How to train your chatbot on your website in 5 steps

The most common question we get from new users is: "How do I make the chatbot actually know about my business?" The answer is simple — you train it on your existing content. Here's the exact process.

What "training" means

Pivra uses your content as the source of truth. When a visitor asks a question, the AI searches your training data for the most relevant answer and responds using your words and tone. It doesn't make things up — it works from what you've given it.

Step 1: Add your website as a source

Go to Sources → Add source → Website URL.

Enter your domain (e.g. https://yourwebsite.com.au) and select Crawl all pages. Pivra will automatically discover and index your pages — typically 50–200 pages for a small business site.

Tip: If your site has a sitemap at /sitemap.xml, use the Sitemap option instead. It's faster and more accurate.

Step 2: Add your FAQs as plain text

Even if your FAQs are on your website, it's worth adding them directly as a Text source too. This gives the bot clean, structured answers to the most common questions.

Format them like this:

Q: What areas do you service?
A: We service all of Greater Brisbane and surrounding suburbs including Ipswich, Logan and Redcliffe.

Q: What are your call-out fees?
A: Our standard call-out fee is $95, which covers the first 30 minutes on-site.

Step 3: Upload key documents

Have a product catalogue, pricing guide or service brochure? Upload it as a PDF source. The bot will be able to answer questions from it directly.

This is especially useful for:

• Trade businesses with rate cards
• Clinics with service menus
• Retailers with product spec sheets

Step 4: Test before you go live

Use the Test chatbot tab to ask the questions your customers actually ask. Common ones to try:

• "What are your prices?"
• "Do you service [suburb]?"
• "How do I [common task]?"
• "What's your returns policy?"

If an answer is wrong or missing, add more content to your sources and re-train.

Step 5: Keep it updated

Your chatbot is only as good as your training data. Set a reminder to review your sources quarterly, or whenever you:

• Change your pricing
• Add new services
• Update your opening hours
• Launch a promotion

Pivra re-processes sources on demand — just click Re-train on any source.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Don't add competitor content — The bot will try to answer from it.
• Don't use images as sources — Text in images isn't indexed. Convert to text first.
• Don't add too little — The more context, the better the answers. Aim for at least 5–10 solid pages of content.

Questions? Contact us or chat with the Pivra bot on this page.