Elizabeth Williams

Generative search works by evaluating the question that a user enters in the help center search. The top matching articles and posts are evaluated by generative AI, which then generates an answer. On Enterprise plans with federated search configured, the generative AI also evaluates external content and can be included in the answer. The generated answer is posted by default at the top of the search results.

Generative search is activated by default in your help center. To deactivate this feature, see Viewing and managing your search settings.

To use generative search, your theme must include the {{generative_answers}} helper. Newer accounts already include this helper, but accounts with themes that were customized prior to March 25, 2025 must add it.

To update your custom theme

1. In Guide, click the Customize design icon () in the sidebar.

   The Themes page opens.

2. Click Customize on the theme you want to edit.
3. Click Edit code.

   

4. Under Templates, click search_results.hbs.
5. Add the {{generative_answers}} helper code to the theme's search_results.hbs template where you want the generative answers to appear.

   

6. Click Save.
7. After activating, if you find that the Quick answer box UI doesn't match the fonts and colors of your custom theme, this could be due to one of the following:
   • You have the required settings in the theme settings interface. However, the settings values are not set to match your theme, because your theme's look and feel is hardcoded in your CSS file. To update the color and font settings, see Branding your help center.
   • You do not have some or all of the settings in the theme settings interface. If this is the case, you'll need to add the settings and set their values to match the rest of your theme. To do this, you can update your manifest.json file with the following identifiers from Github, replacing the value of each identifier with the font or color code that matches your theme:
     • Color settings identifiers:
       • text_color
       • link_color
       • hover_link_color
       • visited_link_color
     • Fonts settings identifiers
       • heading_font
       • text_font

If you're using the Copenhagen theme as a standard theme (or if you want to get up and running quickly), you can add the Copenhagen (Beta) theme to your help center, then update it with your current Copenhagen theme settings (such as colors or logo).

To add and update the Copenhagen (Beta) theme

AI translations for articles is part of the Advanced AI enhance writing feature and is turned on by default when you have the Copilot add-on. To learn how to turn this feature on and off, see Turning on the enhance writing generative AI feature.

AI translations for articles uses generative AI to provide article translations. You can use the AI translation tool within the article editor to translate default language content into any language supported by your help center.

You can use the AI translation tool within the article editor to retranslate content that's already been translated.

The service catalog EAP is available for users on Zendesk Suite Growth, Professional and Enterprise plans. However, when the service catalog moves out of EAP and is released, it will be available only for Employee Service (ES) Suite plans. This means that while you can try out this feature on your Zendesk Suite instance, it will not be available on Zendesk Suite long term.

For more details about the release plan, and for a list of EAP participant requirements, see Announcing the service catalog EAP.

By default, the service catalog is not activated in your account. You can turn on the service catalog to activate the feature and gain access to the admin interface, where you can create and manage services.

To turn on the service catalog

In order for employee end users to view and use the service catalog in your help center, you must first make sure that your theme supports the service catalog. Depending on the type of theme you are using, you can either use the beta version of the standard Copenhagen theme to support the service catalog, or you can add service catalog functionality to a custom theme.

See Updating your theme with EAP features for detailed instructions and resources on how to update your theme for the service catalog EAP.

When you create and publish a service, it's added to the service catalog items list and is available for employees to request from their service catalog.

When you create service catalog items, accompanying ticket forms with the prefix "Service request" are created automatically. A ticket field called "Service" is also automatically created on your instance when you start using the service catalog. Do not edit or delete these ticket forms or ticket fields via the Admin center or API as it may break the service catalog experience.

You must be a Guide admin to create services.

After you've created services for your service catalog, you can make changes to those services as needed. You can edit services to update the title, description, and fields associated with the service.

You must be a Guide admin to view and edit services.

You must be a Guide admin to unpublish and delete services.

To delete or unpublish services

1. In Knowledge admin, click Service catalog () in the sidebar..

   

2. Click the More actions () icon next to the service you want to unpublish or delete, then select:
   • Unpublish to remove the service from the service catalog. The service status reverts to Draft.
   • Delete to permanently delete the service from your account. Review the warning, then click Delete service.

     

Employees can submit service requests using the service catalog in your help center. When employees submit their request, a ticket is opened and agents assigned to the ticket can work to resolve it.

When you create a new article, you can preview how the article will appear in your help center, both before and after saving.

When editing a published article, you can preview either the edits you are making on the published version of the article.

To preview edits to published articles

1. Add or edit content in an article.
2. Click the arrow next to the Preview button to select one of the following options:
   • Published article - Last published version of the article. This opens the version that is live in your help center.
   • Preview - Current saved or unsaved version of the published article that you are editing. This version opens in a new tab in Preview mode and displays the changes you have made to the article.

   

3. To make and preview additional edits, leave the Preview tab open and do the following:
   • Return to the article editor and add or update content.
   • Click the Preview tab to return to the Preview mode.
   • Refresh the browser page to display the new edits or additions.

   When you're ready, you can save and publish the article. See Creating and editing articles in the knowledge base.