Set Up Advanced Chat Routing in Knock AI

Written by Knock Team • Last updated: Oct 31, 2025 • Version: v1.0

Who this is for: SDR Managers, Sales/RevOps, Marketing Ops

Related: First-party Intent Signals · Use Knock AI Agents · Meeting Routing in Knock AI

Use Knock AI to route inbound chats by Intent, ICP fit, territory, CRM owner, or round-robin. Each Knock AI Link (website CTA, LinkedIn ad, G2, QR) can have its own chat routing logic so high-intent buyers reach the right person fast while low-fit traffic goes to AI or specialist channels. *This page covers chat routing. For calendar handoff and availability rules, see Meeting Routing in Knock AI

What Chat Routing Does (at a glance)

• Evaluates segments in order and assigns the first match to AI Agent, a round-robin pool, or a named rep/pod.
• Sends a lead alert to a defined Monitoring Slack channel and notifies the Rep Owner (and optionally the CRM Owner).
• Supports collaborative selling: the AI Agent can be the provisional Rep Owner; the first human reply becomes the Rep Owner automatically.
• Honors Intent-based routing configured in the Intent Agent (overrides per-link routing when defined).
• Enables per-link chat routing so Pricing, LinkedIn, G2, and Event QR can each behave differently.

How Chat Routing Works in Knock AI

1. Segments run top→bottom. The first segment that matches assigns the target (AI, pool, or rep/pod).
2. Monitoring channel alert. Knock AI posts the lead in the rule’s Monitoring Slack channel, pings the Rep Owner, and can also notify the CRM Owner.
3. Ownership & collaboration. If the AI Agent is set as Rep Owner, anyone in the Monitoring channel can reply; the first human reply becomes Rep Owner.
4. Per-link control. Save the rule, then attach it to specific Knock AI Links for channel/campaign-specific behavior.
5. Intent overrides. If you set per-intent routing in the Intent Agent, that overrides any per-link routing for those intents.

Build Segments (your routing building blocks)

You can combine: Intent Type/Score, ICP Fit, Company Size, Industry, Territory (country/region/state), CRM Status (Customer/Prospect), Account Owner, Open Opportunity, Source/Channel/UTM, Link Name.

Examples

• Intent Type = Buying AND ICP Fit = Yes
• Country in [DE, AT, CH] OR Industry = Manufacturing
• CRM Status = Customer AND Intent Type = Support
• Link Name contains “Pricing” OR Source = LinkedIn Ads

Assign Targets (AI, round-robin, named reps/pods)

• AI first: AI greets immediately, qualifies from approved sources, and hands off on positive signals.
• Round-robin pool: distribute fairly across a team.
• Named rep: ideal for territories, strategic accounts, or continuity with owners.
• Meeting routing is separate: calendars, buffers, and round-robin calendars are configured in Meeting Routing in Knock AI.

Ownership & Collaborative Selling (AI as provisional owner)

• Set Rep Owner = AI Agent to enable collaboration: anyone in the Monitoring channel can reply.
• The first human reply becomes Rep Owner automatically; Knock AI records Responding Rep vs Owner for accurate reporting.
• Result: zero wait time (AI greets first) + fastest available human takes over.

Per-Link Chat Routing (and when it’s ignored)

Attach a custom chat routing rule to any Knock AI Link (Pricing CTA, LinkedIn Bio, G2 listing, Event QR) so each touchpoint behaves appropriately.

Important precedence: If you configure Intent-based routing in the Intent Agent, that overrides per-link routing for that intent.

Example: Intent = Partnership → always use Partnership routing, regardless of the link clicked.

Speed-to-Lead Guardrails (AI greet, SLA, after-hours)

• AI greets first on chat start (before any human joins), answering from approved sources and gathering context.
• AI enriches & routes: Knock AI enriches the lead, applies the configured chat routing, posts to the Monitoring Slack channel, and notifies the Rep Owner (optionally the CRM Owner).
• Assist mode after handoff: Once a human is added, AI switches to assist mode. If your SLA is breached, AI posts a gentle nudge with your configured conversion action (e.g., Book a demo, Share availability, Collect business email).
• Breach hygiene: Bookmark/pin breached threads in Slack; @mention a backup pod; Knock AI unpins automatically when someone replies.

How to Set It Up (step-by-step)

1. Create a routing rule
• Go to Routing Rules → New.
• Name clearly, e.g., Pricing – Buying + ICP – A-Team.
• Choose monitoring channel

2. Enable notifications to CRM owners (optional)
• Enable notifications to CRM Owners (checkbox).
• Allow them to view and join chats when they are the owner of the account or contact

3. Choose ownership approach
• Set the AI Agent as provisional owner (collaborative selling) or assign a specific rep.
4. Add segments in priority order
• Segment order matters

5. Assign targets
• AI, round-robin pool, or named rep.
• (Calendars are handled separately in Meeting Routing.)

6. Attach to Knock AI Links
• Open each Knock AI Link (e.g., Pricing CTA, LinkedIn Bio), and assign this routing rule.
7. (Optional) Configure Intent Agent routing
• In Intent Agent, set per-intent routing (e.g., Partnership → BD pod).
• Remember: Intent routing overrides per-link routing.

Knock Data in Your CRM

Knock automatically updates your CRM with key chat routing data:

• Knock: Rep Owner → the rep the chat was routed to
• Knock: Responding Rep → the rep who actually replied
• Knock: Rep Response Time → how quickly the rep responded (in minutes)

FAQs

On this page

• Set Up Advanced Chat Routing in Knock AI
• What Chat Routing Does (at a glance)
• How Chat Routing Works in Knock AI
• Build Segments (your routing building blocks)
• Assign Targets (AI, round-robin, named reps/pods)
• Ownership & Collaborative Selling (AI as provisional owner)
• Per-Link Chat Routing (and when it’s ignored)
• Speed-to-Lead Guardrails (AI greet, SLA, after-hours)
• How to Set It Up (step-by-step)
• Knock Data in Your CRM
• FAQs
• What’s the difference between chat routing and meeting routing in Knock AI?
• Does the Monitoring channel affect routing?
• Can the Rep Owner be the AI Agent?
• Which routing wins: Knock AI Link routing or Intent routing?
• Can each CTA/campaign have different chat routing?