How the AI Chatbot Works

AI ChatbotUpdated March 26th, 2026

AI Chatbot Overview

Helpium includes an AI-powered chatbot that automatically answers customer questions using your knowledge base. This reduces the number of conversations that require a human agent.

How It Works

  1. A customer sends a message through any channel (widget, email, WhatsApp, etc.)
  2. Helpium searches your knowledge base for relevant articles using semantic search
  3. The AI generates a contextual answer based on the top matching articles
  4. The response is sent to the customer

Response Types

The chatbot generates different types of responses based on confidence:

  • Full answer: High-confidence match found in the knowledge base
  • Partial answer: Some relevant information found, but the chatbot suggests contacting a human agent for more help
  • Low-confidence answer: No strong match, the chatbot offers to connect the customer with an agent
  • Handoff: The customer explicitly asks to speak with a human, and the chatbot routes the conversation immediately

Conversation Context

The chatbot considers the last 10 messages in the conversation for context. This means it can handle follow-up questions and maintain a coherent conversation.

Enabling/Disabling the Chatbot

  • Widget: Go to Settings → Channels → Widget and toggle Enable Bot
  • Email: Go to Settings → Channels → Email and toggle AI Enabled
  • WhatsApp: Go to Settings → Channels → WhatsApp and toggle AI Enabled
  • Instagram: Go to Settings → Channels → Instagram and toggle AI Enabled
  • Messenger: Go to Settings → Channels → Messenger and toggle AI Enabled

Improving Bot Accuracy

The quality of bot responses depends directly on your knowledge base:

  • Write clear, detailed articles covering common questions
  • Keep articles up to date. Stale content leads to incorrect answers
  • Use descriptive titles that match how customers phrase their questions
  • Publish articles promptly. Only published articles are used by the AI