CSAT (customer satisfaction score)

CSAT (customer satisfaction score) is a rating a customer gives after an interaction, usually on a 1 to 5 scale in answer to a question such as "how satisfied were you with this conversation?". It is reported as the percentage of responses that were positive (typically 4 or 5).

How CSAT is collected

A short survey is sent at the end of a conversation, in the chat itself or by email. Response rates are low and skewed toward strong opinions, so CSAT is best read as a trend over time and compared between channels or between AI-handled and human-handled conversations, not as an absolute truth.

CSAT for AI-handled conversations

Measuring CSAT separately for conversations the AI agent resolved on its own is the quickest way to find out whether the automation is helping or hurting. A low AI CSAT usually points to one of three things: a knowledge base gap, an agent that guesses instead of escalating, or an escalation path that is too slow.

Related metrics

• First response time: the wait before the first reply.
• Resolution rate: whether the issue was solved.
• Ticket deflection: how many conversations never needed a human.