Step 1. List real visitor questions. Write down 10–20 questions a real visitor might ask on your site. Examples: "What do you do?", "How much does it cost?", "Do you offer refunds?", "Which cities do you cover?". This list tells you what your knowledge base needs to answer.
Step 2. Gather approved public information. Collect only customer-safe material: public website pages, existing FAQ, pricing page, policy pages, onboarding instructions, service descriptions, product details. Avoid rough internal notes, contradictory drafts, and documents that mix public and private information.
Step 3. Decide your file structure. Start small. For most sites, 3–10 clean files is better than dumping dozens at once. Use one file per topic: FAQ, pricing, policies, services, and an optional CSV for locations or inventory.
Step 4. Write strong Markdown files. Each file should have a clear title, use headings, answer one topic area cleanly, use short paragraphs, include exact facts, full public URLs, and full email addresses. Avoid vague marketing copy, long mixed-topic paragraphs, and half-written notes.
Step 5. Use CSV for structured data. CSV works best when each row is one entity. Rules: one row = one thing, one column = one field, use clear column names (name, category, price, url, summary), keep values clean and consistent.
Step 6. Add bot instructions. Use the Bot instructions field for behavior — tone, boundaries, how the bot should handle missing info. Use the knowledge base for facts. Do not store pricing or policy details inside bot instructions.
Step 7. Upload files in the dashboard. Upload your .md and .csv files, save your Bot instructions, then open the test chat and ask real visitor questions.
Step 8. Test before you go live. Test at least 10–20 realistic questions covering: what the business does, pricing, policies, setup or onboarding, support, structured lookups. Verify the bot answers in the right tone, finds the facts, gives correct links and emails, and does not guess when the answer is missing.
Step 9. Keep the knowledge base updated. Update your files when pricing, policies, products, services, locations, or support contacts change. Best habit: keep source files in one place, update the source first, re-upload, then run your test questions again.