How do I set up my AI agent to use help center content?

How do I use an AI agent to generate answers from help center content? AI agents respect the end user's access permissions in the help center every time. The AI agent bases AI-created replies and article recommendations on the viewer's user segment. Before you publish an AI agent, make sure that you have content available in the help center. See Optimize your help center content for AI agents. Get started with AI agents As of May 2026, Zendesk offers a single, unified AI agent experience. Zendesk unlocks advanced agentic capabilities across all Zendesk Suite and Support plans. For more information, see Get started with AI agents. To get started:
Use the guided, self-service setup flow to configure your AI agent for simpler use cases across email and messaging
Create a use case or instruction that directs the AI agent to use help center content when it answers customer questions
If needed, configure advanced capabilities, such as agentic logic, multi-step procedures, and external API integrations for more complex tasks

Publish the AI agent
Note: If you still use AI agents - Essential or legacy functionality that includes bot builder, Zendesk stops technical development for these tools by August 31, 2026. End-of-life and full service shut-off occur on December 10, 2026. Complete your migration to the new experience by August 31 to avoid disruptions. User segments and content visibility How AI Agent handles User Segments If your help center uses user segments to restrict content visibility: Single segment scenario:
The user is in the "Premium Customers" segment
The AI agent surfaces only articles visible to Premium Customers
AI responses don't include restricted articles, for example, "Enterprise Features"
Multiple segments scenario:
The user is in both "Premium Customers" and "Beta Testers" segments
The AI agent surfaces articles visible to either segment
This is more permissive, which means it includes the union of the content from both segments
No segment for anonymous users:
The AI agent surfaces only articles visible to everyone, which means public articles without restrictions
This is the most restrictive scenario
Signed-in users compared to anonymous users:
For signed-in users, the AI uses their specifically assigned segments
For anonymous users, the AI assumes no segments and includes only public content
Test segment behavior To verify the AI agent respects segments:
Create a test user account and assign it to a specific segment
Sign in as that test user
Ask the AI agent a question about restricted content
Verify that the AI suggests articles the user can see and does not suggest articles the user cannot see
A common issue occurs when the AI agent suggests a restricted article to the wrong user because the article's segment restriction isn't configured correctly. To fix this issue, review the visibility settings for articles in Guide.
Segment priority and conflicts When a user is in multiple segments with restrictions that conflict:
Review this example scenario: The user is in the "Free Plan" segment, which blocks advanced features. The user is also in the "Beta Access" segment, which grants advanced features. The target article is restricted to "Not Free Plan". As a result, the user can see the article because the "Beta Access" segment grants permission and overrides the "Free Plan" restriction.
As a general rule, if a user is in any segment that grants access, they see the content. The most permissive rule wins.
AI agent terminology Instructions compared to use cases:
Instructions are system-level prompts that define the AI agent's overall behavior. Examples include "Be friendly and professional", "Offer to escalate to a human agent every time the customer is frustrated", and "Use simple language, and avoid jargon". This sets the overall tone and personality and applies to all conversations.
Use cases are specific scenarios that the AI agent handles. Examples include password reset requests, billing questions, and product feature explanations. Each use case can have unique logic to address issues. The AI routes to the appropriate use case based on the customer's specific question.
Analogy: Instructions are general company policies that apply to everything. Use cases are department-specific procedures that apply only to specific situations.
Other key terms
Deflection occurs when the AI agent fully resolves a customer question without human agent involvement. Successful deflection means a ticket is prevented. Deflection rate is the metric for the percentage of conversations that the AI resolves.
Escalation occurs when the AI agent transfers the conversation to a human agent. This happens when the AI can't answer, the customer explicitly requests a human, or the system detects a complex issue. Escalation rate is the metric for the percentage of transferred conversations.
Handoff is the exact moment a conversation transfers from the AI to a human agent. This includes full conversation history so the human agent has immediate context. A customer request, an AI decision, or a session timeout can trigger this action.
A knowledge base is your collection of help center articles. The AI agent searches this knowledge base to find and construct answers. A more complete knowledge base results in significantly better AI performance.
Validation note
AI agent features evolve actively. This article describes and reflects the new unified AI agent model.
Some features differ slightly based on your account's rollout phase for the new experience for AI agents
If you encounter differences:
Check Admin center > AI agents for active feature names
Refer to in-product help tooltips when you hover over ⓘ icons
Contact Zendesk Customer Support for further help if your setup differs significantly from this guide
For product documentation for AI agents:
AI agents overview
Expanded access to AI agent capabilities for all Zendesk customers
In-product setup wizard through Admin center > AI agents > Add agent

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THIS SECTION IS AI CONTENT. DON'T EDIT OR DELETE.

Are chatbot recommendations based on customer organizations? Do answer
bots use company details for recommended articles? Are AI agent replies
based on user accounts?


No. AI agents or chatbots or answer bots always respect your permissions
in the help center or knowledge base or help articles. The AI agent
or chatbot or answer bot bases AI-created replies and article recommendations
on your user segment instead of your organization or company or customer
account.


What do I need before I set up an AI agent? What are the prerequisites
for chatbots? What limits my answer bot configuration?


Your plan type or suite version or pricing tier and accessible features
determine the setup steps. You must provide content in the help center
or knowledge base or help articles before you publish an AI agent
or chatbot or answer bot.


How do I get the best results from chatbot instructions? What language
works best for answer bot instructions? How do I ensure AI agent
instructions work?


Write instructions in English to achieve the best results. You must
test your AI agent or chatbot or answer bot to confirm that the instruction
works for common questions.


What is an AI agent instruction? What does the generative replies
block do? How do chatbots address customer questions?


Instructions describe what your AI agent or chatbot or answer bot
must or must not do. You can use them to provide a link to a specific
article when a customer or client asks a question. The
generative replies block addresses customer goals
or reasons with content from your help center or knowledge base or
help articles and shows the sources to generate an answer.


