Frequently asked questions

Accuracy

Does OmniClew use AI?

OmniClew uses a large language model ahead of time, to read a website’s documents and write questions and answers. It uses no AI while visitors ask questions. The visitor’s browser matches the question against reviewed answers, and nothing is generated.

Can OmniClew hallucinate?

No. OmniClew only shows answers that were written, checked and reviewed before the website went live, and every answer includes an exact quote from its source. OmniClew never composes text when a visitor asks.

What happens when OmniClew does not know the answer?

OmniClew either shows documents that may help or shows nothing. It never guesses. Every question it cannot answer is recorded as unanswered.

How does OmniClew know an answer is correct?

Every answer carries an exact quote from the source document, and OmniClew rejects any answer whose quote is not a perfect match. You review the answers and decide any contradictions before they go live.

How accurate is OmniClew?

OmniClew is early, and we are still measuring it on real websites. The accuracy page explains how answers are checked and what a build must pass, and we will publish measured results there.

Can OmniClew answer a question that combines several topics?

Not reliably. OmniClew matches a visitor’s question to a reviewed question and its answer. A question that needs facts from several documents combined into one new answer is outside what OmniClew does today. In that case OmniClew may show the relevant documents.

What if my website contradicts itself?

OmniClew finds contradictions and shows both statements side by side. You decide which one is right, and the other is held back until you do. The content audit page describes how this works.

Does OmniClew answer questions it was not built for?

No. If a question is not covered by your content, OmniClew stays silent instead of making something up. This is the main trade-off of the approach: OmniClew gives up some coverage in exchange for answers that were reviewed in advance.

Content

What kinds of documents can OmniClew read?

OmniClew reads web pages, PDFs, images, scanned pages, and plain text files. Word documents are not supported yet.

Can OmniClew read tables?

OmniClew reads tables on web pages and in PDFs. A known limitation is that PDF tables currently lose their header row, which can affect answers about tabular data such as fee schedules.

What languages does OmniClew support?

OmniClew currently supports English. French and other languages are not supported yet.

What happens when a newer document replaces an older one?

OmniClew detects that a newer document replaces an older one, such as this season’s rules replacing last season’s, and retires the old answers. It also detects partial amendments and retires only the answers that the amendment changes.

What happens when my website changes?

Tell us, and we rebuild. OmniClew processes only the new and changed content, and the answers you approved, edited or rejected are kept. You review the new and changed answers, and we publish the new version. Rebuilds are included in the monthly price.

Privacy

Does OmniClew send my visitors’ questions anywhere?

By default, no. OmniClew runs in the visitor’s browser and makes no server calls while answering. Questions are matched locally.

Does OmniClew see what my visitors type?

By default, no. OmniClew keeps a record of question outcomes in the visitor’s own browser storage, and unanswered questions are always recorded there. A website owner can optionally turn on unanswered-question reporting, which sends unanswered questions to the website owner so that gaps in the content can be fixed. Reporting is off unless the website owner turns it on, and when it is on, the omnibox tells the visitor before anything is sent.

Does OmniClew use cookies?

No. OmniClew sets no cookies. It uses the browser’s local storage on the visitor’s device to keep a record of question outcomes, and the visitor can clear it in the browser’s settings.

Is my members’ data safe with OmniClew?

OmniClew answers from the public documents you give it, and it does not need personal information about your members. OmniClew sends nothing that a visitor types to any server by default, and it sets no cookies. Do not give OmniClew documents that contain personal information.

Are my documents sent to an AI provider?

No. OmniClew processes documents with language models that run on OmniClew’s own hardware. Documents are not sent to third-party AI services.

Technical

How big is OmniClew?

OmniClew’s files are static. The model that matches visitors’ questions is about 22 MB and loads the first time it is needed. Keyword matching works before it has loaded.

Is OmniClew secure?

OmniClew runs in the visitor’s browser, from static files, with no language model at runtime. A visitor cannot prompt-inject OmniClew, because OmniClew has no language model at runtime and never composes text. OmniClew sets no cookies and loads nothing from third-party hosts. The security page describes the one place where risk remains, which is ingesting documents.

Will OmniClew slow down my website?

The OmniClew script is loaded with async, so it does not block your page. The matching model is downloaded only when it is first needed.

Does OmniClew work with my website platform?

OmniClew works with any website that can load a script tag, including sites built with React, Vue, WordPress or plain HTML. It needs no SDK and no backend.

Where is OmniClew hosted?

OmniClew serves its files from its own CDN, and they can also be served from any static host or CDN that you control. OmniClew needs no server of its own at runtime.

Is OmniClew accessible?

OmniClew is designed to work with a keyboard and exposes its results to assistive technology as a list of options. It has not yet had a formal accessibility audit. The accessibility page has the details.

Can I change how OmniClew looks?

You can choose a button or an open box, the placeholder text and the starter questions. The look of the omnibox is set by OmniClew and cannot be restyled yet. The customizing page has the details.

Who it is for

Who is OmniClew for?

OmniClew is for organisations whose websites hold rules, policies, fees and procedures that people keep asking about. That includes sports clubs and community associations, condo boards and property managers, municipalities, clinics, and publishers of rulebooks and technical documentation.

Can OmniClew reduce the emails my staff answer?

OmniClew answers the questions your website already answers, so visitors find those answers without sending an email. A question your website does not answer still goes to a person, and OmniClew records it as unanswered so you can see which content is missing.

Can OmniClew answer registration and refund questions?

OmniClew answers registration and refund questions when your website states the answer, such as the fees, the deadlines and the refund policy. OmniClew does not look up one person’s registration and does not process refunds.

Comparison

How is OmniClew different from site search?

Site search returns a list of pages. OmniClew returns the answer, with the source passage highlighted. When it cannot find an answer, it shows relevant documents.

How is OmniClew different from an AI chatbot?

A chatbot generates each answer at the moment a visitor asks, so it can be wrong, costs money per question, and cannot be checked in advance. OmniClew publishes only answers that were reviewed before going live, costs nothing per question, and stays silent when it does not know.

Is OmniClew a command palette?

OmniClew is an omnibox that answers questions and opens pages. It does not perform actions inside web applications, such as clicking buttons or filling forms.

When is a chatbot a better choice than OmniClew?

A chatbot with a language model at runtime handles long-tail questions, questions that combine several documents, and follow-up conversation better than OmniClew does. OmniClew is the better choice when a wrong answer is costly and the common questions are the ones that matter.

Getting started

How do I get started with OmniClew?

Book a free content audit and demo. We onboard a small number of websites personally during early access, and early access includes hands-on implementation and priority support. The getting started page describes each step.

What are the steps to use OmniClew?

There are three steps: ingest your content, review the questions and answers, and deploy. We ingest your content, you review what OmniClew wrote in OmniClew Setup, and we publish it and help you add two script tags to your website. You start by booking a free content audit and demo.

What is OmniClew Setup?

OmniClew Setup is a web application where you ingest your content, review the questions and answers, and publish. It is separate from the omnibox that visitors use, and visitors never see it.

What do I have to do during setup?

Your part is the review. In OmniClew Setup you read each question and answer with its source quote, and you approve it, edit it or reject it. Where your website says two different things, you decide which one is right. Nothing you have not approved goes live. The review page describes the work in detail.

Who installs OmniClew on my website?

We publish your approved answers and give you the two script tags, and we can help you add them. Adding them needs no changes to your existing pages.

How long does setup take?

How long setup takes depends on how much content your website has and how quickly you review the answers, and we give you an estimate after the content audit.

Is there a free trial?

There is no self-serve free trial. Book a free content audit and demo, and we build a limited-scope demo from part of your content, so you can try OmniClew before you commit. The demo is not installed on your website. Public demos are on their way.

Is there a demo?

Public demos are not ready yet. To try OmniClew on your own content, book a free content audit and demo. The demo page describes what to look for.

Can I get a content audit?

Yes. The content audit is free. It reports the contradictions found on your website, with both sources for each. Book it together with a demo.

Who sets up and maintains OmniClew for me?

During early access, we ingest your content and write the questions and answers, you review them in OmniClew Setup, and we publish them and help you deploy. We also rebuild when your website changes.

Plans and support

How much does OmniClew cost?

OmniClew costs $149 CAD per month plus a one-time $500 CAD setup fee for one website. OmniClew has no per-question fees, because nothing is generated at runtime.

Is there a long-term contract?

No. OmniClew is month to month. You can cancel at any time, and there is no long-term contract.

Who owns my content?

You keep ownership of your content, and OmniClew keeps ownership of the OmniClew software.

How do I get support?

Email hello@omniclew.com. We reply to support email within two business days.

How do I contact OmniClew?

Email hello@omniclew.com, or see the contact page.

About OmniClew

What does OmniClew mean?

A clew is a ball of thread. In the Greek myth, Ariadne gave Theseus a clew so that he could find his way out of the labyrinth, and the word “clue” comes from it. OmniClew is pronounced “omni-clue”.

Who makes OmniClew?

OmniClew is built and operated by Yann Gagnon (yanngagnon.com), who also runs Crossfactors (crossfactors.co).