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Prepare your data for AI

Microsoft Power BI has new capabilities to help you get your data ready for natural language experiences with Copilot.

To get the best results from Copilot in Power BI, use a semantic model that follows best practices. However, you often need to provide more assistance to fully prepare your model for optimal interactions with AI.

Use these tooling features to help you prepare your data for AI. These features allow you to provide more context about your model, help guide Copilot to the right data in the model, and help increase the quality of Copilot output.

Note

You can now author Prep data for AI features in both the Power BI service and Power BI Desktop. Users can consume these features everywhere that Copilot exists.

New tooling features to help you prep your data for AI

You can now use three key features to help prepare your data for AI. This preparation provides Copilot the context it needs to reduce ambiguity, improve relevance and accuracy, and make user interactions with Copilot more fluent and intuitive.

Screenshot of the Prep data for AI button in Power BI Desktop, located next to the Copilot button on the home ribbon.

Benefits of preparing your data for AI

When you prepare your data for AI, you create the foundation for high-quality, grounded, and context-aware AI experiences. When data is unstructured or ambiguous, AI systems can struggle to correctly interpret it. Outputs might be generic, inaccurate, or even misleading.

When you invest in data preparation, you help AI systems understand your unique business context, prioritize the right information, and deliver responses that are consistent, reliable, and aligned with your goals. Data preparation not only improves user trust but also accelerates adoption and impact across your organization.

Note

Features that help prepare your data for AI can't ensure a specific output every time. AI behavior is nondeterministic. Copilot doesn't always produce the exact same response, even with the same input.

Features to help you prepare your data for AI

Power BI Desktop

To access the features in Power BI Desktop, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Prep data for AI button on the home ribbon in Power BI Desktop. When you select this button, a unified experience opens with three features to help you prepare your data for Copilot.
  2. To set a verified answer, select a visual.
  3. Select the ... menu, then select Set verified answer.

Now you can set trigger phrases that use the selected visual to return an answer.

Screenshot of Copilot Desktop features in Power BI showing the Prep data for AI options.

All updates are saved on the semantic model, not the report.

Power BI service

To author an AI data schema and AI instructions in the Power BI service, follow these steps:

  1. Select the semantic model to prep for AI.
  2. From the ribbon, select the Prep data for AI button.
  3. Use the available features, and then select Apply when you're satisfied with your updates.

Note

It might take time for the changes that you made to affect Copilot results. If Prep data for AI features don't take effect immediately, wait a few minutes and try again.

To set or create a verified answer in the Power BI service, first meet the following requirements:

  • You're in a Copilot-enabled workspace.
  • You have authoring permission on the semantic model the report is built on.
  • You're on a report page.
  • You're in edit mode.
  • The visual is selected.

Set a verified answer

  1. To set a verified answer, select a visual.
  2. Select the ... menu, then select Set up a verified answer.

Now you can set trigger phrases that use the selected visual to return an answer. All verified answers are saved to the semantic model.

Screenshot of Copilot features in Power BI including the Prep data for AI options.

You can manage verified answers by selecting the Prep data for AI button on the ribbon of the semantic model page.

Screenshot of the Prep data for AI features in the Power BI service that showcases the options you can use to prepare data for AI.

Test your Copilot tooling changes

Use the skill picker

After you prepare your data for AI, use the Copilot report pane in Desktop to test what your end users see. The skill picker gives you greater control over how Copilot responds. By using the skill picker, you can select specific Copilot capabilities to enable.

Currently, the skill picker includes three capabilities:

  • Answer questions about the data: Uses Copilot to respond to questions based on a given semantic model.
  • Analyze report visuals: Enables Copilot to interpret and answer questions about the visuals within a report.
  • Create new report pages: Lets Copilot generate new report pages based on your prompts.

Authors can simulate different environments and test how their changes affect the Copilot experience by selecting which capabilities to enable.

  • In Standalone Copilot experience (Home), select Answer questions about the data.
  • In Report Copilot Pane - Read Mode, select Answer questions about the data and Analyze report visuals.
  • In Report Copilot Pane - Edit Mode, enable all three capabilities.

Power BI Desktop enables all three skills by default. You can immediately access the full range of Copilot functionality. To customize the skills for your session, choose Select skills from the dropdown menu in the Copilot chat box, then select the combination that fits your needs.

Test the prepared data for AI capabilities

Use the Copilot report pane in Power BI Desktop to test changes that you make through the Prep data for AI dialog. Create an iterative and thorough testing process. Each time that you make an update to one of the features, you can view the latest updates by refreshing the Copilot report pane. Just close and reopen it.

You can troubleshoot changes through Access the download diagnostic on the ... menu on the report pane. You can also analyze the How Copilot arrived at this (HCAAT) feature, which is included in answers from your semantic model.

Screenshot of how to test the Prep data for AI features in Power BI Desktop that showcases the Copilot report pane.

After you test and confirm your Prep data for AI enhancements, you can publish your report to the Power BI service for broad consumption.

Mark your model as approved for Copilot

After you prepare your semantic model for AI and it's ready for consumption, you can mark your model Approved for Copilot by following these steps:

Note

This setting was previously called prepped for AI but has been renamed to approved for Copilot for more clarity.

  1. Go to the Power BI service and find your semantic model.
  2. Select the Settings icon in the upper-left corner.
  3. Expand the Approved for Copilot section.
  4. Select the Approved for Copilot box, and then select the Apply button.

Screenshot of the approved for Copilot settings in Power BI service that showcases the option to mark a model Prepped for AI.

