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Lesson 1 of 6Stage 1: Build the foundation

Build Your FAQ Knowledge Base

AI Customer Support Agent 20 minFree sample from a Pro course

The problem

An AI agent with no source of truth will make up answers about your policies. One wrong refund answer can cost you a customer.

You'll be able to

You'll build a simple FAQ knowledge base from real customer questions that your agent must answer from.

Why this matters

The knowledge base is the most important part of a support agent. Say Jen runs an online pet supply shop. She pulls her last 50 customer emails, finds the 20 questions that keep coming up and writes one clear, approved answer for each. Now her agent has real facts to work from.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Collect real questions

    Pull recent emails, chats, reviews and call notes. Remove names, emails, phone numbers and order details before you paste anything into an AI tool. You only need the questions, not who asked them.

  2. 2

    Group and count them

    Ask the AI to group the questions by topic, such as shipping, returns, billing, hours and product use. Start with the topics that come up most. You do not need to cover everything on day one.

  3. 3

    Write approved answers

    For each common question, write the real answer in two to five sentences. Include the policy, any limits and where to find more. A person who knows the policy must approve every answer.

  4. 4

    Add a do-not-answer list

    List topics the agent must never answer on its own, such as legal threats, injuries, refunds over a set amount, medical questions or account security. These always go to a person.

  5. 5

    Keep one owner and a date

    Name one person who owns the knowledge base. Put a last-updated date on each answer. When a policy changes, update the answer the same day.

  6. 6

    Store it in one place

    Keep the knowledge base in one shared document or help center. Paste it into your agent instructions, or connect it as a file if your AI tool allows that. One source means one version of the truth.

Prompts to copy

Replace the [brackets] with your details, then paste it into your AI tool.

Question grouping prompt
Here are recent customer questions for [BUSINESS NAME] with all names, emails, phone numbers and order numbers removed: [PASTE QUESTIONS]. Group them by topic. For each topic, list the distinct questions and how many times each one appears. Sort topics from most to least common. Do not write answers yet.
Answer drafting prompt
Help me write knowledge base answers for [BUSINESS NAME]. Here are our actual policies: [PASTE POLICIES]. For each question below, write a clear answer in 2 to 5 short sentences at an 8th-grade reading level. Use only the policies I gave you. If a policy does not cover the question, write NEEDS OWNER ANSWER instead of guessing. Questions: [PASTE QUESTIONS].

Your exercise

Build a knowledge base with your top 15 to 20 real customer questions and approved answers, plus a do-not-answer list. Name the owner and add today's date.

Before you call it done

  • Customer names and contact details were removed before using AI.
  • Every answer was approved by someone who knows the policy.
  • Gaps are marked NEEDS OWNER ANSWER, not guessed.
  • A do-not-answer list exists.
  • One owner and a last-updated date are listed.

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