AI survey follow-ups
Surveys that ask "why?" when an answer needs it
When someone answers "it was fine" or scores you a 3, the form asks one short follow-up before moving on, like a good interviewer would.
Free forever, with unlimited responses. No credit card.
Open questions get short answers. "Pricing." "It was fine." "Better reports." Each is a real opinion, but not one you can act on. An interviewer would ask one more question. hootform's follow-ups do the same, at scale, only when an answer needs it.
How it works in hootform
- Turn on "Dig deeper" for a question. Choose when it should ask: when the answer matches a condition, such as an NPS score below 7, or, on text questions, when AI judges the answer too vague to be useful. See follow-up questions.
- Write the first follow-up yourself, or let AI. Your own wording is asked instantly, word for word. Leave it blank and AI writes one from what the respondent just said. A second follow-up, if you allow one, is written from their reply.
- Read the replies in context. Each follow-up and reply sits under the answer it's about, in the response, the CSV export, notifications and webhooks.
Designed not to annoy
Follow-ups are never required: Skip is always there, and an empty reply counts as a skip. They never change where the respondent goes next, and they never hold anyone up. If the AI is slow or unavailable, the form simply moves on. A response gets at most 4 follow-ups however many questions have them, and a follow-up borrows its question's place in the progress bar, so the form never seems to grow.
What's free, and what's Premium
| Free | Premium, $19/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up questions, written by you or by AI | — | ✓ |
| Replies in exports, notifications and webhooks | — | ✓ |
| AI insights across the replies | — | ✓ |
Premium is one price for the whole organization. See plans.
Templates that use it
- Feedback & research CSAT survey template Rate the experience, then say why — unhappy answers get a follow-up before the form moves on.
- Feedback & research Product feedback survey template What people use, what they'd rank first, and what's missing — with a follow-up when an answer is thin.
- HR & recruiting Exit interview form template An honest last conversation: why they're leaving, how it felt, and what you'd change.
- Sales & marketing Lead qualification form template Sort serious buyers from browsers: size, need and timing, with browsers sent straight to the newsletter.
- Sales & marketing Waitlist form template Collect early sign-ups and learn what people would use it for, with the referral link recorded.
- Education & nonprofit Course evaluation form template Rate a session against the pre-work, the pace and the materials, ending with what to change.
- Feedback & research Feature request form template Collect feature ideas with the job behind them: what they want, what it's for and how much it matters.
- Feedback & research User research screener template Find the right people for a research study: who they are, how often they do the thing, and a recent example.
- Sales & marketing Client intake form template Everything you need before a first call with a new client: services, goals, budget, deadline and their brief.
In the docs
Questions people ask
Are AI follow-ups free?
They're part of Premium, at $19 a month for the whole organization. On the free plan, forms simply move on to the next question.
Can I write the follow-up question myself?
Yes. Write a first follow-up, and it's asked word for word, instantly, with no AI involved. It can quote the respondent's answer.
Which templates use follow-ups?
The CSAT survey asks what let people down after a low score, and the exit interview asks what would have made people stay.
Does the AI see personal details?
The model sees the question, the answer it's following up on and any earlier follow-ups about it, and nothing else about the respondent. Follow-up questions and replies are encrypted at rest with the rest of the response.
More features
- Conversational forms Build conversational forms that ask one question at a time, with keyboard shortcuts, logic and answer recall. Free, with unlimited forms and responses.
- Conditional logic Add conditional logic to any form: skip questions, branch on any answer or hidden field, recall answers, and finish on different endings. Free.
- Quiz maker Make a scored quiz online: points per answer, a result screen that shows the score, and a different ending for each score band. Free, with unlimited responses.
- Multi-step forms Build multi-step forms that save every answer as it's given, so people can stop and resume, and you can see exactly where they stopped. Free.
- File upload forms Let people attach CVs, photos, screenshots and documents to any form. Files are stored with each response and encrypted at rest. Free up to 10 MB a file.
- E-signature forms Collect signatures on any form, drawn with a finger or a mouse, with consent checkboxes that record the exact wording agreed to. Free, and encrypted at rest.