Glean vs. Question Base: Two Different Approaches to Slack Knowledge

Repetitive questions in Slack slow teams down. Whether it’s IT troubleshooting, HR policies, or compliance details, finding answers buried in threads wastes time. Two tools tackle this problem differently: Glean and Question Base.

• Glean: A broad enterprise search platform that connects multiple tools (e.g., Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce) to provide centralized search results across systems. Ideal for locating scattered information.

• Question Base: A Slack-native AI answer agent that delivers verified, source-backed answers directly in Slack. Perfect for automating repetitive internal support questions.

Key Takeaway:
Choose Glean if your team needs to search across many tools. Pick Question Base if you want fast, accurate answers inside Slack for recurring questions.

Quick Comparison

Bottom Line:
Glean is best for enterprise-wide searches, while Question Base excels at Slack-native support automation.

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Glean: Enterprise Search Across All Your Tools

Glean presents itself as a unified search platform, designed to bring all of a company’s data into a single, searchable interface. At the heart of its functionality is a knowledge graph that connects people, documents, and topics throughout your organization.

What Glean Does

Glean’s core strength lies in its AI-powered search that works across multiple enterprise applications simultaneously. It integrates with tools like Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce, Jira, and Confluence, among others.

By building a knowledge graph, Glean goes beyond simple keyword matches. For instance, a search for "Q3 budget" doesn’t just pull up files containing those words. Instead, it factors in your team connections, relevant projects, and the documents most pertinent to your role. This contextual approach ensures search results are not only accurate but also tailored to your needs.

Personalization plays a significant role in Glean’s functionality. Results are filtered based on user permissions and past interactions, ensuring you see only what’s relevant and accessible to you.

To enhance accessibility, Glean offers mobile and browser apps, enabling seamless cross-platform discovery, even when you’re on the move.

Glean's Main Strengths

One of Glean’s standout features is its ability to deliver cross-platform information discovery. With just one search, employees can locate documents and data across various platforms without needing to switch between them.

Glean also supports custom applications through its APIs and SDKs. This allows technical teams to embed Glean’s search capabilities directly into existing tools or workflows, making its functionality adaptable to unique organizational needs.

For administrators, Glean provides visibility into content access, knowledge gaps, and search patterns. These insights can guide decisions about how information is organized and shared within the company.

Deployment is streamlined thanks to API connections, enabling many organizations to activate basic search capabilities within days, rather than enduring lengthy implementation timelines.

When to Use Glean

Glean is particularly well-suited for large, distributed organizations where employees often need to locate information spread across multiple systems. If your team frequently finds itself asking, “Where did we document that process?” or “Who worked on this last year?”, Glean’s comprehensive search can save time and reduce frustration.

Professionals like consultants, researchers, and project managers - who often juggle multiple tools throughout their day - will appreciate Glean’s ability to consolidate search results into a single interface. Instead of toggling between five different apps, they can search once and access everything they need.

Organizations with complex compliance or audit requirements also stand to gain from Glean’s approach. The platform respects existing permissions, ensuring that employees can only access the information they’re authorized to see, while still surfacing relevant data across systems.

That said, Glean’s broad capabilities might exceed the needs of teams focused on answering repetitive support questions within Slack. While it can help employees locate information more efficiently, it lacks the structured workflows and targeted answer delivery that support-driven teams often require. For those needs, a Slack-native solution may be a better fit, as we’ll explore in the next section.

Question Base: AI Answer Agent Built for Slack

Question Base eliminates the need for employees to dig through files or messages - it delivers accurate, verified answers directly within Slack. This Slack-native tool turns your team's chat space into a real-time knowledge hub, making critical information instantly accessible.

What Question Base Offers

Operating seamlessly within Slack channels, Question Base serves as an AI-powered answer agent. It provides team members with immediate, source-backed answers by connecting to tools like Notion, Confluence, and Salesforce.

Designed for precision, Question Base pulls responses directly from trusted sources, ensuring accuracy and reliability. Instead of relying on chat history, teams can review and refine answers with confidence. When a team member asks a question, the platform delivers verified responses instantly and captures essential insights for future use.

