Quick answer: A FAQ assistant should answer from a maintained set of approved documents and say when the answer is missing. A convincing wrong answer is more expensive than a graceful handoff.
First, clean the documents
Collect only information you are allowed to publish: opening hours, service area, return policy and current contact routes. Remove old versions and mark their replacements. Every answer should be traceable to a policy heading or document URL, not merely to a plausible AI sentence.
A UK gardening supplier might ask “Do you deliver compost to my postcode?” If the source only lists delivery counties, the assistant should point customers to a postcode checker or a person, rather than inventing a yes or no.
Minimal architecture
A reader asks a question → the system searches approved document excerpts → a model drafts only from retrieved information → a validator checks that citations exist → the interface either presents an answer with a source link or offers a human contact option. The retrieval step cannot guarantee factuality; the validator and review process still matter.
Design refusal behavior before launch
Test at least four types of unknowns: a policy that is not published, a query about a customer-specific account, a question outside the company, and a request to ignore instructions. Set a standard response such as: “I can’t confirm that from our published information. Please contact our team.”
A compact evaluation set
Build 30 questions: ten ordinary, ten tricky or ambiguous, five outdated-policy probes, and five malicious instructions hidden in customer text. Score source support, factual accuracy, appropriate refusal and user clarity separately. A sample scorecard should show the actual failed examples, not only a blended percentage.
Maintenance routine
Assign a weekly document owner. On each policy update, re-run the test set and inspect whether the assistant cites the right version. Set an expiry date for time-sensitive promotions. Keep raw personal customer information out of the general FAQ index.
FAQ
Should the assistant answer questions about order status?
Only with a separate, authenticated, least-privilege integration and explicit privacy controls. A public FAQ bot should not reveal customer records.
References and further reading
These references provide context and official guidance. The sample workflows above are illustrative designs, not vendor performance tests.
Published by: FlowHarbor Editorial Desk. Read our sourcing and review policy.