What is a Knowledge Base?
A knowledge base acts as a single source of truth for an organization. It consolidates institutional knowledge - support procedures, product specs, and best practices - into a structured, searchable system.
There are two main types:
- Internal Knowledge Bases: Used by employees to access company policies, workflows, or technical documentation.
- External Knowledge Bases: Public-facing resources that help customers self-serve, reducing support tickets and response times.
Modern knowledge bases are often powered by AI search and natural language understanding (NLU) to surface relevant answers instantly rather than relying on keyword matches. They’re foundational to customer experience, employee onboarding, and AI-driven support tools. Knowledge bases can serve internal teams (like customer support or engineering) or external audiences (like customers and partners). They typically contain articles, FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and documentation - organized and searchable for quick access.
How a Knowledge Base Works
- Content Creation: Subject-matter experts or support teams author and tag articles.
- Organization: Articles are categorized by topic, product, or issue type.
- Search Indexing: Content is indexed for fast retrieval, often using semantic search.
- Access Control: Internal KBs restrict visibility by role or department.
- Feedback Loop: Users rate articles; analytics identify gaps or outdated information.
- Integration: KBs connect to chatbots, CRMs, and AI copilots for contextual assistance.
