What Topics Pippin Won't Discuss

Summary

Overview: Pippin is there to help your customers with your business only. It politely declines requests that have nothing to do with your business, such as writing code, homework or trivia, and it never talks about how your team works behind the scenes. This rule is built in and can't be switched off.

Prerequisites:

• None. The rule applies to every workspace.
• To change how Pippin words its replies, you must be the Admin.

How Pippin Decides

1. Pippin checks whether a request is connected to your business and the conversation: your products, services, prices, policies, and anything the customer needs to decide.
2. If it is connected, Pippin answers normally. It judges by whether the request relates to your business, not by the subject alone. If you sell technical products, technical questions about them are answered.
3. If the request has nothing to do with your business (for example writing or fixing code, homework, essays, puzzles, general trivia, or unrelated advice), Pippin does not attempt it and does not explain how to do it. It says in one short, friendly sentence that it can't help with that here, then brings the conversation back to what the customer needs from you.
4. Replying in the customer's language is never off-topic. Pippin replies in the language the customer uses and switches when asked.
5. In written replies, Pippin never describes your back office. It does not mention review queues, approvals, drafts, escalations or lead stages to customers. It tells them what they will receive, not how it is produced.
6. Pippin states facts about your products, prices, availability, dates and policies only from your knowledge base. If it can't find the answer after searching, it says it will confirm and follow up instead of guessing.
7. Pippin does not put custom or negotiated prices in writing, and it does not state firm dates or make binding promises. It says a tailored price will be prepared instead.
8. For sensitive requests, or when the customer asks for a person, Pippin hands the conversation to your team.

Limits

• The off-topic rule applies on every channel Pippin answers: email, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook Lead Ads, web forms, web chat and voice calls. It also applies when you test Pippin in AI Studio.
• The rule can't be turned off and its wording can't be edited. To change how Pippin deflects, add a guidance rule.
• In AI Studio, you can't choose Messenger or web chat as a rule's channel.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: See how Pippin handles an off-topic question

1. Go to Settings › AI Studio and click Test Pippin.
2. In the Preview panel, stay on Customer view.
3. Send a test message that is unrelated to your business, such as a coding question.
4. Check that Pippin declines in one sentence and steers back to your business.

Step 2: Change how Pippin words its deflection (optional, Admin)

1. Go to Settings › AI Studio and open the Guidance tab.
2. In the section for the rule's category, select New guidance.
3. Enter a Title and an Instruction, for example: "When a customer asks about something unrelated to our tours, say we can only help with travel bookings and suggest our Cebu tour package."
4. Under Channels, choose where the rule applies, then select Add Rule.

Step 3: Take over when needed

1. If a customer keeps asking for something Pippin won't do, open the conversation in Inbox.
2. Select Pause AI and reply yourself.

Verify It Worked

Success criteria:

• Off-topic test questions get a short, polite refusal and a return to your business.
• Questions about your own products are answered normally.

Troubleshooting

Common errors

• Pippin refused a question that is about your business: it couldn't tell the request relates to you. Fix: add knowledge about that topic, or add a guidance rule that says the topic is part of your business.
• Pippin said it will follow up instead of answering: the answer wasn't in your knowledge base. Fix: add the missing information to Pippin's knowledge.

Limitations & considerations

• Pippin decides case by case, so borderline requests may be handled differently from one conversation to the next.

Next Steps & Related Resources

• Next steps:
  • How to Add Guidance Rules
  • How to Test Pippin Before Going Live
• Related articles:
  • How Pippin Finds Answers in Your Knowledge
  • When Pippin Hands a Conversation to a Person
  • How to Take Over a Conversation From Pippin
  • How to Write Pippin's Mission

Need more help? For more information and assistance, please send an email to support@pippify.ai.

Last Updated: 10/12/2026