# Theo, the AI assistant

Theo is the AI assistant of VitalSentinel. Theo answers questions about VitalSentinel and about your sites, from the docs and from your own data in the app. Theo can only read. Theo never changes your settings or your data.

## Where to find Theo [#where-to-find-theo]

The Theo chat is the round purple button with an eye in the bottom-right corner of every app page. Its screen reader label is **Open chat with Theo**. Click the button to open the chat panel. Click it again, or click **Close chat with Theo**, to close the panel.

A red number on the Theo button shows how many of your support tickets have a new reply from the team. A soft purple glow around the button tells you that a tip or a ticket reply waits for you.

Theo also speaks outside the chat:

- Small tip bubbles above the Theo button. See [Tips from Theo](/theo/tips).
- The **Theo AI** badge marks AI suggestions in the app.

### Why is the Theo button not there? [#why-is-the-theo-button-not-there]

If the Theo button does not show, look at **Privacy mode** in your account menu. When **Privacy mode** is on, VitalSentinel hides the Theo chat. Turn **Privacy mode** off to see the Theo button again.

## What Theo answers [#what-theo-answers]

Theo answers questions about these topics:

- VitalSentinel itself: features, setup, billing, your account, [alerts](/domain/alerts) and [reports](/domain/reports).
- Your own sites and the data that VitalSentinel shows for them.
- The issues that VitalSentinel reports, and how to fix them.
- General SEO, web performance, uptime and crawling, as they apply to a website.

To fix a reported issue, Theo can give a short snippet. Examples are a robots.txt rule, a meta tag, a canonical tag, a redirect rule and schema markup. Other examples are one server configuration line, or one step of a tracking script installation. Theo does not write a full program, page, plugin or feature.

### What Theo does not answer [#what-theo-does-not-answer]

Theo does not answer questions outside VitalSentinel and your sites. Examples are general programming, homework, sports, news, politics, trivia, translation, creative writing, personal advice, and the products of other companies. Theo can tell you how to connect another product to VitalSentinel.

If you ask an off-topic question, Theo replies with two short sentences. For example:

> I can only help with VitalSentinel and your sites. I can check why a page is slow, or help you set up Search Console.

If a message has an on-topic part and an off-topic part, Theo answers only the on-topic part.

## Theo is read-only [#theo-is-read-only]

Theo can read your data, but Theo cannot change anything. Theo has no tool that writes, deletes or sends data in your account. Theo also cannot open web pages on the internet.

When a change is necessary, Theo tells you what to do. Theo can also show buttons that open the correct app page, for example a setup panel or the billing page. You then make the change yourself.

For the full list of data that Theo can read, see [What Theo Can Read](/theo/what-theo-can-read).

## How Theo builds an answer [#how-theo-builds-an-answer]

Theo tries the simplest source first. Each answer shows a label that tells you where it came from.

1. **Built-in answers.** Suggested questions and many common questions get a fixed answer. A built-in answer does not use AI and does not count toward the monthly AI answers.
2. **The docs.** If the docs have a good match for your question, Theo shows the matching docs pages.
3. **AI on your own data.** If steps 1 and 2 do not answer the question, an AI model reads the docs and your data. Then it writes an answer.
4. **A human.** If Theo cannot answer, you can send the conversation to the VitalSentinel team as a support ticket. See [Support Tickets](/theo/support-tickets).

### Answer labels [#answer-labels]

| Label | Where the answer came from |
|---|---|
| **From the docs** | Pages of these docs that match your question |
| **About this page** | The built-in description of the page you are on |
| **From your data** | A check of the setup state of your site, for example for "Why is there no data here?" |
| **AI answer** | An AI model, with the docs and your data |
| **Theo** | Another built-in answer |

### Who makes the AI [#who-makes-the-ai]

The AI answers use models from Anthropic. The first AI answer in a conversation shows a short note about this. See [Theo and Your Privacy](/theo/privacy).

There is no setting that turns off the AI answers. Built-in answers, docs answers and support tickets work at all times.

## Pages of Theo [#pages-of-theo]

- [Ask Theo](/theo/asking-theo) - open the chat, ask questions and use the answers.
- [What Theo Can Read](/theo/what-theo-can-read) - the data that Theo uses to answer.
- [Tips from Theo](/theo/tips) - the tip bubbles and how to turn them off.
- [Theo Limits](/theo/limits) - message limits and what happens when you reach one.
- [Support Tickets](/theo/support-tickets) - send a question to the team.
- [Theo and Your Privacy](/theo/privacy) - what goes to the AI provider and how long VitalSentinel keeps conversations.

## Related [#related]

- [Ask Theo](/theo/asking-theo) - open the chat, ask questions and use the answers.
- [What Theo Can Read](/theo/what-theo-can-read) - the data that Theo uses to answer.
- [Theo and Your Privacy](/theo/privacy) - what goes to the AI provider and how long VitalSentinel keeps conversations.
- [Using the App](/getting-started/using-the-app) - the sidebar, filters and other parts of the app.
- [Plans and limits](/workspace/plans-and-limits#alerts-api-and-theo) - the Theo limits of each plan.
- [Troubleshooting](/help/troubleshooting) - fixes for common problems.