”, say:
- “Your refund will appear in your account within 3–5 business days.”

Include Synonyms and Alternative Phrasing:

AI scans for variations, so consider the different ways users ask questions, which you can include as part of the content of Answer.
- Example: Instead of just saying, "How do I reset my password?", also include:
  - "I forgot my password. What do I do?"
  - "Help with logging in"

Review Best Practices and Tips for Writing Answers for general tips and guidelines on writing for different Answer types in Gladly

Create or update Answers for questions frequently asked by Customers

If Customers are asking about a particular topic or process, and the information is publicly shareable, it’s best to create an Answer to address that question, even if it is asked infrequently. Before you do, review your existing Public Answers to determine if you need to augment or update an existing Answer to accommodate the new information. Doing this allows generative AI access to previously unavailable information, thus decreasing chances for Sidekick handoffs to Agents.

Sidekick generates text-based responses
Sidekick responses are text-based and cannot respond with images, videos, or other media types.

Expect Sidekick to use the format and content from Public Answer as-is when responding to Customers.

URLs and deep links – Sidekick won't "click" and browse information as deep links within a Public Answer content body, meaning if a Public Answer is found, AI cannot “click” into links within the Answer to read the information therein. Still, AI’s reply could present the associated deep link. In the example below, a Customer, [A], asked how to block certain phone numbers from calling as they have been identified as spammers. Generative AI, [B], responded with information found in a Public Answer and it included the link to a help doc that’s deep linked in the Public Answer about blocking spam calls. In this case, Sidekick did not “click” into the deep link to review the content on the linked page but responded using the content stored as the Public Answer.
Lists – If you include lists or bullet points in your Public Answer, Sidekick may also present that information as a list. It won't always be one way or the other.