Measure What Matters: Deflection, Intents, and Satisfaction

Most sites add an AI assistant and then stare at a “sessions” chart. That’s not enough. If you run multiple client sites or a busy store, you need clear signals that the assistant is answering real questions, keeping users moving, and creating business value—without extra work for your team.

This guide gives you a practical framework to measure what matters, with examples you can apply today. It’s written for webmasters who want clarity, not dashboards for the sake of dashboards.

How AI (and Seekdown) Solves It

1. Unify every product source. Seekdown ingests websites, catalogs, PDFs, and APIs into governed collections so answers stay scoped to the facts you trust.
2. Serve strict, cited responses. Retrieval, summarization, and tone controls ensure every AI answer cites the right SKU page or spec sheet—no hallucinations.
3. Guide conversions automatically. Intent-aware starters and CTAs route shoppers to quotes, carts, or humans the moment confidence dips.
4. Measure and improve. Built-in analytics expose intent coverage, low-confidence gaps, and assisted revenue so you can prove ROI and iterate weekly.

The Problem You Actually Have

You wear many hats. You don’t have time to reverse‑engineer model metrics or guess whether the bot “felt smart.” You need:

• Evidence that common questions are resolved without tickets.
• Proof that users find answers quickly and take the next step.
• A simple way to spot content gaps and fix them in hours, not weeks.

Generic analytics won’t tell you that. You need assistant‑specific KPIs that combine quality, speed, and business outcomes.

A Minimal, Reliable KPI Set

Track these five metrics weekly. They’re lightweight and map to real outcomes.

1) Deflection Rate (Support)

• Definition: Percentage of support‑intent sessions that do not escalate to a human (chat, email, ticket) within 24 hours.
• Why it matters: Shows if the assistant actually handles repetitive questions.
• How to get it: Tag intents “support” vs “sales” and compare to your helpdesk volume.

2) Time to First Answer (TTFA)

• Definition: Median seconds from question to first cited answer.
• Why it matters: Shorter TTFA = less friction, better mobile experience.
• How to get it: Measure from message submit to answer render.

3) Answer Quality (Votes + Citations)

• Definition: Share of answers with a positive vote and at least one citation clicked.
• Why it matters: Votes alone are noisy. Citation click‑through is a strong trust signal.
• How to get it: Use the built‑in vote UI and log citation clicks.

4) Intent Coverage

• Definition: Percentage of top N intents that consistently receive a cited answer.
• Why it matters: Ensures you’re covering what users actually ask, not what we wish they asked.
• How to get it: Export intents weekly; check for “I don’t know” or low‑confidence flags.

5) Conversion Assist

• Definition: Rate of downstream actions after an answer (form submit, add‑to‑cart, demo click).
• Why it matters: Proves business impact without attribution guesswork.
• How to get it: Track widget → page CTA events or embedded form submissions.

How Seekdown Helps You Measure (Without Code)

• Strict, cited answers: Quality is visible and auditable by source. Users trust answers they can verify.
• Collections by purpose: Split Support vs Sales content to tag intents cleanly and compare outcomes.
• Lead capture forms: Attribute submissions to assistant sessions without complex wiring.
• Assistant analytics: Open intent lists, votes, and usage from the assistant dashboard.
• Easy re‑ingest: Fix gaps by adding the missing page or PDF and scheduling updates.

You don’t need custom scripts to get value. Start simple, then deepen if needed.

A Weekly Review That Takes 30 Minutes

1) Export the last 7 days of intents and filter the top 20 by volume. 2) For each intent, check: cited answer? vote score? “I don’t know” occurrences? 3) Add missing sources (page/PDF), schedule re‑ingest, and test in the playground. 4) Review sessions with high TTFA; optimize widget load and starters. 5) Share 3 wins (deflected topics, saved minutes, assisted conversions) with stakeholders.

This loop turns “AI feels fluffy” into a predictable improvement habit.

Patterns That Improve KPIs Fast

• Write starters in customer language: “Do you ship to Germany?” beats “Shipping policy.”
• Keep answers to 2–4 lines with a clear citation; add a relevant CTA.
• Disambiguate early: “Model A or B?” cuts TTFA and boosts first‑contact resolution.
• Tag out‑of‑scope content into separate collections so answers stay focused.
• Add follow‑ups to lead users toward a form or product, not a dead end.

Example: Support Deflection in Practice

A client receives 400 monthly tickets about warranty, returns, and compatibility. After launching a cited assistant:

• Deflection rate on those intents rises to 55% in three weeks.
• TTFA drops from 18s (search) to 4s (assistant answer).
• Conversion assist: 9% of sessions click “Start a return” or “Book a diagnostic.”

No magic prompts—just verified sources, clear starters, and a weekly review.

What Good Looks Like (Targets)

• Deflection: 40–60% on repetitive support intents within 4–6 weeks.
• TTFA: < 5s on median; < 2s render on repeat questions with cached context.
• Answer Quality: > 70% positive votes; 20–35% citation CTR.
• Intent Coverage: > 90% of top 20 intents have a cited answer.
• Conversion Assist: +3–10% lift on relevant forms or cart actions.

Your exact numbers will vary by industry. The habit—review, fix sources, re‑ingest—is what compounds.

A Friendly Nudge

Stop reporting “assistant sessions.” Start reporting time saved, answers trusted, and actions taken. With strict, cited answers and a lightweight weekly loop, your assistant becomes a measurable asset—not another widget.

Want a one‑page KPI template? Mirror the five metrics above and review them every Friday. If you want help tailoring it to your site mix, Seekdown makes it easy to connect sources, track outcomes, and iterate—without touching code.

Launch your assistant