What is a Knowledge Base?

Knowledge Base Defined

Knowledge base refers to a centralized repository of information and business process knowhow designed to make it easier for organizations to organize, store, and retrieve data. It acts as a hub where employees and customers can find answers to common questions, discover solutions to problems, and get real-time guidance on processes such as customer service conversations.

Knowledge bases can be internal, serving employees, or external, serving customers, partners, and other external stakeholders. They are often layered with search and conversational interfaces to access the answers.

Knowledge Base: Types of knowledge

Informational knowledge base
This type of knowledge base provides straightforward facts, such as a customer’s account balance, store operating hours, or the progress of an order.

Situational knowledge base
This knowledge base helps resolve customer issues by guiding them through the right set of questions or suggesting the appropriate next steps in a process. It often relies on advanced technologies, including model-based and Case-Based Reasoning. Examples include problem diagnostics and resolution, product recommendations, and more.

Pull knowledge base
A pull knowledge base delivers information when customers actively request it. It responds directly to specific user queries with relevant, contextual knowledge.

Push knowledge base
A push knowledge base proactively delivers information and guided help to employees in the flow of their work or customers in the flow of their conversations with a business in a self-service context.

Knowledge Base: Use cases

Knowledge bases have a wide array of applications across different industries and departments. Here are some common use cases:

Customer Support: Providing FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and how-to articles to customers.
Employee Training: Centralizing onboarding materials, company policies, and best practices.
Sales Enablement: Storing product details, sales strategies, and market research for quick access by sales teams.
IT and Technical Support: Documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs), troubleshooting methods, and IT policies.
Content Management: Organizing content for marketing, branding, or internal communications.

Knowledge Base: Benefits

Implementing a knowledge base offers several advantages:

Increased Efficiency: Employees and customers can quickly find information, reducing time spent searching or waiting for answers and guidance.
Improved Customer Satisfaction: Self-service options empower customers to resolve issues faster, enhancing their experience. Human agents in the contact center also benefit from real-time guidance that an AI-powered knowledge base can provide.
Cost Reduction: Effective self-service minimizes the need for human-assisted support.
Enhanced Knowledge Retention: Preserving institutional knowledge ensures operational continuity even as employees leave or roles change.
Consistency: “Single source of truth” in the knowledge base reduces the risk of misinformation or miscommunication.

Knowledge Base Management: Best Practices

To maximize the effectiveness of your knowledge base, follow these best practices:

Source trusted content: Glean frequently asked questions and answers—content and expertise—from conversation stores of high-performance experts across business functions, leveraging AI.
Structure and Organize: Use best practices in content authoring to make it consumable by AI agents and humans while leveraging AI to speed up content creation and curation.
Regular Updates: Keep content current to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Optimize for Search: Include keywords, metadata, search engine, and agentic interfaces to make information easily discoverable.
Leverage Multimedia: Incorporate videos, images, and infographics to make content engaging and easier to understand.
Solicit Feedback: Encourage users to provide feedback on articles to identify gaps and areas for improvement. Leverage AI to mine and summarize insights.
Track Metrics: Monitor usage statistics and user satisfaction to refine and optimize the knowledge base.

Knowledge Base: Customer success

Multinational Financial Services Leader: By implementing a knowledge base with the eGain AI Knowledge Hub which provides conversational guidance to their frontline staff, the client achieved a 36% boost in First Contact Resolution and cut agent training time by 40%, while improving CX.
Large federal government agency achieved groundbreaking results with their knowledge base, built with the eGain AI Knowledge Hub™. They were able to divert up to 70% of incoming calls to AI virtual assistants, cut case handling time by 25%, and streamline online form-filling with AI knowledge assistance. These impactful improvements boosted agent engagement to 92%, well above the industry average of 67%.
Top-5 US P&C insurance carrier is transforming CX at speed by eliminating dozens of knowledge base silos, unifying all enterprise knowledge and guidance in eGain. This centralized knowledge base will serve members with personalized, digital-first answers via self-service and contact centers — across business units and languages.

Knowledge Base FAQs

Why is a knowledge base important?

A well-structured knowledge base enhances customer self-service, empowers employees, and reduces repetitive support requests. It acts as a single source of truth, improving operational efficiency, agent productivity, and customer satisfaction. Companies using AI-powered knowledge bases often see faster onboarding, lower support costs, and improved user experiences across touchpoints.

What is the difference between a knowledge base and an intranet?

A knowledge base is a specialized, searchable repository that helps users find answers quickly — typically focused on support, troubleshooting, and self-service. In contrast, an intranet is a broader internal hub for company-wide communication, document sharing, and collaboration. While both improve access to information, a knowledge base is task- and solution-oriented, whereas an intranet supports overall organizational communication.

What content should a knowledge base include?

Effective knowledge bases for CX contain articles, FAQs, product and process information, and trouble-shooting guides. Adding visuals such as infographics or videos improves comprehension. For internal teams, content may also include company policies, SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), process documents, process expertise, and onboarding resources.

How does a knowledge base benefit customer support?

A knowledge base enables customers to find quick answers without submitting a ticket, improving satisfaction and reducing response times. For human agents, it ensures they have consistent, trust-verified information at their fingertips.

Can a knowledge base improve customer satisfaction?

Yes. By empowering customers to solve issues on their own or through the help of a knowledge-empowered human agent, a knowledge base elevates CX and builds trust. It also shortens agent handling times, enabling faster service across channels — ultimately resulting in happier customers and stronger loyalty.

How is a knowledge base kept up-to-date?

Maintaining accuracy requires a defined governance process. Teams should review articles regularly, monitor search queries to identify gaps, and update outdated content promptly. With eGain’s Trusted Knowledge™ framework, updates can be versioned, approved, and published seamlessly with AI automation.

How much does a knowledge base cost?

Costs vary by platform capabilities and scale. Enterprise-grade solutions — including integrations, analytics, and AI capabilities — typically offer subscription pricing. Contact us for more information.

How can you create and manage a knowledge base at scale?

AI can help automate all the steps in the knowledge base management process from sourcing trusted content to curating, transforming, publishing, and optimizing it. Our clients are seeing a 10X acceleration in the KM process and speed-to-value.

How does one select a knowledge base system?

Here is what to look for in selecting a knowledge base system:
1. Rich features out of the box including those for AI automation of knowledge base management
2. Track record of success in delivering quick ROI at scale
3. Open architecture with pre-built connectors to existing enterprise systems
4. Industry recognition by analysts and others
5. Easy adoption offers

Still have questions? Reach out to our team or explore eGain Knowledge Hub.