Skipper is aytm's AI-powered assistant, available as a floating button on every page of the platform. It's a single chat—not a set of separate bots—that adjusts what it can do based on where you're sitting, and when you need a human touch, it connects you to a live support agent in the same window.
⚠️ Note: Skipper shares a 24-hour usage quota across all AI features (chat, draft generation, open-ended coding, and summaries). If you reach the limit, you'll see a notification and can try again after the quota resets.
In This Article
How Skipper Chat Works
Click the floating chat button in the bottom-right corner of any page to open Skipper's side panel. You're always talking to the same assistant—what changes is its context. On the Dashboard, Survey Editor, and Stats page, Skipper gains extra capabilities suited to that screen, on top of the general platform knowledge it offers everywhere.
Switch between Skipper and Human Support anytime using the tabs at the top of the chat panel—start a conversation with a live agent during business hours, or leave an offline message after hours. For details on working with a live agent, see Getting Human Support.
If you use Skipper in more than one browser tab, keep in mind that starting a New chat from the chat header menu ends your other active Skipper conversations. Skipper's chat on the Dashboard, Survey Editor, Stats page, and general pages all share a single session, so beginning a fresh chat in one place closes the in-progress chat everywhere else. The other tab shows an "An error occurred - please reload the page" message—just reload it to pick up your current chat. Human Support chats are separate and aren't affected.
Getting Started
- Click the Skipper Chat button in the bottom-right corner of any page.
- The chat panel opens on the right side of your screen with a greeting card and suggested prompts.
- Choose one of the suggested prompts or type your question in the field at the bottom and press Enter to send.
- Skipper processes your message and replies in the chat. The input field is temporarily disabled while Skipper is thinking.
While Skipper is thinking, you can cancel the response before it finishes—click the cancel (stop) control that appears while the input is locked, then send a new message instead. Cancelling is available in Skipper's AI chat on most pages, but not on the Stats page, where an answer can take up to a few minutes and the input stays locked until it's ready.
💡 Tip: Click any of the suggested prompt pills on the greeting screen to instantly send a pre-written question—great for getting started on your first turn.
What Skipper Can Do
Skipper is one chat throughout—these aren't separate bots, just capabilities that turn on depending on which page you're on. You can see this on the greeting screen itself: the suggested prompt pills refresh to match your current page, so the same chat greets you with dashboard-flavored prompts on the Dashboard and survey-specific prompts in the Editor.
Everywhere
Skipper can always answer questions about the aytm platform, features, research methodology, survey logic, Xpert Solutions, Insights Portal, and content from the aytm blog and knowledge base.
On the Survey Editor Page
Available when you have a survey open. Skipper can:
- Run Smart Review—an iterative audit of your survey questions where Skipper analyzes your survey, proposes improvements one at a time, and lets you apply or dismiss each suggestion before moving to the next (see Using Smart Review).
- Answer questions about specific questions in your survey (e.g., "What do you think about Q1?").
- Help with survey design, logic setup, and best practices.
- Search the aytm knowledge base and the internet for research methodology guidance.
On the Stats Page
Available on the Stats/Results page. Currently, Skipper works with open-ended responses only. It can:
- Answer natural-language questions about your survey results (e.g., "Summarize open-ended responses", "Find themes for my open-ended responses", "Compare sentiment across segments").
- Help you find themes, compare segments, and explore your data conversationally.
- Reference specific open-ended responses inline—click a cited response to jump directly to it in the Comments tab.
- Carry context from your general chat history into stats analysis, so prior conversations inform your results exploration.
After you send a message, the input field locks while Skipper processes your request—this typically takes up to a few minutes. You'll see the response appear automatically once it's ready; no need to refresh.
Tips for Getting the Most from Skipper
A few habits go a long way toward getting the most out of Skipper across the platform—from discovering what it can do to getting sharper answers and knowing when to hand off to a person.
- Use the suggested prompt pills on the greeting screen to explore what Skipper can do on each page—they're a quick way to discover capabilities you might not think to ask about directly.
- Use Smart Review on the Editor page for a comprehensive, question-by-question analysis of your entire survey—and don't hesitate to click "Why?" on a suggestion before applying or dismissing it. Understanding the reasoning often helps you catch related issues elsewhere in the survey.
- On the Stats page, ask questions in plain language: "Compare satisfaction scores across age groups" or "What are the top themes in the open-ended responses?" The more specific your question, the more targeted Skipper's analysis will be.
- Start a new chat when switching topics or moving to a new survey. Since Skipper carries chat history into Stats-page analysis, a fresh chat keeps its results exploration focused and relevant.
- Switch to Human Support anytime you need help that goes beyond what Skipper can provide—you don't need to exhaust every AI option first.
- Rate Skipper's responses using the thumbs up/down buttons. Your feedback directly helps improve future responses.
💡 Tip: Skipper can make mistakes. Always verify important information, especially when applying survey design suggestions.