# How ShopAssist works

> Tools, grounding, UI blocks and confirmation cards: how the assistant finds answers in your store data, and what it can't do.

Source: https://shopassist.coec.dk/docs/ai/how-shopassist-works · Updated 2026-10-01

ShopAssist is an AI assistant built on a large language model. This page explains how it reaches an answer, so you can supervise it well (AI literacy, EU AI Act Article 4).

## Tools, not memory [#tools]

The model doesn't know your store. For every question it calls **tools** that ShopAssist runs on your data: product search, product details, stock per location, store hours, knowledge search, order lookup for verified shoppers, cart and checkout actions. The model writes the answer from the tool results.

## Grounding [#grounding]

After the model writes a reply, ShopAssist checks it before the shopper sees it: every price, percentage, stock quantity, duration and time in the text must appear in a tool result or the conversation. A reply that states a number from nowhere is corrected or replaced. Prices and stock are never taken from the knowledge base or from the model.

## UI blocks [#ui-blocks]

Products, comparisons, store availability, order status and forms appear as structured cards (**UI blocks**) rendered by the widget from your data, not as text the model typed. A product card always shows the price and stock from the catalog, formatted for the shopper's language and currency.

## Confirmation cards [#confirmations]

The assistant can propose actions (cancel an order, start a return). It can never execute them by itself: the shopper confirms on a card, and ShopAssist re-checks the order with your platform first. A shopper can always withdraw from a distance purchase; the assistant never refuses or discourages that.

## Disclosure [#disclosure]

Shoppers are told they are talking to an AI, every time, and can ask for a person. You can't remove the disclosure ([AI disclosure](/docs/assistant/ai-disclosure)).

## Limitations [#limitations]

* The model can misunderstand a question or choose the wrong product. Product cards and order data are always correct; the surrounding text can be imperfect.
* It only knows what is in your catalog, knowledge base and order data. Missing information becomes a [knowledge gap](/docs/knowledge-base/knowledge-gaps).
* It gives no medical, legal or financial advice, and declines topics you block.
* Image understanding (visual search) describes photos; it doesn't identify people.

See [supervising your assistant](/docs/ai/supervising-your-assistant) for how to keep quality high.