Copilot Studio: Error in the Generative Answers Node

Question

Copilot Studio: Error in the Generative Answers Node

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Hello everyone,

I am a beginner in Copilot Studio development, so I apologize if I am overlooking something obvious. I am Japanese, so English is not my first language. I apologize if any part of my post is unclear.

For quite some time, I have been experiencing issues with the Generative Answers node.

In most cases, it returns the following message:

"No information was found that could help answer this question."

Environment / Configuration Model: Claude Sonnet 4.6 Knowledge source: SharePoint Knowledge (uploaded to Dataverse) Knowledge retrieval and responses are handled using the Generative Answers node Allow responses without grounded data: ON Use general knowledge: ON Content moderation level: Low Things I have already tried

After reviewing posts in this community, I tried the following:

Enabling settings such as Allow responses without grounded data Storing the response from the Generative Answers node in a variable instead of sending it directly, then displaying it with a Message node immediately afterward Using custom data with JSON (to be honest, I am not very familiar with this approach. If Power Automate is not being used, does custom data still provide any benefit?) Removing all instructions/prompts to ensure there were no unintended restrictions Testing with different models

Unfortunately, none of these attempts have solved the problem.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue? If so, I would greatly appreciate hearing what worked for you. Even general troubleshooting tips or things you have tried would be very helpful.

Since I am still learning Copilot Studio, any advice or guidance would be sincerely appreciated.

Thank you very much for your help!

Ashlesha Pawar (Tata Consultancy Services Limited) 395 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-09-01T08:16:21.4633333+00:00
Hello,

This message generally means the Generative Answers node did not retrieve usable content. Please try these steps:

Open the Generative Answers node and confirm the required knowledge source is selected. If Search only selected sources is enabled, only explicitly selected sources are searched.

Confirm the knowledge source shows Ready. For Upload files > SharePoint, wait until the complete Ready → In progress → Ready indexing cycle finishes.

Confirm Dataverse Search is enabled in the environment.

Verify the user can open the original SharePoint file and has an appropriate Dataverse role, such as Basic User.

Confirm the document uses a supported format and is not password-protected or protected by an encrypting sensitivity label.

Reset the test conversation and reconnect through Test > Manage connections.

Test using a simple question about a unique sentence in the document.

Temporarily test only this knowledge source, without filters or custom instructions.

Test with the default model to determine whether the behavior is specific to Claude Sonnet 4.6.

If needed, save a test-panel snapshot and inspect dialog.json for detailed errors. Application Insights can also identify content-moderation filtering.

Saving the generated answer in a variable only changes its presentation and does not fix retrieval. Custom data is intended for content supplied through a table or JSON from an HTTP request, connector, flow, or another step; Power Automate is not required.

1 answer

Your answer

Ashlesha Pawar (Tata Consultancy Services Limited) 395 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-09-01T08:16:21.4633333+00:00

Hello,

This message generally means the Generative Answers node did not retrieve usable content. Please try these steps:

Open the Generative Answers node and confirm the required knowledge source is selected. If Search only selected sources is enabled, only explicitly selected sources are searched.

Confirm the knowledge source shows Ready. For Upload files > SharePoint, wait until the complete Ready → In progress → Ready indexing cycle finishes.

Confirm Dataverse Search is enabled in the environment.

Verify the user can open the original SharePoint file and has an appropriate Dataverse role, such as Basic User.

Confirm the document uses a supported format and is not password-protected or protected by an encrypting sensitivity label.

Reset the test conversation and reconnect through Test > Manage connections.

Test using a simple question about a unique sentence in the document.

Temporarily test only this knowledge source, without filters or custom instructions.

Test with the default model to determine whether the behavior is specific to Claude Sonnet 4.6.

If needed, save a test-panel snapshot and inspect dialog.json for detailed errors. Application Insights can also identify content-moderation filtering.

Saving the generated answer in a variable only changes its presentation and does not fix retrieval. Custom data is intended for content supplied through a table or JSON from an HTTP request, connector, flow, or another step; Power Automate is not required.

Answer 1

The behavior described is consistent with SharePoint knowledge retrieval failing before the node can generate an answer. In Copilot Studio, a Create generative answers node can return "No information was found that could help answer this question" when the expected SharePoint content is not being retrieved, even if settings such as Allow responses without grounded data or Use general knowledge are enabled.

The most useful checks are these:

Verify the SharePoint source is actually selected on the node
- Open the topic.
- Select the Create generative answers node.
- Open Properties > Data source.
- Confirm Search only selected sources and the selected SharePoint source.
- If Search only selected sources is on and the expected SharePoint source is not selected, the node can return no response instead of using other knowledge sources.
Check whether SharePoint search can find the content
- Copilot Studio uses only the top three SharePoint search results to generate a response.
- If SharePoint search returns nothing, the node returns no answer.
- In SharePoint search, search for a unique phrase from the target document.
- If the file does not appear, indexing is likely incomplete.
- If content was uploaded recently, wait for indexing to complete.
- If needed, a SharePoint site admin can go to Site Information > View all site settings > Search and offline availability > Re-index site.
Confirm the content is supported
- Only supported document formats are used.
- Only modern SharePoint pages are supported.
- Classic .aspx pages are not used.
- Modern pages that contain SPFx components are not supported.
Check permissions for the account used in Copilot Studio
- If the account signed in to copilotstudio.microsoft.com does not have access to the SharePoint site, content might not be returned or a system error can occur.
Review filters if using a SharePoint knowledge source with filtering
- On the Knowledge page, open the SharePoint source and select Edit > Advanced settings.
- Review filters such as Title, Author, Modified by, or Modified on.
- If filters use variables, confirm the runtime value is what is expected.
- Overly restrictive filters can cause valid content to be excluded.
Check content moderation
- Even with moderation set to Low, moderated content can cause the node to return no response and not show that moderation happened.
- If Application Insights telemetry is connected, moderation events can be checked there.
- If needed, adjust content moderation carefully. Lower moderation can reduce answer quality or relevance.
Confirm the knowledge source is enabled in the node
- Copilot Studio guidance for generative answers recommends verifying that knowledge sources are enabled in one or more generative answers nodes.
- Also confirm the node is not exceeding the maximum allowed number of knowledge sources.

About the steps already tried:

Storing the node output in a variable and then showing it in a Message node does not fix retrieval problems if the SharePoint source returns no usable results.
Removing prompts or changing models also does not address missing SharePoint search results, permissions, filters, or moderation.

A practical end-to-end test path is:

In the topic, verify the correct SharePoint source is selected in the Create generative answers node.
In SharePoint, search for a unique sentence from the document.
If not found, wait for indexing or reindex the site.
Confirm the signed-in Copilot Studio account can open the SharePoint file directly.
Review any source filters.
If retrieval still fails, check whether moderation is filtering the content through Application Insights.

If the goal is to restrict answers only to the SharePoint knowledge and avoid out-of-box answers, disable Allow the AI to use its own general knowledge.