Tips for Better Answers
The quality of answers depends on how you ask questions and how your documents are organized. Here are proven techniques to get better results.
Asking Better Questions
Be Specific
Instead of:
"Tell me about the policy"
Try:
"What is the vacation policy for full-time employees?"
Specific questions narrow down the search and give the AI clear direction.
Use Keywords From Your Documents
If you know your documents use specific terms, use them in your question:
Instead of:
"How do I get time off?"
Try:
"How do I submit a PTO request?"
The AI searches for semantic similarity, so matching terminology helps.
Ask One Thing at a Time
Instead of:
"What's the vacation policy and how do I request time off and what holidays do we get?"
Try:
- "What is the vacation policy?"
- "How do I request time off?"
- "What holidays does the company observe?"
Breaking up complex questions gives you clearer, more focused answers.
Provide Context
Instead of:
"What's the limit?"
Try:
"What is the expense reimbursement limit for meals?"
Context helps the AI understand what you're asking about.
Question Types That Work Well
Factual Questions
"What is the maximum reimbursement for travel expenses?" "How many sick days do employees get per year?"
Process Questions
"How do I submit an expense report?" "What are the steps to request a promotion?"
Definition Questions
"What is the definition of a qualifying life event?" "What does the company consider misconduct?"
Comparison Questions
"What's the difference between sick leave and personal leave?" "How do the Standard and Premium plans differ?"
Question Types That May Struggle
Very Broad Questions
"Tell me everything about HR"
Better: Ask about specific HR topics individually.
Questions Outside Your Documents
"What's the weather forecast?"
The AI only knows what's in your uploaded documents.
Questions Requiring Calculation
"If I've used 5 vacation days, how many do I have left?"
The AI doesn't know your personal usage. Ask instead: "How many vacation days do employees receive annually?"
Recent Events Not in Documents
"What was announced at yesterday's meeting?"
Unless someone uploaded meeting notes, this won't be in the system.
Improving Your Documents
Better documents lead to better answers.
Use Clear Structure
Documents with headings, sections, and organized content work better than walls of text.
Include Keywords
Make sure important terms appear in the document where they're explained.
Remove Ambiguity
If a document could be misinterpreted, clarify the language.
Keep Documents Current
Outdated information leads to outdated answers. Regularly review and update your content.
Use Descriptive Titles
"Employee Handbook 2024.pdf" is more useful than "doc1.pdf" for context.
Using Tags Effectively
Tags can dramatically improve answer quality by narrowing the search.
When to Use Tags
- You have documents from multiple years/versions
- Different departments have similar topics
- You want to exclude certain content
Example
You have HR policies from 2023 and 2024. Without tags:
Question: "What is the vacation policy?" Answer might cite outdated 2023 policy
With tags:
- Tag current documents with "2024" or "Current"
- Filter to "2024" before asking
- Get answers from current policies only
Follow-Up Questions
The AI maintains context within a conversation:
First question:
"What is our parental leave policy?"
Follow-up:
"Does that apply to adoptive parents too?"
The AI understands "that" refers to the parental leave policy from your previous question.
Tips for Follow-Ups
- Reference the previous topic naturally
- Add new specifics to narrow down
- Use pronouns like "it," "that," "this"
When Answers Aren't Helpful
Rephrase the Question
Try different words that might match your documents:
- "vacation" vs "PTO" vs "time off"
- "reimbursement" vs "expense" vs "compensation"
Check Your Sources
Click on citations to see what content was found. The issue might be:
- Content doesn't exist in your documents
- Content is in a different collection
- Document is still processing
Narrow the Scope
If searching globally, try a specific collection. If a collection is large, use tag filters.
Check Document Quality
Open the source document - is the text extractable and readable? Scanned PDFs or poorly formatted documents may not index well.
Power User Tips
Use Quotes for Exact Phrases
"What does 'gross misconduct' mean according to the handbook?"
Reference Specific Documents
"According to the Employee Handbook, what is the dress code?"
Ask for Summaries
"Summarize the key points of the data security policy"
Ask for Lists
"List the required steps for new employee onboarding"
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Need Help?
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