AI Suite Essentials: Setup Guide

Overview

AI Suite Essentials is the self-service tier of the Command Media AI Suite. It gives your site AI Search Summaries — a short, AI-written answer that appears above your normal search results, drawn from your own published content. It is the same search-answer technology as our higher tiers, packaged so you can install and configure it yourself.

You provide your own OpenAI API key, review a handful of settings, and turn it on. This guide walks you through the whole process. It assumes no prior setup by Command Media — everything you need to do is here.

How it differs from higher-touch AI Suite offerings

Our full-service AI Suite tiers add the AI Chatbot and include Command Media doing the setup, prompt and retrieval tuning, content review, and launch checks for you. Essentials includes none of those services — it is the search-answer feature plus this documentation. If you would like us to set it up or tune it, or you want the chatbot, see Limitations and Support Boundaries below for the upgrade path.

What’s Included

AI Search Summaries — an AI-generated answer shown above your regular search results, with links to the source articles it used.
A settings screen where you control the model, the prompts, how many articles are used, cost and rate limits, and the disclaimer shown with each answer.
Sensible defaults — the plugin ships ready to run once you add your API key, so you can get a working result before changing anything.

You can review every available setting, with its meaning and default, in the Configuration Options reference. This guide covers the settings that matter for a basic Essentials setup.

What’s Not Included

Essentials is self-service. Command Media does not set up, tune, or optimize your AI search under this tier.

No AI Chatbot. The conversational chatbot is part of the higher tiers and is not included in Essentials.
No Command Media-led setup. Installing, configuring, and enabling the feature is your responsibility, using this guide.
No prompt optimization or retrieval tuning. We do not adjust prompts or tune which content is retrieved for you.
No content cleanup. We do not review, rewrite, or reorganize your site content to improve answers.
No analytics review or launch QA. We do not review results quality or perform launch testing under this tier.
No custom integration work. Connecting the feature to other systems or custom themes is out of scope.

Before You Start

WordPress access: you need an Administrator account. The settings live under Settings and require administrator permissions.
An OpenAI account and API key: AI Search Summaries call OpenAI using your own key. You create the key in your OpenAI account and are responsible for its usage and billing. Keep the key private — treat it like a password.
Working site search: Essentials adds an answer above your existing search results, so your site’s search page needs to be working first. WordPress’s built-in search is fairly basic; if you are still using it, we recommend installing Relevanssi first for noticeably more relevant results, which in turn gives the AI better source material to work from.
Published content to draw on: the answer is generated only from your own published articles. A site with little or thin content will produce weak answers.
Outbound HTTPS: your host must allow the site to make outbound requests to the OpenAI API. Most hosts do; if yours restricts outbound traffic, ask your host to allow it.

Basic Setup Steps

You should have already received a copy of the Command Media plugin as a .zip file. In WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the file, and install and activate it.
In WordPress admin, go to Settings → Command Media Features.
In the OpenAI API key field, paste your key and save. Nothing will work until a valid key is saved — this is the step that turns the feature on for your site.
Review the AI Search settings on the same screen (model, prompts, number of articles, limits). The defaults are a good starting point; see Suggested Starter Settings below.
Make sure the CM AI Search Answer block is on your search results page. In the Site Editor, open your Search template and add the block if it is not already there — this is what displays the answer.
Save your changes, then run a search on your site and confirm an AI answer appears above the results. See Testing Your Setup for what to look for.

If your plugin copy already has the AI Search Answer block in place on the search template, you only need to add your API key and test. The block step matters when you use your own theme’s search page.

Suggested Starter Settings

Start with the values below, confirm you get good answers, then adjust one setting at a time. These are starting points, not requirements.

Setting	Suggested start	Why
Model	`gpt-5.4-mini`	A fast, low-cost model that is a good default for search answers. Move to a larger model only if answer quality is not good enough.
System prompt	Leave the provided default	The default instructs the model to answer only from your site’s content. Change it only once you understand its effect.
User prompt	Leave the provided default	The default already passes the visitor’s query and the retrieved content to the model.
Articles retrieved	3	How many of your articles are used as source material per answer. More can improve coverage but raises cost and can add noise.
Max completion tokens	15000	An upper limit on answer length. The default is generous; lowering it is a simple way to cap cost per answer.
API calls per 30 seconds / per hour	20 / 200	Rate limits that protect against runaway usage and cost. Lower them for tighter control, raise them for busier sites.
Disclaimer	`AI generated summary. Check sources for clarity`	Shown with each answer to set visitor expectations. Reword it to match your site’s voice.

Suggested starting values

Cost control, in short: a smaller model, fewer articles retrieved, a lower token limit, and conservative rate limits all reduce spend. Your OpenAI account is where you set hard billing limits and monitor actual usage.

Testing Your Setup

Search for a few things a real visitor would ask about — questions your site genuinely has content for, not trick questions. Try a specific product or service, a common how-to, and a broad topic.

What a good result looks like

A short, accurate answer appears above your normal search results.
The answer reflects your actual content and does not invent facts, prices, or policies.
The linked source articles beneath the answer are relevant to the question.

Settings problem, or content problem?

This is the most useful judgement to make. If answers are consistently weak, decide whether the fix is a setting or your content:

Adjust settings when answers are cut off (raise the token limit), too shallow (retrieve more articles), or you want higher quality (try a larger model).
Improve content or search settings when the answer cites the wrong article, or is vague because the topic is thin or scattered across your site. A better site search surfaces better source material, and clearer content gives the AI more to work with. No setting can invent information your site does not clearly contain, so under Essentials this content work is yours to do.

Limitations and Support Boundaries

Essentials is self-service. You install, configure, test, and maintain the feature.
Command Media support can confirm that the plugin is available and operating, and help with basic operation questions.
Command Media does not tune prompts, optimize retrieval, review content, or QA results under this tier.

Want more? If you would like Command Media to handle setup and optimization for you, or you want the AI Chatbot, contact your Command Media representative about upgrading to a full-service AI Suite tier.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
No AI answer appears at all	No API key saved, or the answer block is missing from the search page	Confirm a valid OpenAI API key is saved under Settings → Command Media Features, and that the CM AI Search Answer block is on your Search template.
Answers are too generic	Too little source content used, or thin content on the topic	Increase the number of articles retrieved, and make sure the topic is covered clearly in your published content.
Answers cite the wrong or weak content	The best source for that query is thin, missing, or scattered	This is usually a content issue. Strengthen or consolidate the relevant article. No setting can substitute for clear source content.
API or authentication errors	Invalid, revoked, or unbilled API key; or blocked outbound requests	Re-check the key in your OpenAI account, confirm the account has active billing, and confirm your host allows outbound HTTPS to OpenAI.
Cost or rate-limit concerns	Usage higher than expected	Lower the model size, articles retrieved, token limit, and per-30-second / per-hour call limits. Set a hard spending limit in your OpenAI account.

Common issues and what to check

Configuration Options reference — every available setting, with its meaning and default.
OpenAI API keys — where to create and manage the key this feature needs.
Full-service AI Suite setup and AI Chatbot documentation — available with the higher tiers; ask your Command Media representative.