It doesn’t stop there. Question Base tracks unanswered questions, flagging instances where AI cannot resolve queries. These unresolved questions are logged, helping managers identify gaps in knowledge. Additionally, the platform offers analytics that highlight automation success rates, resolution times, and areas where content may fall short, giving leaders a clear view of their team’s support and knowledge management performance.

Features like thread summarization help create dynamic FAQs that grow organically with team needs. The platform is flexible enough to integrate with various documentation systems, all while keeping employees in Slack - no need to switch between tools.

This efficient system not only speeds up support responses but also aligns with enterprise-level security and customization requirements.

Enterprise Features and Security

Question Base goes beyond delivering answers by offering advanced enterprise features that prioritize security and customization. Built with enterprise-grade security, the platform ensures compliance with SOC 2 Type II standards, featuring encryption for data both at rest and in transit. For organizations with strict data governance policies, on-premise deployment is also available.

Customization options allow organizations to tailor the platform to their needs. Teams can control what content is accessible, adjust the AI’s tone and behavior, and define escalation paths to human support for unresolved queries. The agent’s responses can be configured to align with a company’s communication style and internal policies.

For large or distributed organizations, Question Base supports white-labeling and works across multiple Slack workspaces. The setup is straightforward - teams can install the app directly from the Slack App Marketplace and invite the bot into active channels with no engineering effort required.

For businesses requiring a tailored approach, Question Base offers custom development options. This includes expert-led setup for AI knowledge management, business-specific optimizations, and the creation of custom features to address unique needs.

When to Use Question Base

Question Base shines in fast-paced Slack environments where accuracy and speed are crucial for tasks in compliance, HR, or IT. If your organization regularly fields repetitive questions about company policies, procedures, or technical processes, this tool can automate responses while ensuring they remain accurate and auditable.

Internal support teams in HR, IT, and operations particularly benefit from Question Base. Instead of repeatedly answering the same inquiries, these teams can rely on the platform to deliver consistent, verified responses automatically, freeing up their time to tackle more complex challenges.

Industries like finance, healthcare, and education, which often operate under strict regulatory requirements, will appreciate Question Base's focus on verified, source-backed answers. Its audit trails and content control features help maintain compliance while improving response times.

Organizations that have invested heavily in documentation tools like Notion or Confluence will find Question Base invaluable. It makes this content instantly accessible in Slack, removing the hassle of switching between platforms to track down information.

For teams that prioritize cross-enterprise research, however, alternative tools may be more appropriate for those specific needs.

Glean vs. Question Base: Side-by-Side Comparison

When it comes to managing knowledge effectively within Slack, understanding the differences between Glean and Question Base is essential. Both tools aim to tackle challenges around accessing information, but they take very different approaches. Here's a closer look at how they compare.

Feature Comparison Table

This table highlights the unique features of each tool, helping you choose the one that aligns best with your team's goals.

Which Tool Fits Your Needs

When to Choose Glean

Glean is the go-to option for teams that need a robust search solution across multiple enterprise platforms. It’s ideal for tasks like research, competitive analysis, and cross-department collaboration. For example:

• Finance teams can use Glean to analyze market data pulled from various tools.

• Legal departments benefit from its ability to search contracts stored across different repositories.

• Product teams can research customer feedback aggregated from multiple platforms.

If your team’s primary focus is discovering information across numerous systems, Glean is a strong choice.

When to Choose Question Base

Question Base shines for teams that rely heavily on Slack and need quick, accurate answers to recurring questions. Its conversational design is particularly helpful for:

• HR teams addressing questions about company policies.

• IT departments handling technical procedures or troubleshooting requests.

• Operations teams providing guidance on workflows or guidelines.

Instead of sifting through databases, employees get direct answers without leaving Slack, saving time and streamlining workflows.

Key Considerations: Accuracy, Integration, and Volume

The difference between Glean and Question Base becomes even clearer when examining specific needs:

• Response Accuracy: If your industry, such as healthcare or finance, requires precise, source-backed answers, Question Base’s approach to verified responses is invaluable. Glean, on the other hand, is better for uncovering information you may not have known existed.

• Ease of Integration: Question Base is designed for quick deployment with minimal IT involvement, making it perfect for teams with limited resources. Glean, however, requires more setup and configuration, which may be a factor for organizations with complex IT landscapes.

