Ask the Archive Interactive Listener Tool
The "Ask the Archive" feature on PodHerd's higher tiers allows listeners to ask questions directly on a podcast's website and receive AI-generated answers with audio citations. This tool serves as a "digital staff member" to help existing visitors find specific information within a show's history.
podherd· ask the archive· user interface· citations· archive search
09:51 Meaning? Your own archive could do the answering. PodHerd has a feature called Ask the Archive on its Grow the Herd and Lead the Herd tiers. A listener types a question and gets an answer drawn from your episodes with citations, and each citation plays the exact moment in the episode where it was said. And who's actually going to use that? Nobody goes to a podcast's website to ask it things. Most people won't. But think about who lands on an episode page with a question already in their head. Sarah, three weeks in, wondering whether her bees are about to swarm. She asks, and instead of a chatbot summary, she gets your guest explaining it, in their own voice.
10:34 Or she ignores the box completely, like I ignore every chat bubble that pops up on every website I've ever visited. Some will. I'm not pretending it's a front door. It's more like a really good member of staff for the people who are already inside and slightly lost. Which at least sends her into the episode rather than away from it. That's the bit I like. And a good answer is the sort of thing you'd pass on to a friend, but that's more your territory next week. I'll reserve judgment. My real worry's somewhere else, though. The assistant becomes the middleman. Sarah asks, it reads three transcripts, summarises them, and she never hears a word of anyone's show.