How it works

From content to answers
in a single afternoon.

No RAG pipelines to build. No models to fine-tune. AskPortal handles the infrastructure so your team can focus on the content that makes answers great.

STEP 01

Connect your content

Tell AskPortal where your knowledge lives. We crawl your website automatically. You upload the PDFs and documents that residents ask about most. You add Q&A pairs for anything you want to control exactly.

Most organizations start with their website, their top-10 most-downloaded PDFs, and a handful of frequently-asked questions they've been answering manually for years.

Knowledge sources · 4 connected
sea-bright.nj.gov
847 pages indexed
Synced 2h ago
Building Permits Manual.pdf
128 pages
Indexed
Fee Schedule 2026.pdf
24 pages
Indexed
Custom Q&A pairs
42 questions
Active
STEP 02

We index it

AskPortal processes your content and builds a knowledge base specific to your organization. This isn't a generic chatbot with general-purpose knowledge layered on top. It only knows what you've given it.

Indexing typically completes within a few hours for a standard municipal website. Your admin gets notified when it's ready.

Indexing run · live
Processing
Crawling pages 847 / 847
Parsing PDFs 152 / 152
Generating embeddings 8,341 / 9,200
Indexing for search Running
Estimated: 4 minutes remaining
STEP 03

Add it to your website

One line of code — a script tag — goes in your website's footer or header. Your IT team adds it once. After that, the widget appears automatically on every page you specify.

Don't have IT staff? We have a guide for every major CMS, and our team can walk you through it in 15 minutes.

Embed snippet
<!-- Add before </body> -->
<script src="https://cdn.askportal.com/v1/widget.js"
data-tenant="sea-bright"
data-name="Ask Marge"></script>
Widget detected
Last seen 12 minutes ago · sea-bright.nj.gov
STEP 04

Residents get answers. You see the questions.

Residents ask questions in plain language. AskPortal answers from your content, with a link to the source. You see which questions are being asked most, which ones it's answering well, and which ones are falling through the cracks — so you can fill in the gaps over time.

The assistant gets more useful the more you put into it.

Top questions · this week
view all →
When is trash pickup?
47
How do I apply for a beach badge?
32
Is the senior center open Memorial Day?
18
Council meeting agenda for next week?
14
How do I pay my water bill online?
11
1 gap detected — add a Q&A pair to cover it
The ongoing loop

The assistant gets more useful the more you put into it.

Update your website, AskPortal re-indexes it. Add a new PDF, the knowledge base grows. Notice a gap in coverage, add a Q&A pair to cover it.

Update website
Re-index runs
Add new PDF
Knowledge base grows
See gaps in dashboard
Coverage report
Add Q&A pair
Gap is closed
The Town Hall Test

"We hold every response to a simple standard: would a real town hall employee be comfortable saying this out loud to a resident? If not, it doesn't ship."

See AskPortal answering questions from your own website.

14-day free trial. Connect your content in one onboarding session.