How can I improve my messaging bot to find the match I expect?

Issue symptoms

Why doesn’t the messaging bot find the answer or article I expect, when a user types a certain phrase into the web widget? 

Resolution steps

This behavior has several causes. Keep these details in mind:

• Answers take priority over articles
  • An end user could ask a question that matches a title or a portion of an article, but if the bot identifies a matched answer, it returns the answer. If you aim to return a specific article, build an answer specifically designed to match the frequently asked question that suggests the article, directly within its flow
• Partial match logic may be used when identifying the best-suggested answer or article
  • In some scenarios, no full words from the question match words within the answer's training phrases or intent
• Short questions, especially those that are only a single word, are not often matched
  • Due to partial matching logic, a question with a single word can result in unexpected or unwanted answers
• Similarly, short or generic training phrases lead to inaccurate matches
  • Improve match accuracy by using specific language and phrases that are at least a few words in length in an answer’s intent, as well as training phrases
• If a specific question asked doesn’t result in the desired matching, adjust the training phrases or intent of the answer that should match
  • Alternatively, create a new answer with training phrases aimed at matching a common question

This article describes functionality available only to customers who had a drafted or published AI agent as of February 2, 2025. For information about equivalent functionality in the AI agents - Advanced add-on, see Building dialogues for AI agents - Advanced.