Zendesk answer bots: setup and optimize

Looking for an AI powered tool that improves customer satisfaction? Zendesk answer bots are well… your answer!

Answer bots offer immediate, relevant responses to your customers, while reducing the volume of tickets that require human intervention for your business.

This guide walks you through everything you need to set up, activate, and optimize a Zendesk answer bot. Whether you’re deploying an answer bot for the first time or looking to improve its performance, this article will provide the knowledge you need to make the most of them.

We’ll also explain the limitations of Zendesk’s answer bots, and how you can use an app like ours to implement a more advanced option that helps both your agents and your customers.

What do you need for your Zendesk Answer Bot?

First up, you need the right tools and content in place. Answer Bots rely on the quality of your knowledge base, as this will directly impact its effectiveness in answering customer inquiries. Additionally, make sure that you have the appropriate Zendesk plan and admin permissions to enable and configure an answer bot.

• Zendesk suite: Activate Answer Bot directly through the Admin Center.

• Support + guide: Activate a 30-day free trial to test its functionality.

Make sure your knowledge base is organized, up to date, and structured in a way that addresses common customer queries. Articles should include relevant keywords and be regularly updated to reflect any changes.

It’s also important to set access restrictions for sensitive content and decide which channels (email, chat, Help Center) the answer bot will operate on. Proper preparation ensures that your bot provides accurate, relevant responses to customer inquiries.

Activate your Zendesk answer bot

Step 1: Access Zendesk Admin Center

To activate an answer bot, log into your Zendesk account as an admin, then navigate to the Admin Center by clicking the gear icon in the sidebar. From there, select Channels, and then click Bots and Automations. This is where you can manage the answer bot’s setup and customization.

Step 2: Activate your Answer Bot

Once in the AI agents and automations section, activate the answer bot based on your Zendesk plan. Zendesk Suite users can activate it directly by clicking Activate Answer Bot. If you’re using the Support + Guide plan, you can initiate a 30-day free trial by selecting Try Answer Bot for 30 days. Once activated, the bot will be enabled across all your customer support channels.

Step 3: Set up basic triggers

Triggers are the rules that dictate when and how the answer bot engages with customers. Go to Business Rules in the Admin Center in the sidebar and create a new trigger. Define conditions for when the answer bot should engage, like when a new ticket is created or when the ticket status is open or pending. Once the conditions are set, choose Suggest articles as the main action.

This ensures that the bot automatically offers helpful articles from your knowledge base when the conditions are met. For example, if a customer submits a ticket with an open status, the answer bot can suggest relevant knowledge base articles to help resolve the issue.

Advanced triggers allow you to handle more complex scenarios. For instance, if a ticket is marked as high priority or comes from a VIP customer, you may want to bypass the answer bot and escalate the issue to a human agent. You can also configure language-specific triggers for global customers, ensuring the answer bot provides responses in the correct language.

Regularly test and review your triggers to ensure they’re providing relevant suggestions. Adjust conditions, keywords, and tags as necessary to improve the bot’s performance and avoid unnecessary escalations.

Step 4: Customize email and chat settings

So the answer bot’s responses align with your brand, customize the messaging for email and chat channels. Go to Settings > Channels > Email to personalize email templates, adjusting subject lines, greetings, and overall formatting. For chat interactions via live chat or web widgets, modify the response messaging in the Chat and Web Widget settings. With these changes, the answer bot will communicate in a friendly, conversational tone that matches your company’s voice.

Step 5: Test the Answer Bot’s functionality

Once activated, test how well the answer bot responds to your customers. Submit test tickets for common questions (e.g., “How do I reset my password?”) and verify that the bot suggests the correct articles from your knowledge base. Evaluate the relevance of its suggestions and test across multiple channels (email, chat, and web widgets) to ensure consistent performance.

Step 6: Monitor your Answer Bot’s performance

After testing and refining the answer bot’s triggers and settings, regularly monitor its performance using Zendesk’s analytics tools. Track key metrics like ticket resolution rate, customer satisfaction, and the number of suggested articles. Use this data to make adjustments to triggers and update knowledge base content to further optimize the answer bot’s effectiveness over time.

For example, a low resolution rate might indicate that the bot needs better knowledge base content or more precise triggers. Low CTR could suggest that article titles or summaries aren’t resonating with customers, requiring adjustments. Continuously refine your setup based on data-driven insights to optimize the bot’s performance.

The limitations of Zendesk Answer Bots

Zendesk’s answer bots and AI aren’t perfect, which is why we’ve built eesel AI to help plug in the missing features. With cheaper pricing than Zendesk’s AI add-on, and omnichannel functionality, eesel AI is a great Zendesk companion as either an AI assistant or AI agent automating your support. We recommend seeing for yourself how easy it is to setup our AI for Zendesk with our free trial (no payment info required!)

How to optimize your knowledge base for an Answer Bot

The answer bot’s effectiveness is directly tied to the quality and structure of your knowledge base.  Other AI tools, like eesel AI, are also dependent on having a solid foundation to train them. With eesel AI, you can use our AI insights and reporting to help inform what gaps in knowledge are present.

A well-structured, clear, and relevant knowledge base allows the bot to offer appropriate solutions to customer inquiries. If your knowledge base is outdated or poorly organized, the bot will struggle to provide helpful recommendations. Luckily, it’s easy to fix. Here’s how.

Step 1: Use clear, concise language

Your knowledge base articles should be easy to understand. Avoid jargon and long explanations. Use simple, straightforward language that customers of all knowledge levels can easily follow. The shorter and clearer your articles, the better the answer bot can suggest them.

Step 2: Structure articles with headings and lists

Organize articles with clear headings, subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists. This helps customers and the answer bot quickly find the most relevant information. Well-structured articles improve navigation and mean customers can easily resolve their issues.

Step 3: Use relevant keywords and tags

Make sure your articles include keywords that align with customer inquiries. For example, for a password reset issue, use terms like “forgot password” and “account recovery.” Adding relevant tags ensures the answer bot can easily match articles to queries.

Step 4: Regularly update articles

Regularly review and update your knowledge base to keep it accurate. Outdated articles can lead to incorrect suggestions, frustrating customers. Ensure content is current and reflects any changes in products or services.

In the end

Zendesk bots can be a useful tool for automating customer service, but its success depends on continuous optimization and ensuring you have the right triggers and automated answers set up. Regularly updating your knowledge base, adjusting triggers, and monitoring performance metrics helps to ensure the bot continues to provide accurate, timely responses.

However, the lack of AI capabilities and the simplicity of trigger response workflows limits the use cases of Zendesk answer bots significantly.

If you’re looking for a tool that can help draft responses, respond intelligently to customer queries with the right tone and flexible responses, and learn from past tickets, then consider eesel AI.

This AI tool offers a powerful solution for managing your knowledge base and streamlining support workflows. With its intuitive interface and smart organization, eesel makes it easy for your team to find and share the information they need—boosting productivity and enhancing customer support.

Give eesel a try today with a free trial (no payment information required) and discover a smarter way to manage your support operations.