---
doc_version: "1.0.0"
last_updated: "2026-07-14T15:00:57.718Z"
title: "How to Improve Your Bot's Answers"
description: "Practical tips for tuning your ChatbotIQ bot: system prompt, RAG threshold, debug panel, citations, and content improvements."
keywords: [improve answers, optimize bot, system prompt, RAG threshold, debug panel, ChatbotIQ]
---

Your bot is only as good as its content and configuration. Here's a practical guide to diagnosing and fixing answer quality issues.

---

## Step 1: Use the Debug panel

The Debug panel in the Playground is your most important tool. For every response, it shows:

- **Source chunks** - the actual content pieces the bot used. Are they relevant?
- **Relevance scores** - how well each chunk matched the query. Low scores mean weak matches.
- **Enhanced query** - how the bot interpreted the question. Is it reasonable?

**If the right content is retrieved but the answer is wrong:** Your system prompt needs work (Step 2).

**If the wrong content is retrieved:** Your RAG threshold or content needs work (Steps 3-4).

**If no content is retrieved:** You have a knowledge gap (Step 5).

---

## Step 2: Refine your system prompt

The system prompt (base prompt) tells the bot who it is, how to behave, and what to focus on. A good prompt makes a huge difference:

**Be specific:**
```
You are a technical support assistant for [Product Name]. Help users troubleshoot issues and find documentation. Be concise and link to source pages.
```

**Set boundaries:**
```
Only answer questions about [Product]. For billing questions, direct users to support@company.com.
```

**Control tone:**
```
Be friendly and professional. Use simple language. Avoid jargon unless the user uses it first.
```

---

## Step 3: Adjust the RAG threshold

The **RAG Score Threshold** controls how relevant content must be before the bot uses it:

- **Too high (e.g., 0.7):** The bot says "I don't know" too often because it's being too picky.
- **Too low (e.g., 0.1):** The bot uses marginally relevant content, leading to off-topic answers.
- **Default (unset):** Leave the slider at its default position and the engine auto-tunes the threshold (around 0.30, depending on your content type) - a good starting point for most use cases.

**How to tune it:**
1. Ask questions in the Playground.
2. Check the Debug panel for relevance scores.
3. If good content is being filtered out (scores below threshold), lower the threshold.
4. If bad content is being included, raise it.

---

## Step 4: Improve your content

Sometimes the issue isn't the bot, it's the content:

- **Enable Reader Mode** if pages include navigation or sidebar text that confuses retrieval.
- **Add Q&A entries** for frequently asked questions that aren't well-covered.
- **Re-crawl after updating** your website to pick up content changes.
- **Check for empty or truncated pages** in your crawl report.

---

## Step 5: Fill knowledge gaps

Go to **Analytics** and check the Knowledge Gaps section. If users are asking about topics not in your content:

1. Add the missing content to your website and re-crawl.
2. Or add Q&A entries directly for quick coverage.

See [Find and Fix Knowledge Gaps](/how-to/find-knowledge-gaps/) for details.

---

## Step 6: Choose the right model

If you've done all the above and answers still aren't good enough, try a more capable model:

- **GPT-5 Mini** handles most content well.
- **GPT-5.2** or **Claude Sonnet 4.6** are better for complex technical content.

See [Choosing the Right AI Model](/explanation/ai-models-compared/).

---

## Quick checklist

- [ ] Check the Debug panel for retrieval quality
- [ ] Write a specific, clear system prompt
- [ ] Set the RAG threshold based on your content (leave at default to auto-tune, ~0.30)
- [ ] Enable Reader Mode if content is noisy
- [ ] Add Q&A entries for top unanswered questions
- [ ] Check Analytics for knowledge gaps
- [ ] Consider a more capable model if needed

---

## Related

- [Bot Settings Reference](/reference/bot-settings/) - all tunable settings
- [Use the Bot Playground](/how-to/use-the-playground/) - debug panel details
- [Find and Fix Knowledge Gaps](/how-to/find-knowledge-gaps/) - fill missing content
- [Choosing the Right AI Model](/explanation/ai-models-compared/) - model comparison

## Sitemap

Full documentation index: [sitemap.md](/sitemap.md) and [llms.txt](/llms.txt).