• Handling Repetitive Inquiries: For teams managing high volumes of recurring questions, Question Base offers features like unanswered question tracking and knowledge gap identification. These tools provide insights that go beyond what a search engine can deliver, making it a great fit for support-heavy environments like customer service, HR, or IT.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to what your team values most: finding information across systems (Glean) or getting accurate answers within Slack workflows (Question Base).

How to Choose Between Glean and Question Base

Selecting the right Slack knowledge tool depends on your team’s specific workflows and support needs. Glean and Question Base both bring valuable features to the table, but they cater to distinct needs within enterprise knowledge management. Here’s a breakdown to help you decide.

Start with your team’s primary goal. If your team spends a lot of time searching for information scattered across various enterprise apps - like legal teams navigating multiple contract repositories or finance teams pulling data from different platforms - Glean’s advanced search functionality is a strong match. On the flip side, if your focus is on efficiently answering recurring questions within Slack, Question Base’s conversational AI is designed to provide immediate, in-context answers.

Think about setup time and resources. Question Base is designed for quick deployment. You can install it from the Slack App Marketplace and get it running in your channels within minutes, making it ideal for teams that need fast results without heavy IT involvement. Glean, however, requires more time and configuration to integrate across multiple enterprise systems.

Accuracy matters, especially in regulated industries. Question Base emphasizes verified, source-backed responses that teams can review and refine. This makes it a reliable choice for HR teams addressing policy questions or IT teams sharing technical procedures, where precision and accountability are critical.

Beyond accuracy and ease of use, it’s important to assess the type and volume of questions your team handles. Budget is another key consideration. For teams managing a high volume of repetitive inquiries, Question Base not only provides quick answers but also tracks unanswered questions, helping managers spot knowledge gaps and prioritize content updates.

Question Base’s pricing is straightforward, starting at $0 per user per month for basic features and scaling to $8 per user per month for the full suite, including options for on-premise deployment and white-labeling. Glean, on the other hand, follows an enterprise contact-for-pricing model, which typically suggests a higher cost.

Finally, review your security and compliance needs. Both tools offer enterprise-grade security, but Question Base stands out with SOC 2 Type II compliance and on-premise deployment options, making it a strong contender for organizations with stringent data governance policies.

FAQs

How does Question Base deliver more accurate and reliable answers compared to Glean?

Question Base ensures your team gets precise, dependable answers by directly tapping into trusted enterprise tools like Notion, Confluence, and Salesforce. Unlike platforms that rely solely on AI-generated search results or basic indexing, it delivers responses verified by experts, tailored to fit the specific needs of your organization.

The platform also comes packed with features such as case tracking, duplicate detection, and AI-driven learning from knowledge gaps. These tools guarantee that responses remain accurate, traceable, and consistently refined over time. It's a perfect fit for enterprise teams that demand reliability and confidence in their internal support and knowledge-sharing systems.

How should a team decide between using Glean or Question Base for managing knowledge in Slack?

Choosing between Glean and Question Base comes down to what your team values most. If your goal is to quickly search across multiple internal platforms like Notion, Confluence, or Salesforce, Glean provides an AI-powered solution that delivers context-aware answers from a wide range of content.

In contrast, Question Base is designed with support teams, HR, and IT in mind. It focuses on features like expert-verified answers, case tracking, and enterprise-level customization. These tools are perfect for teams that need precise, reliable information and scalable solutions for handling large volumes of questions.

For teams prioritizing accuracy, compliance, and operational knowledge management, Question Base stands out. But if your team needs a broader AI-driven search across diverse data sources, Glean might be the better match.

How does Question Base work with tools like Notion and Confluence to provide answers in Slack?

Question Base integrates effortlessly with platforms like Notion and Confluence, pulling verified information straight from your trusted documentation sources. It also transforms important Slack conversations into reusable FAQs or knowledge articles, ensuring your team’s knowledge remains centralized, easy to access, and consistently updated.

Thanks to its AI-powered search, users can quickly locate accurate answers across Slack, Notion, and Confluence. This not only simplifies workflows but also cuts down the time spent searching for critical information.

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