It is a knowledge base or help center that uses AI to answer reader questions from your articles with source citations, and to help your team draft, translate and find missing content. The articles remain the source of truth; the AI makes them easier to find and maintain.
AI knowledge base
AI knowledge base: what it does and how to evaluate one
AI changes what a help center does — from a list of articles to an answer engine that also writes, translates and finds what is missing. Here is what to expect and what to check before you buy.
An AI knowledge base is a help center where AI answers reader questions in plain language, synthesized from your own articles with links to the sources, and also helps your team draft, translate and find missing content. In Multibase, AI answers, AI translation and AI drafting are included on every plan with a flat monthly query allowance, and Gap Finder on every paid plan — no per-resolution fees.
What makes a knowledge base an AI knowledge base
Adding a chatbot on top of a search box is not enough. A useful AI knowledge base applies AI at five points: when readers ask, when writers draft, when content is localized, when gaps appear, and when other AI tools need your content.
- AI answers for readers: questions in natural language, answers synthesized from your articles, with citations to the source articles.
- AI drafting: generate a first draft of an article from a prompt, then edit it in the normal editor and review workflow.
- AI translation: create a translated draft per language and publish each language independently, after a human check.
- Gap detection: failed searches and unanswered questions become a prioritized list of articles to write.
- Machine access: AI assistants and agents can query the knowledge base directly, for example through an MCP server.
How AI answers work in Multibase
Multibase answers only from your published content. If the system is not confident it has a grounded answer, it does not guess — it falls back to regular search results so the reader still gets something useful.
- A reader types a question in the portal, in any of the portal's languages.
- Multibase retrieves the most relevant articles in that language.
- The model writes an answer from those articles only and streams it to the reader as it is generated.
- Each answer cites the source articles, so readers can verify it and keep reading.
- When confidence is low, the reader sees search results instead of an invented answer.
- Every question is logged in analytics; questions without a good answer feed Gap Finder.
AI across the whole content lifecycle
Reader-facing answers get the attention, but most of the long-term value comes from the AI that keeps the content itself complete and up to date.
| Capability | What it does | Who benefits |
|---|---|---|
| AI answers | Cited, streamed answers synthesized from your articles; falls back to search | Readers, support team (fewer repeat questions) |
| AI drafting | Generates an article draft from a prompt, edited in the block editor | Writers and product teams |
| AI translation | Draft per locale across 9 content languages, published per locale independently | Teams with international readers |
| Gap Finder | Turns failed searches and unanswered questions into article suggestions | Content owners |
| MCP server | Exposes each portal's public articles to AI assistants as read-only tools | Customers and developers using Claude, Cursor or VS Code |
AI pricing: per resolution vs flat allowance
The biggest difference between AI knowledge base vendors is not the model, it is the billing unit. Helpdesk suites typically charge per AI resolution, so the bill grows exactly as fast as the AI succeeds. Multibase includes a monthly AI query allowance in the plan price.
Queries and resolutions are not the same unit — one resolved conversation can take several questions — so treat the comparison below as an order-of-magnitude check, and use your own volumes.
| Vendor | AI billing model | Example: 2,000 AI answers per month |
|---|---|---|
| Intercom | $0.99 per resolution | about $1,980/mo on top of plan fees |
| Zendesk | $1.50 per resolution | about $3,000/mo on top of plan fees |
| Multibase Growth ($49/mo) | 1,000 AI queries/mo included; extra $20 per 1,000 | $49 + $20 = $69/mo |
| Multibase Scale ($149/mo) | 5,000 AI queries/mo included | $149/mo, no AI overage |
| Multibase Enterprise ($399/mo) | Unlimited AI queries | $399/mo |
Evaluation checklist for an AI knowledge base
- Citations: does every AI answer link to the articles it used?
- Fallback: what happens when the AI does not know — does it guess, or show search results?
- Language handling: does it answer in the reader's language from content in that language?
- Billing unit: per resolution, per credit, or a flat allowance? What does a busy month cost?
- Model choice: can you bring your own AI provider key? Multibase supports your own OpenAI or Anthropic key from the Growth plan.
- Feedback loop: are unanswered questions visible to writers, or lost in chat logs?
- Editorial control: do AI drafts and translations go through versions and review before publishing?
- Openness: can AI assistants outside your site read your public content in a structured way?
Where an AI knowledge base alone is not enough
Be honest about the scope. Multibase is an AI knowledge base, not an AI support agent. Its AI answers from your content; it does not open tickets, hand conversations to a human agent, or take actions in your product or billing system.
If you need an AI agent that escalates to live chat, works inside a ticketing inbox or performs account actions, the AI agents bundled in Intercom or Zendesk do more — at per-resolution prices. Many teams run both: a helpdesk for conversations, and a separate knowledge base for the content those conversations rely on. Our help center software guide covers that choice in detail.
Getting started
- Create a free Starter portal: 1 portal, 1 admin and 100 AI queries per month.
- Write or paste in your core articles, then try AI answers on real customer questions.
- Turn on AI translation for the languages your readers use and review each draft.
- On a paid plan, open Gap Finder after a few weeks and write the articles your readers asked for.
- Connect the portal to AI assistants through its MCP endpoint.
Frequently asked questions
Multibase answers only from your published articles and cites them. When confidence is low, it shows regular search results instead of an answer, so readers are not given invented information.
They are included in every plan: 100 queries per month on Starter, 1,000 on Growth, 5,000 on Scale and unlimited on Enterprise. Extra queries cost $20 per 1,000. AI translation draws from the same allowance. There are no per-resolution fees.
Yes, from the Growth plan you can bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key. By default the platform uses Anthropic models.
Yes. Every portal has a read-only MCP endpoint that exposes published public articles through search and article tools. Restricted reader-group content is not exposed.
No. It answers questions from your content but has no ticketing, live chat or human handoff. If you need those, use a helpdesk alongside it.
Try an AI knowledge base on your own content
Start free with 100 AI queries per month. No credit card, no per-resolution fees.