Applicable for: Admins and Assistant Managers
The "Prompt" or Assistant Instructions serve as the foundational logic for your AI. While the knowledge base provides the facts, the instructions define how the AI uses those facts, how it speaks, and what it should avoid saying. By precisely configuring these settings, you ensure your chatbot provides reliable support that aligns with your brand’s standards.
How to access Assistant settings
To begin updating your chatbot's instructions, navigate to the AI Assistants page in your NoForm AI dashboard. From there, select the specific assistant you wish to configure or choose to create a new one. Once selected, you will see a series of fields where you can manually enter the rules and information that guide the AI's responses. After making your changes, remember to click Save to apply the updates.
Pre-configured Template
You do not have to start building your assistant's logic from scratch. During the onboarding process, NoForm AI provides a template that is pre-configured to match your business based on scraped website data. This built-in template includes essential behavioral rules and guidelines tailored to your business, such as your company information and services you provide.
While this template provides a solid foundation, it is fully customizable. You can use the free-form text field called "Prompt" to add your own unique instructions, business-specific facts, or custom correction rules. For example, if the default template is too general, you can add specific rules like "Our standard delivery time is 5-7 business days" to the Prompt to ensure total accuracy.
Additionally, you can edit the chatbot's # ROLE section in your own words, ensuring that the AI reflects your brand's unique voice while still following the core logic established by the initial template.
Defining core business knowledge
You can manually define essential facts about your business in the Assistants Prompt so the chatbot always has access to them and uses them. Add or modify the following information:
CONTEXT INFORMATION: Describe what your business offers, key features of your products, and your unique selling points.
SUPPORT INFORMATION: Provide instructions on how existing customers can get help or troubleshoot common issues.
LEAD INFO COLLECTION: Describe the lead qualification flow in details. Specify what information to ask (and make sure to set Custom Attributes so this information is collected in Lead Details and sent along with Lead Notification Email). For example: "After asking for an email address, ask which Location the customer is relocating to"
Worth adding:
Comparison to Alternatives: Guide the chatbot on how to handle questions about competitors or how your services differ from others.
Pricing: Consider adding specific pricing information or how to inquire prices. Clearly define your fee structure, payment options, and how the chatbot should discuss costs with visitors.
Industry Specific Information: Instruct the Assistant to follow your industry guidelines.
Redirecting visitors to human support
Add a Contact a Real Person to help the chatbot identify when a conversation should be handed over to a human team member. Define the specific triggers for a redirect, such as "For suspected fraud or account lockouts, emphasize the importance of speaking directly with bank security specialists." This ensures that complex or sensitive matters are handled by your staff rather than the AI.
Prompt instructions vs. RAG (Uploaded Documents/URLs)
It is important to understand the difference between the Prompt (Instructions) and your Knowledge Base (RAG).
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) refers to the process where the AI searches through your uploaded documents and synced website URLs to find relevant "chunks" of information to answer a question. This is best for large volumes of data like product catalogs or help articles.
The Prompt (AI Instructions), however, is part of the "system prompt" sent with every single message.
Priority: AI Instructions always take priority over RAG-retrieved content. If there is a conflict between a document and your instructions, the AI will follow the instructions.
Availability: Information in the prompt is always "top-of-mind" for the AI, while RAG content is only retrieved if the system thinks it is relevant to the visitor's specific question.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do changes to the AI Instructions take effect?
Changes to the AI Instructions take effect for all new conversations immediately after you save them. Unlike web sources or documents, there is no "training" time required for instructions because they are included directly in the system prompt.
How do I handle conflicting information between my website and my instructions?
If your website and your AI Instructions contain different information, the AI Instructions will take priority. To resolve conflicts, ensure your instructions contain the most authoritative, current facts, and use the Chat Preview tool to verify that the assistant is giving the correct answer.
Can I have different instructions for different pages on my website?
Yes, NoForm AI supports multiple assistants per bot. You can configure different sets of AI Instructions for each assistant and set conditional rules based on the visitor's current URL to determine which assistant (and therefore which set of instructions) handles the chat.
Benefits
Instant Updates: Changes to prompts take effect immediately without waiting for a training or crawling process.
Authoritative Control: Instructions override other data sources, ensuring the AI strictly follows your most important business rules.
Customized Persona: You can precisely define the tone and "voice" of your assistant to match your brand's identity.
Enhanced Safety: Explicit behavior guidelines prevent the AI from providing unauthorized advice or making unapproved commitments.