Introduction
When your AI assistant can't fully answer a customer's email — whether it's a complex request, an unsupported question type, or something you've flagged for manual handling — the customer can be left wondering if their message was even received.
Automatic Email Acknowledgments solve this by sending a warm, personalized reply that lets the customer know their message is being handled. These acknowledgments match your brand's tone and voice, so the experience feels natural and professional — not robotic.
When Acknowledgments Are Sent
Your AI sends an acknowledgment when it receives a customer email but determines that a human agent should handle it. This happens in three situations:
The AI doesn't have enough information to respond — The customer's question falls outside what your knowledge base and training cover.
The request type isn't supported via email — Some actions (like modifying individual order items) can only be handled by your team directly.
You've set up a Do-Not-Answer Rule for this type of email — You've specifically flagged certain topics (like refund requests or legal inquiries) for your team to handle personally.
Acknowledgments are not sent for spam, automated emails, out-of-office replies, or tickets that were created from a live chat conversation (since the customer is already getting help in chat).
What Customers Receive
The AI generates a brief, friendly message that acknowledges the customer's email and lets them know your team will follow up. The message adapts to your brand voice based on your AI Email Instructions.
Here are a few examples of what customers might see:
Warm & Friendly tone:
Hi there! Thank you for reaching out! I've forwarded your inquiry to our team, and someone will assist you shortly. We appreciate your patience!
Professional & Formal tone:
Dear Customer, Thank you for contacting us. I have forwarded your request to our support team for assistance. A member of our team will respond to your inquiry shortly.
Minimal & Elegant tone:
Thank you for your message. Our team will assist you shortly.
If you've configured AI Email Instructions with specific tone guidance, the acknowledgment will follow those same instructions.
How to Enable or Disable Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments are enabled by default when you activate the Answer Emails support skill.
To change this setting:
Go to Settings > Integrations in your Rep AI Console
Find your helpdesk platform (Gorgias, Zendesk, Kustomer, etc.)
Click the Settings button next to "AI answering email tickets"
Find the Send acknowledgment messages toggle
Turn it ON or OFF based on your preference
Click Save Changes
You can also access this setting through Support Skills > Answer Emails > Settings.
Good to Know
Acknowledgments always send immediately. Even if you have Draft Mode enabled for regular AI email responses, acknowledgments go out right away. This ensures customers never wait for a human to approve a simple "we got your message" reply.
Your ticket gets marked as Pending. After the acknowledgment is sent, the ticket is marked as "Pending" in your helpdesk so your team knows it needs attention.
Works with your existing Do-Not-Answer Rules. If you've created custom rules to route certain emails to your team (like "refund requests" or "legal inquiries"), the customer will still receive an acknowledgment confirming their email was received. System-level filters (spam, auto-replies) stay silent — as they should.
No extra setup needed. Acknowledgments use your existing AI Email Instructions for tone and style. If you haven't configured custom instructions, the AI uses a friendly, professional default.
Troubleshooting
Customers aren't receiving acknowledgments:
Verify the "Send acknowledgment messages" toggle is ON in your AI Email settings
Check that the email was sent directly by a customer (not created from a chat conversation)
Confirm the skip reason isn't a system-level filter (spam emails won't get acknowledgments)
Acknowledgments don't match my brand voice:
Review your AI Email Instructions under the Answer Emails settings
Add specific tone and style guidance (e.g., "Use a warm, casual tone" or "Be brief and professional")
The AI applies whatever instructions you've set for regular email responses to acknowledgments as well
I want acknowledgments for some Do-Not-Answer Rules but not others:
Currently, acknowledgments apply to all custom Do-Not-Answer Rules when the toggle is ON. System-level rules (spam, auto-replies) are always silent regardless of the toggle.