How to train an AI assistant on your business data

"Training an AI" sounds like a job for engineers. For a customer-facing assistant it isn't. You're not changing how the AI thinks; you're giving it the facts about your business, the same way you'd brief a new hire.

Get that brief right and the assistant answers well. Get it wrong and it either says "I don't know" all day or, worse, guesses.

What "training" actually means

A modern AI assistant already knows how to talk. What it doesn't know is your business: your hours, your prices, where you keep the batteries. Training it means giving it that knowledge as text it can look up when a customer asks.

The best assistants answer only from that knowledge. Kioskly AI, for example, treats your notes, website and documents as the only source of anything specific to your business: if a fact isn't there, it tells the customer and points them to your staff.

The first-day list: what to add first

• Opening hours, including holidays
• Address, entrances and directions inside
• Payment methods
• Returns, cancellation and deposit policies
• Products, services or menu
• Prices you're happy to quote
• Restrooms, Wi-Fi and parking
• Delivery, takeout and online ordering
• Accessibility information
• Who to ask for what

Not sure what your customers ask? Our front desk questions template lists the usual ones by business type.

Formats that work best

• Documents with real text. PDF, Word and Excel files you already have: menus, price lists, guest directories. A scanned PDF with no selectable text is harder to read; a clear photo often works better.
• Your website. Simple pages work well. Some sites are built entirely with JavaScript and can't be read; if that's yours, add the same information as a PDF or a photo.
• Photos of signs and boards. A chalkboard menu or a price sign, photographed straight on, in good light.
• Short notes in your own words. For everything that's in your head but not on paper.

Knowledge space isn't unlimited, so add what customers need, not your whole archive. Kioskly AI tells you when a website or file is too large, so you can split it or add its key details as answers instead.

How to write answers an assistant can use

• One fact per answer. "We close at 8 PM on weekdays and 6 PM on Saturdays" is easier to use than a paragraph about your week.
• Include the where and when. "Restrooms are at the back, past the fitting rooms."
• Say what you don't offer. "We don't have parking. The nearest garage is on King Street." Otherwise the honest answer is "I don't know".
• Write prices with the currency, and only the ones you want quoted.
• Leave out private details. No customer data, staff phone numbers or passwords you don't want read out loud.

Test it before your customers do

Ask it 20 questions before it goes live:

• Your ten most common questions, phrased the way customers really say them.
• Five tricky ones: slang, unusual wording, two questions in one.
• Three it shouldn't answer, like an allergy question, a booking or "is my order ready?". It should send these to staff.
• Two in another language, if your customers speak one.

Every wrong or missing answer tells you exactly what to add.

Keep it current

Businesses change: new stock, new hours, a seasonal menu. Customers change too, and ask new things. Spend a few minutes a week on the questions your assistant couldn't answer, and update anything seasonal the day it changes. A few details a week keeps an assistant sounding like you, not like a generic bot.

Teach Kioskly AI your business

1. Answer the setup questionsType or talk. Kioskly AI asks about hours, payment, parking and what customers ask most.
2. Keep or skip suggested questionsIt suggests common questions it can't answer yet. Keep the ones that fit your business.
3. Add sourcesIn Sources, add your website, files from Files or iCloud Drive, a link to a document, or a photo.
4. Fill the gapsQuestions customers asked that it couldn't answer appear on Home. Answer them once.

Customer

Do you deliver?

Kioskly

Yes, we deliver within 5 km for orders over 30 euros.

Frequently asked questions