What it does

AI assistant panel in Copilot Service workspace with two modes: immersive (full conversational) or side pane (in-context). Enables Ask a Question (KB search), Draft a Response, and Proactive Insights (Copilot surfaces answers without the rep asking).

Key facts

• Two modes configurable independently: Copilot immersive and Copilot side pane
• Ask a Question uses the D365 knowledge base (requires published articles); can be extended via Copilot Studio knowledge sources (Preview: see feature-copilot-knowledge-sources.md)
• Custom instructions (up to 5,000 chars) configure Copilot tone, style, formatting: apply to Ask a Question with D365 KB only; not applied when using Copilot Studio knowledge sources
• Trusted webpages (up to 5 domains, 2 levels deep): used for email/draft responses only: not for Ask a Question; requires Bing enabled in Power Platform admin center
• Trusted webpages are on borrowed time (September 2026). Microsoft added a CAUTION to the admin page saying email generation from trusted webpages might not work as expected, because the underlying Bing Search API is being retired. See Bing Search API retirement.
• Proactive insights: Copilot surfaces knowledge answers during active conversations without rep manually requesting them
• Knowledge base content refreshed daily: recently published articles may not appear immediately
• Conversation summary is Copilot Service workspace only: not Customer Service Hub or custom apps
• External web sources are for email drafting only: Ask a Question uses KB sources, not web

When to use / skip

Standard in any Copilot deployment. Ask a Question replaces the old Smart Assist. Enable for all reps with KB access.

Configuration decisions

• Immersive vs side pane vs both: side pane is the lighter-weight option; immersive is more powerful but requires more screen real estate
• Custom instructions: configure to match the client's communication standards; worth investing time here; affects every Ask a Question response
• Proactive insights: reduces rep effort but can feel intrusive; discuss with the client before enabling in a busy contact centre
• Trusted webpages: only relevant if email drafting needs to reference specific external domains

Gotchas

• Custom instructions are bypassed with Copilot Studio sources. If the client switches to extended sources (SharePoint, uploaded files), custom instructions won't apply. Make this clear during setup.
• Don't design around trusted webpages any more. The feature is still configurable and still appears to work, and the Bing Search API behind it is retiring — so it will degrade quietly rather than throw an error. If a client's email drafting depends on an external domain today, that is now a risk to raise, not a capability to sell.
• KB content takes up to 24 hours to refresh. Newly published articles won't show up immediately. Set expectations: publish new articles at least a day before Copilot testing.

Consultant notes

• Custom instructions are worth investing real time in for any client with a distinct communication style. The default Copilot tone is competent but generic: even 30 minutes of custom instruction writing (tone, prohibited phrases, formatting preferences) noticeably improves the quality of Ask a Question responses for that client's context.
• KB refresh being daily is a prep item: publish all articles at least 24 hours before any Copilot testing starts. Discovering this during UAT when reps can't find freshly published articles is an avoidable delay.
• The trusted-webpages retirement is worth a proactive conversation with any client using it. Nothing will break loudly: drafts will simply stop reflecting the external content, reps will assume Copilot has got worse, and it will be logged as a quality complaint rather than a platform change. Get ahead of it and agree where that content should live instead — usually a knowledge article.
• Proactive insights should be piloted with a small group before rolling out to all agents. In a busy contact centre it can feel intrusive: answers surfacing when the rep hasn't asked for help yet disrupts flow for experienced agents. Newer agents tend to value it more.

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Revisit when the Bing Search API retirement lands and trusted webpages either get a replacement or disappear, or when custom instructions extend to Copilot Studio sources