Add a public website as a knowledge source
Public websites as knowledge sources at the copilot level use publicly available information to improve the reach of your copilot.
URL considerations
The URL used in your copilot represents the scope of content for generating responses. There are requirements and restrictions on some URLs.
URL type and structure
The URL can have up to two levels of depth—subpaths indicated by a forward slash
/
. A trailing forward slash, however, is allowed.Valid Not valid www.contoso.com
www.fabrikam.com/engines/rotary
www.fabrikam.com/engines/rotary/
www.fabrikam.com/engines/rotary/dual-shaft
If the URL redirects to another top-level site, the content isn't included in results:
For example, if
www.fabrikam.com
redirects towww.contoso.fabrikam.com
, your copilot doesn't generate responses from content on either of those URLs.URLs that point to a website, requiring authentication or ones not indexed by Bing.
For example, wikis and SharePoint sites require authentication, therefore can't be used:
fabrikam.visualstudio.com/project/_wiki
fabrikam.sharepoint.com
URL domain structure
Any publicly viewable content in the URL you specify, including subdomains under a top-level domain, generate content for your copilot.
Examples:
If you use
www.fabrikam.com/engines/rotary
, the content onwww.fabrikam.com/engines/rotary/dual-shaft
is also used by the copilot to generate responses.Content on
www.fabrikam.com/tools
isn't used, since tools isn't a subdomain of rotary.If you use
www.fabrikam.com
(the www exists), the content on news.fabrikam.com (the www doesn't exist) isn't used, since news. is a subdomain under the top-level domain fabrikam.com.If you use fabrikam.com, then content on
www.fabrikam.com
and news.fabrikam.com is used, since they sit under the top-level domain fabrikam.com.
Social networks and forum URLs
Your copilot might generate nonsensical, irrelevant, or inappropriate answers if you use a forum or social network site as your URL. Therefore, community content on social networks often increases the risk of more answers being rejected.
For more information, see the FAQ for generative answers. AI is trained to avoid generating malicious and offensive responses.
Search engine URLs
Don't include URLs of search engines like bing.com, as they don't provide useful responses.
Add a public website as a knowledge source
To add a public website as a knowledge source, perform the following steps:
Open the copilot.
Select Add knowledge from either the Overview or Knowledge pages.
Select Public websites.
Provide the URL to the public website.
Add a name (by default, the website's URL is used).
Add a description. The description should be as detailed as possible, especially if generative AI is enabled, as the description aids AI orchestration.
Select Add to finish adding the knowledge source.
Test your copilot to see how well it responds to questions related to the content from your website. You might want to test edge case questions to decide if you need a lower moderation to be more inclusive.
Note
- The Classic data options in the generative answers node properties allows you specify dynamically formed URLs using a Power Fx formula. For information, see Use a custom data source for generative answers nodes.
- You can also specify Bing Custom Search in the Classic data options of the generative answers node properties. For information, see Search public data or use a Bing Custom Search for generative answers.