Overview

Responsive's integrated TRACE Score™ framework evaluates the quality of AI-generated content, providing a structured overview of its reliability and completeness. This enables you to quickly determine if an AI-generated response is ready for use or requires further refinement.

The TRACE Score is based on key quality factors, appearing when Responsive AI uses sourced content to create responses. This score assists in deciding whether to use, edit, or regenerate the content. By incorporating TRACE Score reviews into your workflow, you reduce manual editing effort, maintain content standards, and improve trust in AI-generated communication.

TRACE stands for Trustworthiness, Relevance, Accuracy, Completeness, and Explainability. The TRACE Score is designed to help you evaluate responses generated by Responsive AI across five quality dimensions:

Each dimension contributes up to 20 points. The highest possible TRACE Score is 100, indicating a high-quality response. A higher score generally means less manual review is required. The color of the indicator shows the lowest-performing dimension (for example, if all the dimensions are green except for Trustworthiness, which is amber, the indicator will be amber).

Responsive will display a badge notification for each dimension that goes below 12, so you know to check them. Hover over the indicator to see a tooltip with the dimensions you need to review.

TRACE Score™ availability in Responsive

TRACE Scores are available in several areas where Responsive AI generates source-backed responses. You can see the score after a response is created or refined using Responsive AI (not manual input).
Note: TRACE Scores is currently available for AI answers generated in AI Assistant, AI Draft and Ask.

You can view TRACE Scores in the following areas:

• Project Responses: When using Responsive AI to generate answers in a project, the TRACE Score™ is displayed on the response card.

• Content Library: When you use Smart Search, the score is displayed on the AI-generated responses to help you gauge content quality.

• Assignments or Tasks: If you generate content using Responsive AI within a task or questionnaire, the score appears alongside the response. 

Note: TRACE Scores are not shown for responses created using the Help me draft a response feature or for manually entered content. These methods do not rely on Responsive AI fetching source-backed content, so a quality evaluation cannot be performed. They are also not shown for drop-down fields.

Viewing and understanding the TRACE Score™

The TRACE Score appears as a colored circle in the top-right corner of the response card. To interpret the score:

1. Locate the colored circle on the response card.

2. View the number in the circle to see the total score (out of 100).

3. Check the color of the circle, which indicates the confidence level:

4. You can hover over the indicator to see a quick view of the breakdown showing how each of the five dimensions scored. You can also click the score circle to open a more detailed view.
   
   Each dimension’s line is color-coded the same way to reflect its individual score. This breakdown helps you quickly identify areas for improvement. Expand the breakdown to see more details if necessary.
   
    

5. (Optional) Review the details. Click the collapse icon to return to the basic breakdown.
   
   

Refining AI responses and regenerating the TRACE Score™

After reviewing the TRACE Score, you may want to revise the response to improve its quality. You can do this either manually or using Responsive AI tools.

To refine and re-check the response:

1. Click the Score icon to verify the dimension breakdown.

2. Identify which areas scored low (for example, Completeness or Trustworthiness).

3. Choose one of the following editing methods:

   • Manual Edit: Click the response and modify the text directly.

   • Responsive AI Edit: Use the rewrite or improve options to have Responsive AI adjust the content.

4. After editing:

   • If you made a manual edit: The TRACE Score becomes disabled. A tooltip message appears to indicate that the score is no longer applicable.

   • If you used Responsive AI to refine the content, the TRACE Score displays a refresh icon. Click the Refresh icon to re-run the TRACE Score and view updated results.

Validating and using responses

Once you are satisfied with the TRACE Score and the content quality, click Apply to use the response in your project.

A response with a high TRACE Score (green zone) is generally ready for reuse. For scores in the yellow or orange zones, reviewing the specific low-scoring areas is recommended before publishing or sending the content externally.