When you created your bot, you were invited to enter a URL from which your bot could generate responses.

You can further boost your bot's conversations by using multiple internal and external information sources, including:

You can also add information sources to a topic using the Generative answers node. This node allows you to specify sources that the node will search, based on the inputs you give it. The results of the search will be summarized and checked for data viability.

Caution

Information sources defined in the Generative answers node will override those you have specified at the bot level, which will then function as a fallback.

These methods of boosting your bot using generative answers allow you to specify information sources for the entire bot (for instance, with a URL at bot creation) and also use alternate information sources within a topic (with the Generative answers node).

This table summarizes the information sources you can use to boost conversations.

As the table notes, some features require user authentication to be configured for your bot. In the cases of SharePoint and OneDrive for Business, authentication is done using Azure AD. User authentication for information sources also means that when a specific user asks a question of the bot, the bot will only surface content that that specific user can access.

In some cases, your data may not exist in one of the supported data sources. However, you can provide your own data - possibly by accessing one of your own preferred data stores through Power Automate Flows, and then formatting the results into a JSON object that can be passed as a variable or expression to generate answers.

The custom data field takes a JSON array of objects representing a set of ContentLocation/Content pairs, as in the following exmaple:

Answers will be generated from the value defined in Content: and will include the link to the related destination in ContentLocation.

The Generative answers node allows you to use generative answers with your a bot's topic. This allows you to search internal and external information sources from the node level to further boost your bot's conversations.

Open the authoring canvas for your topic, and identify the point where you want to use generative answers.

Under the Advanced menu, add a Generative answers node.

On the Generative answers node, select Edit under Data sources.

Specify the data sources you'd like the node to use, and add it to your list. This adds the source to the node's set of resources. For details on the information sources you can use, refer to Information sources.

When you're done entering sources, close the menu. Make sure to save any changes to your topic.

The topic will now generate answers from the information sources provided to the node.

This section provides instructions on boosting conversations with generative answers for several scenarios.

When you create a bot using the unified canvas, you're invited to boost its conversations with generative answers. Create a boosted bot takes you through this process.

You can also change the URL, disable generative answers, or change the level of content moderation in the settings for the bot. Follow the instructions relating to the AI Capabilities settings section in Increasing your bot's reach

Once you've completed this process, you can test your bot to see how well it responds to questions related to the content on the URL you specified. For more information, see Test your bot's generative answers reach.

To boost coverage in a Generative answers node, follow these instructions:

Navigate to the Data sources menu for the node and add the data sources you would like the node to use. This adds the source to the node's set of resources. For details on the information sources you can use, refer to Information sources.

When you're done entering sources, close the menu. Make sure to save any changes to your topic.

Bing Custom Search allows you to build a tailored search for specific content. The generated Custom configuration ID can then be used in your bot by generative answers. If you haven't used Bing Custom Search, follow the Quickstart: Create your first Bing Custom Search instance. Once you have a Custom configuration ID for your search, you can use it to boost conversations with generative answers.

On the Web API tab under Production, copy the Custom configuration ID you want to use. This functions like a URL would as described in Connect to a single URL to boost a conversation. If you have more than one custom configuration, make sure you're copying the ID you want.

With your bot open, expand Settings on the side navigation pane, and select AI Capabilities.

Enter your Bing custom search Custom Configuration ID as one of your URLs.

Select Save at the top of the AI capabilities page.

Select Properties from the node menu, and select Data source.

Paste your custom configuration in the input box under Sites, and select the plus icon (+) to add it to the node's data sources. If you haven't exceeded relevant limits (as defined in the Information sources table, you can add other URLs.

When you're done entering sources, close the menu. Make sure to save any changes to your topic.

The node will now retrieve content from the information sources in the Bing Custom Search configuration provided. This allows you to use a large number of sources to boost your bot without having to enter each source individually.

Power Virtual Agents now supports boosting conversations using generative answers with content stored on SharePoint sites and OneDrive for Business. This capability works by pairing your bot with a specific site URL, such as contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/policies. When a bot user asks a question or makes a statement where the bot doesn't have a manually configured topic to use, it will search for relevant content from that site URL and all sub-paths and will use generative answers technology to help summarize this content into a targeted response.

When analyzing internal content stored on SharePoint or OneDrive for Business, it's essential to note this happens on behalf of the signed-in user, meaning this feature requires user authentication to be configured for your bot using Azure AD.

It also means that when a specific user asks a question of the bot, the bot will only surface content that that specific user has access to read on SharePoint or OneDrive for Business.

Due to memory limits, we recommend you limit the size of the files you want to use on SharePoint. If a file is unusually large, consider splitting it into multiple smaller files.

To use this feature, you'll need:

Follow the instructions for updating or changing URL as described in Connect to a single URL to boost a conversation, adding the SharePoint or OneDrive for Business URL.

Note

A best practice is to omit the http/https. Recognized SharePoint URLs will be from the sharepoint.com domain.

Once your bot has been saved, you can send it messages in the test bot pane. Test it with some phrases that you would expect to return content. If the user account you used to sign in to powerva.microsoft.com doesn't have access to the SharePoint site you will not get content, or you might see a system error.

These sources require authentication, since the bot makes calls on behalf of the user interaction with the chat window. Currently when you use the test chat, it will make calls using the account used to sign in to powerva.microsoft.com. If you publish your bot or want to use another account, you need to configure manual authentication using Azure AD. Instructions for how to do this can be found in Configure user authentication in Power Virtual Agents.

You can find instructions for how to create the needed Azure AD application registration in Configure user authentication with Azure Active Directory

You'll need to include these delegated permissions:

Generative answers will obtain content stored in these formats: