{"slug":"choose-model-for-customer-support","id":"choose-model-for-customer-support","type":"guide","title":"Choose a Model for Customer Support","description":"A practical recipe for choosing models and guardrails for customer support automation, routing, drafting, retrieval, and escalation.","last_updated":"2026-04-24","last_verified":null,"verification_status":"unverified","markdown_url":"/content/guides/choose-model-for-customer-support.md","html_url":"/guides/choose-model-for-customer-support","api_url":"/api/v1/guides/choose-model-for-customer-support.json","content_hash":"65c5869056006de94dfea7aab9b1ff3e721911c37ba54e9ef5da838c4a1d59bc","sha256":"65c5869056006de94dfea7aab9b1ff3e721911c37ba54e9ef5da838c4a1d59bc","tags":["recipe","customer-support","models","retrieval","risk"],"relationships":{"links":[],"related":[{"id":"ai-failure-modes","title":"AI Failure Modes","type":"guide","html_url":"/guides/failure-modes","markdown_url":"/content/guides/failure-modes.md","shared_tags":["risk","models"],"score":4},{"id":"local-models-private-documents","title":"Use Local Models for Private Documents","type":"guide","html_url":"/guides/local-models-for-private-documents","markdown_url":"/content/guides/local-models-for-private-documents.md","shared_tags":["recipe","retrieval"],"score":4},{"id":"benchmark-methodology","title":"Benchmark Methodology","type":"guide","html_url":"/guides/benchmark-methodology","markdown_url":"/content/guides/benchmark-methodology.md","shared_tags":["models"],"score":3},{"id":"best-for-task-matrix","title":"Best-For Task Matrix","type":"guide","html_url":"/guides/best-for-task-matrix","markdown_url":"/content/guides/best-for-task-matrix.md","shared_tags":["models"],"score":3},{"id":"build-a-coding-agent-stack","title":"Build a Coding Agent Stack","type":"guide","html_url":"/guides/build-a-coding-agent-stack","markdown_url":"/content/guides/build-a-coding-agent-stack.md","shared_tags":["recipe"],"score":3},{"id":"build-agent-readable-docs-site","title":"Build an Agent-Readable Docs Site","type":"guide","html_url":"/guides/build-an-agent-readable-docs-site","markdown_url":"/content/guides/build-an-agent-readable-docs-site.md","shared_tags":["recipe"],"score":3}],"explicit":{}},"metadata":{"title":"Choose a Model for Customer Support","type":"guide","id":"choose-model-for-customer-support","description":"A practical recipe for choosing models and guardrails for customer support automation, routing, drafting, retrieval, and escalation.","last_updated":"2026-04-24","tags":["recipe","customer-support","models","retrieval","risk"]},"content_text":"# Choose a Model for Customer Support\n\nCustomer support is not just a chat model. It is retrieval, policy, escalation, logging, and user trust.\n\n## Recommended Pattern\n\nUse retrieval plus a mid-to-strong model for answers. Use cheaper models for classification, routing, tagging, and summarization.\n\n## Model Selection\n\n| Support task | Model type |\n|--------------|------------|\n| Ticket routing | Cheap fast model |\n| Drafting replies | Mid-tier strong writing model |\n| Complex account issue | Strong reasoning model plus human review |\n| Policy questions | Retrieval-grounded model |\n| Summarizing threads | Cheap or mid-tier summarization model |\n| Customer-facing final answer | Stronger model with guardrails |\n\n## Required Guardrails\n\n- Retrieval from approved docs\n- No unsupported policy claims\n- Escalation path\n- Conversation logging\n- Human review for refunds, legal, safety, or account closure\n- Redaction for sensitive data\n\n## Agent Workflow\n\n1. Classify support risk.\n2. Pick cheapest acceptable model for low-risk internal steps.\n3. Use stronger model for customer-facing final text.\n4. Require retrieval citations or policy references.\n5. Escalate uncertain cases.\n\n## Failure Mode\n\nThe common mistake is letting the model answer from memory. Support agents should answer from the company's current docs, policies, and account context.","content_length":1708,"generated_at":"2026-04-24"}