AI Assistant
How to use GovScout's agentic chat assistant to search contracts, score opportunities, manage your pipeline, and check deadlines through conversation.
GovScout includes an AI-powered chat assistant that goes beyond answering questions. It is an agentic assistant that can take actions on your behalf — searching SAM.gov, scoring opportunities, saving contracts to your pipeline, and more — all through natural conversation.
What the Assistant Can Do
The assistant has access to eight tools that let it interact with GovScout's features directly. You do not need to navigate to different pages or fill out forms — just describe what you want in plain English.
Tools Available
| Tool | What It Does | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Search Opportunities | Searches SAM.gov for contract opportunities matching your description | Free |
| Score Opportunity | Scores a specific opportunity against your company profile (0-100) | Free |
| Get Opportunity Details | Retrieves full details for a specific contract opportunity | Free |
| Entity Lookup | Looks up a company by UEI or CAGE code on SAM.gov | Free |
| Save to Pipeline | Saves an opportunity to your tracking pipeline | Pro+ |
| Update Pipeline Status | Changes the status of a pipeline item (reviewing, pursuing, submitted, etc.) | Pro+ |
| Check Deadlines | Shows upcoming response deadlines for your saved opportunities | Pro+ |
| Get Company Profile | Retrieves your company profile data for context during conversation | Pro+ |
Example Prompts
Here are examples of what you can ask the assistant:
- "Search for cybersecurity assessment contracts for DoD"
- "Score this opportunity against my company profile"
- "Save this to my pipeline as reviewing"
- "What deadlines do I have coming up this week?"
- "Look up the company with UEI J7M9K2EXAMPLE"
- "Show me IT modernization opportunities set aside for 8(a)"
- "What's my company's capability description?"
- "Change the status of that opportunity to pursuing"
Result Cards
When the assistant performs an action, it displays structured result cards instead of plain text. These cards show relevant information at a glance:
- Search results — Title, agency, set-aside type, NAICS code, posted date, and response deadline for each matching opportunity
- Score badges — A color-coded score (green for 70+, yellow for 50-69, red for below 50) with a YES / MAYBE / NO recommendation
- Pipeline items — Current status, deadline countdown, and quick actions
- Deadline alerts — Sorted list of upcoming deadlines with days remaining
Rate Limits
| Limit | Free | Pro | Team | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messages per hour | 20 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Chat searches per day | 5 (shared with dashboard) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Tools available | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Free tier users share their 5 daily search limit between the dashboard search and chat assistant searches.
Tips for Best Results
Select a Company First
If you have multiple company profiles, select the one you want to work with before asking the assistant to score opportunities or check deadlines. The assistant uses your active company profile for scoring and pipeline operations.
Use Natural Language
You do not need to use specific commands or syntax. The assistant understands natural language, so describe what you want conversationally:
- Instead of structured queries, just say "find me cloud migration contracts for civilian agencies"
- Instead of navigating to pipeline settings, say "mark that opportunity as submitted"
Chain Actions
The assistant remembers context within a conversation. You can chain actions together naturally:
- "Search for IT help desk contracts"
- "Score the first result"
- "Save it to my pipeline"
- "What other deadlines do I have this month?"
Each step builds on the previous context, so you do not need to repeat details.
Accessing the Assistant
The chat assistant is available as a floating chat bubble on your dashboard. Click the bubble to open a conversation. Your chat history is preserved within the session, so you can refer back to previous results.
For a hands-on walkthrough, see the Using the AI Assistant guide.