AI Conversational Search pilot for Independent Public Sector Body
Organisation Type: Independent Public Sector Body
Focus: Improving public access to complex information using AI conversational search
The Challenge
A government-backed public body with a regulatory function maintains a detailed and high-traffic website. It includes:
- Reports, policies, procedures, and legislation
- Information for the public on complaints and rights
- Resources for legal professionals, researchers, and journalists
The organisation serves a wide range of users, each with different needs — but they all faced the same issue: finding the right information was slow and frustrating. Standard site search struggled to surface relevant results, especially from lengthy reports or nested PDF documents.
The Solution: AI Conversational Search Powered by LLM + RAG
The team partnered with PretaGov to trial a natural language search agent. The goal was to allow users to ask their questions in plain English and receive fast, clear, and accurate answers — using only information already published on the website.
Key capabilities included:
- LLM (Large Language Model) to understand a wide variety of natural questions
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) to ensure responses came only from existing, approved web and document content
- Citations and links included with every answer
- Tuning and oversight tools to refine responses over time
Example Questions Answered
“How do I make a formal complaint?”
“Where can I download xxx report published on 1 July?”
“What powers are available under the oversight legislation?”
Instead of manually searching documents or clicking through menus, users received immediate answers linked to authoritative content.
Deployment Highlights
Feature | Detail |
Setup time | 3 weeks from enagement to pilot |
Data sources | All public webpages and PDFs |
Transparency | Answers cite source documents and pages |
Governance | Fully monitored and tuneable |
Maintenance | No scripted flows needed |
Benefits
- Faster, more inclusive access to complex public sector content
- Reduces staff time spent on routine enquiries
- Boosts user confidence in the agency’s transparency and responsiveness
- No new content creation — answers are drawn from what’s already published
- Ongoing optimisation via real-time query logs and content refinement
Applicability to UK Councils
UK councils often face similar challenges:
- Large volumes of critical service content
- A diverse user base (residents, professionals, advocacy groups)
- Underwhelming results from traditional search or legacy chatbots
AI conversational search enables councils to handle:
“When is my next bin day?”
“How do I object to a planning application?”
“What housing support is available?”
And return immediate, citation-backed responses — using your own content.
Offer for Councils
PretaGov offers:
- Rapid AI search pilots using your existing content
- Low-risk, fixed-cost setup
- Procurement via G-Cloud 14
Contact: Virginia, Co-founder
Email: virginia.choy@pretagov.com
Procurement: G-Cloud Supplier — PretaGov