Display Settings

Control what information is displayed to visitors during AI chatbot conversations. These transparency features help build trust and improve the user experience.

How to get there: Go to Setup → Chatbot in the top menu → click your chatbot → Advanced → Display Settings in the sidebar.

Available Display Settings

Show AI Thinking Process

Display the AI's reasoning and thought process while generating responses.

Default: Enabled

What visitors see:

  • A "thinking" indicator showing the AI is processing their question
  • The AI's internal reasoning steps (when available)
  • How the AI is searching through your knowledge base

Why enable this:

  • Builds trust by showing transparency
  • Helps visitors understand why responses take time
  • Demonstrates the AI is carefully considering their question
  • Creates a more engaging, human-like interaction

Why disable this:

  • Faster perceived response time
  • Cleaner, simpler interface
  • When you want a more direct Q&A experience

Show Sources

Display which documents, webpages, or files the AI used to answer the question.

Default: Enabled

What visitors see:

  • Links to the source documents referenced
  • Titles of pages or files used in the answer
  • Clickable links to read more details

Why enable this:

  • Increases credibility of answers
  • Allows visitors to verify information
  • Encourages deeper engagement with your content
  • Helps visitors find related information
  • Reduces follow-up questions ("Where can I read more?")

Why disable this:

  • Cleaner conversation interface
  • When source documents aren't visitor-friendly
  • When you want to keep visitors in the chat

Show Feedback Buttons

Allow visitors to rate the quality of AI responses.

Default: Enabled

What visitors see:

  • Thumbs up / thumbs down buttons after each AI response
  • Optional feedback form to explain their rating

Why enable this:

  • Collect quality metrics on AI performance
  • Identify which responses need improvement
  • Understand common visitor concerns
  • Improve your knowledge base based on feedback
  • Shows you care about providing accurate information

Why disable this:

  • Simpler interface
  • When you don't want to collect feedback data
  • For casual interactions where feedback isn't needed

How to Configure

  1. Go to Setup → Chatbot in the top menu
  2. Click on your chatbot to open its settings
  3. Open Advanced → Display Settings in the sidebar
  4. Toggle each setting on or off:
    • Show Thinking Process
    • Show Sources
    • Show Feedback Buttons
  5. Save your changes

Changes take effect immediately for new conversations.

Maximum Transparency (Default)

All three enabled - Best for:

  • Support chatbots
  • Educational content
  • Building trust with new visitors
  • B2B and professional services

Streamlined Experience

Disable thinking, keep sources and feedback - Best for:

  • E-commerce sites
  • Quick answers and FAQs
  • Mobile-focused experiences

Minimal Interface

Disable all three - Best for:

  • Very simple use cases
  • Internal tools
  • When speed is critical

Feedback Focus

Disable thinking and sources, keep feedback - Best for:

  • Testing new content
  • Improving AI accuracy
  • When actively optimizing your chatbot

Best Practices

  1. Start with defaults: All three enabled provides the best user experience for most use cases

  2. Monitor feedback: If you disable feedback, you lose valuable insights into AI performance

  3. Test both ways: Try disabling features and check your analytics to see if engagement changes

  4. Consider your audience:

    • Technical audiences often appreciate seeing thinking and sources
    • General consumers may prefer a simpler experience

  5. Source quality matters: Only show sources if your documents are well-formatted and visitor-friendly

  6. Mobile considerations: The thinking process takes up screen space on mobile devices

Impact on Performance

These settings only affect what's displayed to visitors. The AI still:

  • Thinks through responses (even if hidden)
  • Uses your knowledge base sources (even if not shown)
  • Processes the conversation the same way

Disabling these features does not make the AI faster or change answer quality.

Analytics

When feedback is enabled, you can:

  • View ratings in your inbox
  • See which responses get positive/negative feedback
  • Identify knowledge gaps in your training data
  • Track overall AI satisfaction over time

Feedback data helps you continuously improve your chatbot's accuracy and helpfulness.