Understanding how the AI Service Agent works

Learn how Klaviyo's AI Service Agent understands and answers shopper questions, including what information it uses and the types of questions it can help with.

How does the AI Service Agent gather information?

Klaviyo’s AI Service Agent synthesizes information from the following sources to deliver accurate, contextually relevant answers in real time:

• Shopify storefront URL
  • When you enable the AI Agent, Klaviyo automatically ingests your Shopify storefront URL. This gives the AI Service Agent access to your site’s public pages, forming the initial foundation it uses to answer questions.
  • In the Knowledge tab in Klaviyo, you can see the URL and the number of pages ingested. You can also re-ingest at any time if you make major updates to your site.
    
• Additional knowledge sources
  • You can optionally add more information or documentation on the Knowledge tab in Klaviyo to supplement what the AI Service Agent knows from your site. The AI Service Agent immediately trains itself on any new knowledge you add.
• Current webpage context
  • When a shopper starts a conversation with the AI Service Agent, it can detect what page the shopper is currently viewing and scrape its contents. This helps the AI Service Agent contextualize specific shopper questions, so it can provide precise answers related to the product or topic displayed. For example, if a visitor asks "will it fit my laptop?", the AI Service Agent can identify that they're viewing a laptop case.

The AI Service Agent is optimized to use these sources efficiently and find the most accurate answer it can based on the question asked. 

How does the AI Service Agent answer questions?

The AI Service Agent follows 4 main steps to generate a response:

• Query
  • The AI Service Agent receives the shopper’s question through the chat interface on your site.
• Contextualization
  • It analyzes the question to determine intent (e.g., product detail or recommendation, order status, general inquiry, etc.). It also considers:
    • The current webpage the shopper is viewing.
    • Previous messages in the conversation for added context.
• Retrieval
  • The AI Service Agent locates the best information to address a shopper's question or directs the query to the appropriate process for handling it. For example:
    • For general questions, it relies on your site content and any knowledge you’ve uploaded.
    • For product-related questions, it either extracts information from the current webpage or suggests related or complimentary items.
    • For order tracking questions, it prompts follow-up questions or authentication if needed and retrieves order details from Shopify.
• Generation
  • It composes a clear and helpful response using the gathered information.

If the AI Service Agent cannot find a suitable answer, it follows your handoff settings to escalate the conversation.

What kind of questions can the AI Service Agent answer?

The AI Service Agent can assist with a wide range of shopper questions, including:

• Site-related:
  • Answers questions about shipping, returns, FAQ pages, or any information available on your site or in added resources.
• Product details:
  • Provides information on product features, availability, sizing, and other specifics (e.g., What are the dimensions?).
• Product recommendations:
  • Suggests complimentary items, alternatives, and makes comparisons with similar products (e.g., “What goes well with this?” or “Do you have something similar?”).
• Order status:
  • Updates on order status, tracking, or order details (e.g., “Where is my order?”).
• Follow-ups:
  • Understands references to earlier parts of the conversation for continuity and context (e.g., “Does it come in blue” after asking about a specific jacket).
• Small talk:
  • Responds to friendly, conversational exchanges. Note that the AI Service Agent can handle a few instances of small talk; however, it won’t continually engage in random conversation.

Response accuracy depends on accessible information on your website and from added knowledge sources. You should test your AI Service Agent regularly and keep your knowledge sources up to date to ensure the best answers for your shoppers.

How does the AI Service Agent keep data secure?

The AI Service Agent only has access to information that you expressly provide, either directly in Klaviyo or through your publicly available website content; it does not reference external sources on the internet. Your data and conversations are never used to train large language models (LLMs), such as public models like OpenAI.

All customer data handled by the AI Service Agent is encrypted during transmission, and common types of personally identifiable information (PII) shared in conversations are automatically removed before being sent to an LLM.

Additional resources

• How to enable the AI Service Agent
• How to test and train the AI Service Agent
• Getting started with the Customer Hub