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Using the AI Assistant

Using the AI Assistant

A practical guide to using GovScout's agentic chat assistant to search contracts, score opportunities, manage your pipeline, and check deadlines through conversation.

GovScout's AI assistant is more than a chatbot — it is an agentic assistant that can take actions on your behalf. This guide walks you through the most common workflows so you can get the most out of it.

Opening the Assistant

Click the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard. The assistant opens in a panel where you can type messages and see structured result cards for each action it performs.

Searching via Chat

Type a natural language description of the contracts you are looking for:

"Search for cybersecurity assessment contracts for DoD"

The assistant searches SAM.gov and returns results as structured cards showing:

  • Opportunity title and posting agency
  • Set-aside type and NAICS code
  • Response deadline
  • AI relevance score (if a company is selected)

You can refine your search naturally:

"Show me only 8(a) set-asides from those results"

"Search again but for civilian agencies instead"

Scoring an Opportunity

After finding opportunities, ask the assistant to score one against your company profile:

"Score the first result against my company"

The assistant returns a score card with:

  • A numeric score from 0 to 100
  • A color-coded badge: green (70+), yellow (50-69), or red (below 50)
  • A recommendation: YES (strong match), MAYBE (moderate match), or NO (weak match)

The score is based on capability alignment, NAICS code match, set-aside eligibility, and contract scope — the same factors used by the dashboard scoring engine.

Saving to Your Pipeline

When you find an opportunity worth tracking, save it to your pipeline directly from the chat:

"Save this to my pipeline"

The assistant adds it to your pipeline with a default status. You can also specify a status:

"Save this as reviewing"

Updating Pipeline Status

Change the status of a saved opportunity at any time:

"Change that opportunity to pursuing"

"Mark the cybersecurity contract as submitted"

Available statuses include: reviewing, pursuing, submitted, awarded, and not pursuing.

Checking Deadlines

Ask the assistant to show you upcoming response deadlines for your pipeline items:

"What deadlines do I have this week?"

"Show me all deadlines in the next 30 days"

The assistant returns a sorted list with:

  • Opportunity title
  • Response deadline date
  • Days remaining
  • Current pipeline status

This is a fast way to review your upcoming commitments without navigating to the pipeline page.

Viewing Your Company Profile

Check your company profile data from the chat:

"What's my company's capability description?"

"Show me my company profile"

This is useful for verifying that your profile is up to date before scoring, or for quickly referencing your NAICS codes and certifications during a conversation.

Looking Up Entities

Look up any company registered on SAM.gov by UEI or CAGE code:

"Look up UEI J7M9K2EXAMPLE"

"Find the entity with CAGE code 1ABC2"

The assistant returns registration data including company name, address, NAICS codes, and set-aside certifications.

Tips for Best Results

Select a Company First

If you manage multiple company profiles, select the one you want to work with from the dashboard before opening the chat. The assistant uses your active company for scoring, pipeline operations, and deadline tracking.

Chain Actions Together

The assistant remembers context within a conversation. Take advantage of this by chaining actions:

  1. "Search for IT modernization contracts"
  2. "Score the second result"
  3. "Save it to my pipeline as reviewing"
  4. "What other deadlines do I have this month?"

Use Natural Language

You do not need special commands or syntax. Describe what you want the way you would to a colleague:

  • "Find me cloud contracts for VA" works just as well as formal queries
  • "How does that last one score?" works when referring to a previous result
  • "Save the DoD one" works when multiple results are showing

Troubleshooting

"No company selected"

Some tools require an active company profile. Go to your dashboard, select a company, and then return to the chat.

Rate limit reached

Free tier users are limited to 20 chat messages per hour and 5 searches per day (shared with dashboard searches). If you hit a limit, wait for it to reset or upgrade to Pro for unlimited access.

Tool not available

Free tier users have access to 4 tools: search, score, opportunity details, and entity lookup. Pipeline management, deadline tracking, and company profile tools require a Pro plan or above.