This article is for AlphaSense users who already have a Dashboard set up. If you're new to Dashboard, start with Leveraging and Customizing Your Dashboard.
You can now ask Gen Search questions directly from your Dashboard without leaving the page. Use the new Ask a Question button to summarize a widget, compare documents, or surface key themes from the exact content you've already curated.
- What is Ask a Question?
- Why use it
- How to ask a question about your whole Dashboard
- How to ask a question about a single widget
- How to ask a question about specific documents (Multi Ask in Doc)
- How citations work
- Which widgets support Ask a Question
- Frequently asked questions
What is Ask a Question?
Ask a Question opens the Generative Search side panel, the same panel you use for AI-powered search, directly inside your Dashboard. The panel leverages the document scope you choose, so every answer reflects your own filters, watchlists, and saved searches.
You can scope a question to three levels of detail:
| Scope | What it covers | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Whole Dashboard | Every document feed widget on the page | Ask a Question button in the Dashboard header |
| Single widget | Only the documents in one widget | Sparkle icon on that widget |
| Custom selection | Only the documents you check, across one or more widgets | Checkboxes inside the open side panel |
Why use it
Before, asking a question about your Dashboard content meant leaving the page, opening Generative Search, and rebuilding your filters from scratch. Ask a Question removes that step. You can now:
- Summarize a widget's documents without opening each one individually.
- Compare coverage of a company or theme across several widgets.
- Ask follow-up questions and get cited answers, all without losing your place on the Dashboard.
How to ask a question about your whole Dashboard
- Open the Dashboard you want to ask about.
- Click Ask a Question in the Dashboard header.
- The Gen Search side panel opens on the right side of the page, with all of your Dashboard's document feed widgets set as the context.
- Type your question, for example "What are the common themes across these reports?" and press Enter.
- Review the answer and its citations. Ask a follow-up question, or close the side panel to return to your full Dashboard view.
Note: The Ask a Question button only appears on Dashboards that contain at least one document feed widget. Dashboards built entirely from Financial Data or Events widgets don't show the button because those widgets don't contain documents to search.
How to ask a question about a single widget
Use widget-level scoping when you want an answer based on one feed only, such as just your news widget or just your broker research widget.
- Find the widget you want to ask about.
- Click the sparkle icon in the widget's header.
- The side panel opens with that widget's documents already set as the context.
- Type your question, for example, "What's new on Company X?" and press Enter.
How to ask a question about specific documents (Multi Ask in Doc)
Use Multi Ask in Doc when you want to compare or summarize a smaller, hand-picked set of documents that may span more than one widget.
- Open the side panel using either the Ask a Question button or a widget's sparkle icon.
- Select the checkbox next to each document you want to include. You can select documents from more than one widget.
- Type your question and press Enter.
- Gen Search answers using only the documents you checked.
How citations work
Every answer in the side panel cites the documents it drew from, so you can trace each claim back to its source. If your selection includes more documents than Generative Search can process in a single answer, a limitation banner tells you that a document cap applies and which documents were included.
Which widgets support Ask a Question
Ask a Question works with document feed widgets, such as news, broker research, company documents, transcripts, and saved searches.
A few widget types behave differently:
- Findata and Events widgets don't contain documents, so Ask a Question skips them automatically when scoped to the whole Dashboard.
- Widgets with unset variables (for example, a widget waiting on a company or watchlist selection) are excluded until you set that variable.
- Context resets automatically when you change a filter, company, watchlist, or other Dashboard property, so your answers always reflect what's currently on screen.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ask a Question replace Gen Search, CoPro, or Doc Search?
- No. Ask a Question opens the same Generative Search side panel inside your Dashboard so you don't have to switch surfaces. You can still use Generative Search, Company Profile, or Document Search on their own for broader research.
Can general AI tools answer questions about my Dashboard content?
- No. Ask a Question only searches AlphaSense's entitled content, broker research, expert transcripts, filings, news, and Tegus transcripts where applicable, filtered to the documents in your Dashboard. General-purpose AI tools don't have access to this content.
Will the side panel stay open while I keep asking questions?
- Yes. The side panel stays open as you ask follow-up questions, and the Dashboard grid behind it stays responsive to your screen size.
What happens if I resize my browser or change my filters mid-conversation?
- If you change a filter, company, or watchlist, the side panel’s context resets to match your new selection. This keeps every answer aligned with what's currently shown on your Dashboard.