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AI agent behavioral guidelines

How to write effective behavioral guidelines for your AI voice agent — controlling tone, setting guardrails, and defining escalation rules.

Before you start

  • Your AI agent must be created (AI Agents > Create Agent)

  • Your knowledge base should have initial content — guidelines control behavior, not knowledge

What behavioral guidelines do

Behavioral guidelines are free-text instructions that shape how your AI voice agent talks, what it can and can't say, and when it should hand off to a human. Think of them as the training manual for a new hire — except the AI follows them on every single call.

You'll find them in AI Agents > select your agent > Behavioral Guidelines field.

Agent detail page showing the name, greeting, and behavioral guidelines configuration

Writing effective guidelines

Tone and personality

Tell the AI how to sound. Be specific — "be professional" is too vague.

Good examples:

- Be friendly and conversational. Match the customer's energy — if they're casual, be casual. If they're formal, stay professional.

- Use "totally" and "absolutely" instead of "certainly" and "indeed."

- Don't get overexcited. No exclamation points in your responses.

- Never use corporate jargon. Say "free shipping" not "complimentary shipping."

- If the customer is frustrated, acknowledge it before trying to solve the problem: "I totally get that, let me help sort this out."

Boundaries — what the AI should never do

These are the most important guidelines. List specific things the AI must avoid:

- Never promise a specific delivery date. Say "typically ships within 2–3 business days" not "it'll arrive Friday."

- Never offer discounts beyond what's listed in the knowledge base.

- Never make up information. If you don't know the answer, say "Let me connect you with our team" and transfer.

- Never discuss competitor products or pricing.

- Never share internal information (employee names, supplier names, cost prices).

- Do not offer callbacks within the next hour — say "our team will follow up within 24 hours."

Escalation rules — when to transfer

Be explicit about when the AI should stop trying to resolve and hand off to a human:

Transfer to a live agent when:

- The customer explicitly asks to speak with a person or a manager

- The customer mentions a chargeback, dispute, BBB complaint, or legal action

- The customer's issue involves modifying a subscription

- The issue requires accessing systems the AI doesn't have

- The customer has asked the same question 3 times without getting a satisfactory answer

- The customer sounds frustrated or their tone escalates

>

Before transferring, always say: "Let me connect you with a team member who can help. I'll share everything we've discussed so they can pick up right where we left off."

Product-specific instructions

Add context for products or scenarios that need special handling:

- For the "Pro Bundle" — always mention the 30-day trial period and the money-back guarantee before quoting the price.

- For sizing questions on footwear — recommend going half a size up based on customer reviews. Direct them to the size chart at [URL].

- For wholesale inquiries — this is not something we handle by phone. Transfer to the sales team.

Template to start from

Copy and customize this template:

TONE:
- Be friendly and helpful. Keep responses concise.
- Match the customer's communication style.BOUNDARIES:
- Never promise specific delivery dates.
- Never offer discounts not in the knowledge base.
- Never make up information — transfer if unsure.
- Do not discuss competitors.ESCALATION — TRANSFER WHEN:
- Customer asks for a person or manager.
- Customer mentions chargeback, dispute, or complaint.
- Customer is frustrated or repeating themselves.
- Issue requires human judgment or system access the AI doesn't have.TRANSFER SCRIPT:
"Let me connect you with our team. I'll share everything we've discussed so you won't have to repeat yourself."PRODUCT NOTES:
- [Add product-specific guidance here]

The AI Agents page showing the list of agents with the Test Agent option

Testing your guidelines

After updating guidelines:

  1. Open Test Agent in the AI Agents page

  2. Try to trick the AI — ask for a discount, ask for a delivery date promise, pretend to be angry

  3. Verify the AI follows your boundaries

  4. Test escalation — say "I want to speak with a manager" and confirm it offers to transfer

  5. Adjust and re-test until the behavior matches your expectations

Common issues

AI gives wrong answers despite guidelines: Guidelines control behavior, not knowledge. If the AI states incorrect facts, update the knowledge base, not the guidelines.

AI never transfers: Your escalation rules might be too narrow. Add more trigger phrases or situations.

AI transfers too much: Your boundaries might be too strict. Loosen "transfer if unsure" to "try once, then transfer if the customer isn't satisfied."

AI ignores tone instructions: Make tone instructions specific and actionable. "Be professional" is ignored; "Use contractions, avoid exclamation marks, and acknowledge frustration before solving" gets followed.

Maintenance

Review your behavioral guidelines monthly:

  • Are there new products or policies that need specific handling?

  • Has customer feedback revealed scenarios the guidelines don't cover?

  • Are there common transfer reasons that the AI could handle with better guidelines?

Related articles

  • Setting up your AI Voice Agent — initial agent creation and configuration

  • Building your AI knowledge base — the knowledge your agent draws from

  • Setting up AI-to-human call transfers — configuring the transfers your escalation rules trigger

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