Use ⌘K to find customers, conversations, deals, cars, settings and help, and Ask AI (web Chat section, or the app's Search tab) to get a cited answer about your book or your store, ask how to do something in AutoBook, or have it propose an action you confirm.
AutoBook has one search box for the whole workspace. Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl-K (Windows), or click Search at the top of the left menu. Find people, conversations, deals, cars and past messages, or jump to a settings page or help article.
When you have a question rather than a lookup, use Ask AI. It answers in plain language from your own data, cites the records it used, can explain how to do something in AutoBook, and can propose actions you confirm.
Searching for a customer, conversation or car
1
Open search
Press ⌘K / Ctrl-K, or click Search at the top of the left menu. In the app, open the Search tab.
2
Type at least 2 characters
The fastest matches appear right away, grouped as Customers, Conversations, Deals, Appointments, Staff, plus Settings and Help & Guides. Your own records are tagged Yours. Use ↑ / ↓ and ↵ to open one, Esc to close.
3
Wait a moment for the deeper search
Pause and a deeper search runs on its own (Searching…): the full message archive with a meaning-based match (a search for financing can find monthly payments), what customers told us, the help guide, Inventory (a model, stock number or pasted VIN) and, if your store uses Appraisal Vault, Appraisals. Press Enter or Search everything now to skip the wait.
4
Turn it into a question
The last row, Ask about "…" →, opens a new Ask AI chat with what you typed. If you don't have Ask AI chat, the top row reads Ask AI: "…" (Get an answer with sources) and answers right there.
Asking Ask AI a question
On the web: click New chat in the Chat section of the left menu and type your question (for example who's ready to buy this week?). Your five most recent chats are listed under it, with All chats for the rest. Ask AI at the top of the left menu starts a spoken session instead: ask out loud and it answers out loud.
In the app: open the Search tab and switch to Ask AI.
Ask AI replies in plain language and lists the customers, conversations or deals it used; tap any of them to open it. Type a follow-up in the box at the bottom.
Asking Ask AI how to do something
Ask AI also knows this help guide and the settings pages. Ask it how to do something in your own words, on the web or in the app:
- How do I approve AutoBook Agent's messages first?
- Can another rep reply to my customer?
- How do I close a service ticket?
- Where do I set my quiet hours?
It answers with the steps and the exact button names, and can point you to the setting. Not sure what it can do? Ask it.
Your book or the whole store
| Who | What Ask AI answers over |
|---|
Reps | Your own customers, deals and next moves (on the web, Ask about your book; in the app, Ask your book). Chats are saved. |
Managers on a plan with AI Communication | The whole store's record: questions AutoBook Agent couldn't answer, follow-ups, lost deals, the pipeline, the Service desk's numbers (on the web, Ask about your store; in the app, switch to Ask the store). Also saved. |
Anyone without Ask AI chat | A one-off question from ⌘K (the Ask AI: "…" row). Nothing is saved. |
What a rep can find
Search only returns records from your dealership. Within it, a sales rep finds their own customers, unassigned customers, conversations they're handling, and customers whose work was handed to them (an appointment or a call someone put them on).
Another rep's customer shows as a locked row that says whose customer they are (for example "Mia Chen's customer"), with no details. It doesn't open, so you know who to ask instead of adding a duplicate.
Managers, the appointment desk and F&I managers find everyone at their location. It works this way at every store; there is no setting for it. Ask AI follows the same rule.
Having Ask AI do something for you (confirm cards)
Ask AI can propose a change, never make one by itself. Each proposal arrives as a card under the answer; nothing happens until you press Confirm, and Cancel discards it. This is on at every store; only AutoBook can switch it off, as an emergency stop.
What it can propose:
Messages and drafts
Send a message to a customer, approve a held draft, or resend one that failed. A send card says which desk the message goes out from (Sales or Service) and from which number; a Service message goes from the main number only while the service number isn't ready to text.
Conversations
Set a customer to Approve first or back to On, answer a question from AutoBook Agent, mark a conversation junk.
Customers and deals
Change a deal's stage or details, assign a customer (to you or another rep), add a note, correct contact details, log a call, walk-in or visit result.
Appointments and service
Book, reschedule or cancel a visit; open, move or take a service request; hand a customer to service.
Tasks and follow-ups
Create or finish a task, set or snooze a follow-up, answer a voice message or document request, clear a missed call or a waiting customer.
Store rules, insights and imports
Edit a How We Sell rule, an Insights tile or saved view, import customers from a spreadsheet, or set up a standing watch.
Undo
Ask it to undo the last thing it did, within the hour, for actions with a real inverse (a note, a task, a snoozed follow-up). A message that has gone out cannot be undone, and neither can a resend.
Confirm runs it, so read the card first
- Every proposed action waits for Confirm.
- Confirm is the moment it happens. For a message, that means the text or email is delivered to the customer. You are approving the exact words shown.
- One older send card asks for a second tap: the button changes to Really send. Most sends go on the first Confirm.
- A rep can send on their own book. Giving a customer to somebody else is manager work.
- A card you are not allowed to confirm says so.
How do I open search?
Press ⌘K on a Mac or Ctrl-K on Windows from any page, or click Search at the top of the left menu. In the app, use the Search tab.
Can Ask AI tell me how to use AutoBook?
Yes. Ask it a how-to question on the web (New chat) or in the app (Search tab, then Ask AI). It answers from this help guide with the exact steps and button names.
Why can't I find a customer a coworker is working?
You can, as a locked row that says whose customer they are. Ask that rep, or a manager, who can assign the customer to you.
Does Ask AI make changes on its own?
No. It only proposes an action that a person must Confirm.
Can I undo something I confirmed?
Sometimes. Ask it to undo the last thing it did: within about an hour, and only for actions with a real inverse. A message already sent cannot be unsent.
Is there a settings page for Search & Ask?
No. Search and Ask AI work the same way at every store.
Can search look across other dealerships in my group?
No. Search and Ask AI cover one dealership at a time. Switch your active store to search another one you have access to.