Askolia: ask the website, get an answer

You need a current procedure or a solution that suits your team. Conversational search lets you express that need in your own words and receive an answer with sources. This is the principle behind Askolia, the search and chat product we develop at Appik Studio.

Ask instead of browsing categories

A question expresses a need and its constraints without requiring knowledge of the site's structure. On a services website, asking how to develop an existing tool further can bring together the service for taking it over, its conditions and a comparable project.

1. Your question

   Can we improve our existing tool without starting over?

2. An answer tied to the need

   Takeover options and the conditions that matter.

3. Information for a decision

   Source pages to check and the right contact.

This journey illustrates a design intention, not a measured result. The aim is to help people reach a decision they can check against the sources.

AI search on a website

Askolia searches indexed public pages, FAQs and text or Markdown documents added to the project. The publisher can include other public sites, such as a help centre. Answers draw on this scope without searching the entire web.

Keyword results appear as visitors type. They can open an existing answer, ask AI for a summary or refine their question in the same panel. Links lead back to the sources. Search also works without starting a support conversation, as the AI Search overview explains.

On Askolia, the French question "Qui développe Askolia ?" returns an answer naming Swiss studio Appik Studio, with citations and source cards.

On Appik Studio's website, "Pouvez-vous reprendre une application existante ?" receives a sourced answer explaining how an assessment and gradual takeover differ from a rewrite.

The index needs to stay current, with no guarantee of immediate reimport after a change. The documented import excludes private pages, PDFs and content accessible only after JavaScript runs. A cited link does not guarantee every sentence. If the content is insufficient, the experience should say so and offer the source or access to the team.

A chat needs to earn its place

Nielsen Norman Group's research in Site AI chatbots shows that some visitors misunderstand the purpose of embedded chats and that some chats remain less effective than conventional search. These observations concern the sites studied and establish no universal preference.

Conversation suits requests that combine several criteria or need explanation. A visible entry point, relevant examples and a short answer should help people find the right document or next action.

Separate access for assistants

The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, connects an AI application to external tools and sources. Askolia already provides a public MCP server for published content. The publisher chooses to enable it, then shares its address with a compatible assistant.

The assistant searches by keyword and reads selected sources. Its own model prepares the answer without using Askolia AI generation.

Your content

Pages · FAQs · Documents

On your website

1. The visitor asks a question.
2. Askolia answers with sources.

In their assistant

1. The agent searches and reads via MCP.
2. Its model prepares the answer.

Public MCP enabled · Read-only

This connection does not mean every agent will discover the site on its own. The article MCP for your website explains the integration. This public MCP is separate from the team's private MCP. It exposes no internal conversations and supports neither purchases nor bookings. Our article on MCP Apps and WebMCP explains these different forms of access.

SEO, GEO and MCP

SEO helps search engines find and understand pages. GEO, short for Generative Engine Optimization, aims to make them visible in answers from AI search engines and assistants. MCP gives connected assistants access to content.

For Google Search's AI features, Google Search Central recommends the fundamentals of SEO. No special file or markup is needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Neither indexing nor inclusion in results is guaranteed.

Start with useful questions

Choose questions visitors actually ask, then check the answers and the pages that substantiate them. Test ambiguous requests and those without an answer. Accessible pages, dated sources and clearly distinguished offers remain necessary however people access the content.

Measure useful answers, source visits, relevant contacts and corrections needed. Completing the task matters more than reducing clicks. Our guide to AI for SMEs in western Switzerland discusses this scoping work. The company remains responsible for its publications and the result.

Frequently asked questions

Does conversational search replace menus?

No. Menus, filters and tables remain useful for exploring, selecting and comparing. The route depends on the task.

Do visitors need an AI assistant account to use Askolia on a website?

Not for built-in search. MCP access requires a compatible assistant connected to the server enabled by the publisher.

Does enabling MCP automatically improve search rankings?

No. Access to content guarantees neither search engine visibility nor a citation in a generated answer.

Sources and references

5 sourcesaskolia.app · nngroup.com · modelcontextprotocol.io · developers.google.com

1. askolia.appAskolia, AI Search, accessed 13 November 2026. Cross-checked against documentation and code; no usability gain measured here.askolia.app
2. askolia.appAskolia, website MCP server, accessed 13 November 2026. Search and read public content after activation; separate from private MCP.askolia.app
3. nngroup.comNielsen Norman Group, What Is Your Site's AI Chatbot for? Users Can't Tell, 20 March 2026. Qualitative observations on studied sites; no universal preference or statistics reproduced.nngroup.com
4. modelcontextprotocol.ioModel Context Protocol, official introduction, accessed 13 November 2026. Connecting AI applications to external tools and sources.modelcontextprotocol.io
5. developers.google.comGoogle Search Central, AI features and your website, updated 10 December 2025, accessed 13 November 2026. Google Search guidance, not generalized to other assistants.developers.google.com