When you mark your semantic model as approved for Copilot, the standalone Copilot agent doesn't apply any friction treatment to answers from that model. Also, reports that use that semantic model will be considered approved for Copilot.

Note

When you mark a semantic model as approved for Copilot, the friction treatment in standalone Copilot for associated reports should be removed.

In most cases, changes are fully reflected within an hour, but it can take up to 24 hours if the model has a lot of reports attached. To force an update to a specific report, you can speed up the process by manually saving a small change to a report.

There's currently no way to mark a report, dashboard, or app approved for Copilot.

Authors can also turn on an admin setting to only show approved items in the standalone Copilot experience.

Copilot tooling file format

When you save as a Power BI Project (PBIP), all Copilot metadata is stored in a single Copilot/ folder. This structure makes it easier to edit Copilot settings by using code editors and enables seamless collaboration through Git.

Example structure of the Copilot/ folder for a semantic model:

PBIP/
├── Model.SemanticModel/
│   ├── definition/
│   ├── Copilot/
│   │   ├── Instructions/
│   │   │   ├── instructions.md
│   │   │   ├── version.json
│   │   ├── VerifiedAnswers/
│   │   │   ├── definitions/
│   │   │   ├── version.json
│   │   ├── schema.json
│   │   ├── examplePrompts.json
│   │   ├── settings.json
│   │   └── version.json
│   └── definition.pbism

Learn more about these files in Power BI Project documentation.

Upgrade to Copilot tooling format

If your semantic model still uses the Q&A tooling format (using Linguistic Schema) to store Copilot metadata, the next time you open Prep data for AI, you see a prompt to migrate to the new Copilot experience.

Screenshot of the Prep data for AI migration from Q&A.

You need this upgrade to keep editing Copilot metadata and to use upcoming Copilot features. It also improves integration with development tools when using Power BI Project (PBIP), since all Copilot metadata is now stored using the new Copilot tooling file format.

For new semantic models, the new Copilot tooling format is used by default when you enable the Prep data for AI preview feature.

Note

  • When you upgrade to the Copilot tooling format, Copilot indexing is automatically enabled. This feature helps Copilot answer data questions faster and more accurately by indexing model metadata and column values.
  • To upgrade to the Copilot tooling format, the Linguistic Schema must be valid. If it isn’t, the upgrade will fail. You can resolve the issue by fixing the schema using the export/import feature or by removing it in TMDL view — script the culture definition, delete the linguisticMetadata property, and apply the updated script.

Upgrade impact to Q&A features

When you upgrade to the new Copilot tooling format, you permanently disable Q&A features for the model and any connected reports. For example, if a Power BI report includes the Q&A visual, the visual shows an error message that says Q&A isn't supported anymore.

Screenshot of the Q&A visual after migration to Copilot tooling file format.

For more information about all Q&A features, see Q&A in Power BI documentation.

The following Q&A tooling metadata is migrated to the new Copilot tooling format. Other metadata, such as Linguistic Relationships, isn't migrated. If you want to keep that metadata, you can export the linguistic schema before upgrading.

After you upgrade to the new Copilot tooling format, you can't go back to using Q&A (LSDL) or turn on Q&A features again. During the upgrade, Power BI automatically creates a backup of your semantic model in the following locations.

Upgrade in Power BI Desktop:

  • Microsoft Store version: %USERPROFILE%\Microsoft\Power BI Desktop Store App\TempSaves\Backups
  • Executable installer version: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Power BI Desktop\TempSaves\Backups

Upgrade in Power BI service:

Turn off the preview features in Desktop

You can also remove the ability to author Prep data for AI features within Power BI Desktop.

  1. Select File > Options and settings > Options > Preview features > Prep data for AI.
  2. Clear the Prep data for AI box.

When you restart Desktop, you no longer see the Prep data for AI button.

Considerations and limitations

  • You can author all Prep data for AI features in Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service.
  • Users can consume all Prep data for AI features everywhere that Copilot in Power BI is available.
  • Power BI Desktop supports Prep data for AI features only with the following connection types:
    • Import
    • DirectQuery
    • DirectLake
    • Composite (local)
  • All model types can use the Prep data for AI features within the Power BI service.
  • When you close the dialog, the model saves all Prep data for AI features.
  • You can test all Prep data for AI features on the report Copilot pane before publishing to the service.
  • You can troubleshoot Prep data for AI features. Use the HCAAT functionality and use the Download diagnostics feature from the ... menu on the Copilot pane in Power BI Desktop. This action ensures that Prep data for AI features are applied. Include the diagnostic file when you create support requests.
  • We encourage the use of HCAAT, which is included in answers that come from a semantic model. When you use HCAAT, you can see what Copilot used to arrive at an answer.
  • After you save changes in the Prep data for AI dialog, refresh the Copilot pane by closing and reopening it so that changes take effect.
  • In rare circumstances, Copilot capabilities might time out, which results in an error because it can't fetch the tooling metadata.
  • When you make tooling edits through Git or deployment pipelines, take note of the following requirements:
    • Import models: You must refresh the model in the Power BI service to sync the tooling changes after deployment.
    • DirectQuery models: You must refresh the model in the Power BI service to sync the tooling changes after deployment, but only once a day.
    • Direct Lake models: You must refresh the model in the Power BI service to sync the tooling changes after deployment, but only once a day.
  • The standalone Copilot experience isn't yet available in the following regions: Spain Central, Qatar, India-West, and Mexico.

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