Is Your Knowledge Base Actually Ready for AI? A Practical Checklist

MaryG · 2 hours ago

A lot of organizations turn on AI Search or Now Assist and wonder why results are disappointing. Nine times out of ten the problem isn't the AI — it's the content it's working with. Before you enable AI Search, Predictive Intelligence, or Now Assist for KM, run through this list.

A note on scope: these are three distinct capabilities with separate plugins and requirements. But all three depend on the same foundational content work — which is exactly what this checklist covers.

Titles

Titles describe what a user is experiencing or trying to do — not the system, team, or ticket category
Leading prefixes like "How To," "Procedure," or "Resolution" removed
Consistent naming pattern applied across each KB

Short Descriptions

Every published article has one
1–2 sentences, not a repeat of the title
Written with keywords a user would actually search

Content Structure

Articles are single-topic
The answer or resolution appears near the top — not buried
No critical content in collapsed/expandable sections
Images have alt text; key information isn't image-only

Metadata

Category, Ownership Group, and Business Service populated consistently
Valid To date set by article type — not a flat one-year default across the board
Article type assigned from an approved set

Duplicates

Search-first rule enforced before any new article is created
Duplicate scan completed using at least one method: Search for Duplicates, AI Search Similar Articles, or Now Assist KM gap detection

Article Quality Index

AQI baseline established — average score known by KB
Articles below 60 identified and prioritized before AI enablement
AQI used as a publish gate going forward

Lifecycle

Outdated articles retired — not sitting in Published state
Review cycles assigned by article type, not a flat calendar reset

KB Architecture

Audience targeting handled via User Criteria, not KB proliferation
Search profiles configured to include the right source tables
AI Search confirmed enabled on the correct portal widgets

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The short version: AI Search, Predictive Intelligence, and Now Assist all perform better when your foundational KM work is solid. These tools enhance good content. They don't fix bad content.