Complete Setup & Usage Guide
For SaaS founders, marketing agencies, and growth teams
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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS GUIDE What Proof Autopilot and ProofMatch are and how they work together How to set up your first ProofMatch configuration in under 10 minutes How to create matching rules that show the right testimonial to the right visitor How to connect ProofMatch to Clay for AI-powered outbound sequences How to set up Slack alerts for high-intent buyer detection How to use buyer stage detection to personalize proof at scale |
1. Overview: What Are These Features?
If you have ever wondered why some businesses seem to always have the perfect customer story ready at exactly the right moment, this is how they do it. Proof Autopilot and ProofMatch work together to automatically match and deliver the right testimonial to the right visitor at the right time.
Think of it this way:
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THE SIMPLE EXPLANATION Without Proof Autopilot: Every visitor to your website sees the same testimonials — regardless of who they are, what industry they are in, or where they are in their buying journey. With Proof Autopilot: A SaaS founder on your pricing page sees a testimonial from another SaaS founder about ROI. A marketing agency on your features page sees a testimonial from an agency about time savings. Automatically. No manual work. |
How They Relate to Each Other
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ProofMatch™ (the engine) |
Proof Autopilot (the dashboard) |
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Creates matching configurations |
Monitors and manages rules in real time |
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Defines industry/persona/page rules |
Shows which rules are active |
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Sets matching weights and criteria |
Connects to Slack for buyer alerts |
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Generates embed code and API endpoints |
Displays Clay integration instructions |
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Handles A/B testing of proof variants |
Tracks high-intent visitor signals |
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Powers Clay HTTP enrichment column |
Reports match performance over time |
Who Should Use These Features?
- SaaS founders who want their website to show different testimonials based on what page a visitor is on
- Marketing agencies running outbound sequences in Clay or Smartlead who want personalized proof in every email
- GTM teams who want to know when a high-value account is actively researching on their site
- E-commerce brands showing product-specific social proof on relevant product pages
- Any business that wants proof to feel personal rather than generic
2. Getting Started: Your First ProofMatch Setup
Before you can use Proof Autopilot, you need at least one ProofMatch configuration. This is where you define how testimonials should be matched to visitors. Here is how to create your first one in under 10 minutes.
Prerequisites
- At least 5 approved testimonials in your TestimonialBoost dashboard
- A widget created and embed code installed on your website
- Access to the ProofMatch Builder (AI Features tab in your dashboard)
Step-by-Step Setup
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Open ProofMatch Builder In your dashboard, click the AI Features tab in the top navigation. Then click the ProofMatch tab. You will see the ProofMatch™ list view. |
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Create a new configuration Click the “Create ProofMatch” button in the top right. Give your configuration a name that describes its purpose, for example: “SaaS Visitors — Pricing Page” or “Agency Prospects — Features”. |
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Set your General Settings In the General tab, set the configuration to Active. Choose your matching mode: Weighted (recommended) uses AI scoring across multiple criteria, while Exact requires all criteria to match precisely. |
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Configure Matching Criteria In the Matching Criteria tab, adjust the weight sliders to tell the system what matters most for this configuration. Industry match, persona match, company size, use case, and desired outcome can each be weighted from 0 to 100. |
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Set Targeting Rules In the Targeting tab, define which visitors this configuration applies to. You can target by industry (SaaS, E-commerce, Agency), persona (CEO, Marketing Manager, Developer), company size, or specific page URLs. |
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Configure Display Settings In the Display tab, choose how matched testimonials should appear: inline (embedded in the page), popup (floating bubble), or sidebar. Set the maximum number of matches to show and the minimum relevance score required. |
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Get your embed code In the Integration tab, copy your embed code or API endpoint. Install it on your website to start delivering matched testimonials automatically. |
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⚠️ IMPORTANT: Testimonial Quality Matters ProofMatch works best when your testimonials contain specific details: company names, industries, job titles, and measurable results. A testimonial that says “We saved 5 hours per week as a SaaS startup” will match far better than one that says “Great product!” If your testimonials are thin on detail, use the AI Ghostwriter on your collection form to generate richer testimonials from your customers’ answers. |
3. ProofMatch Rules: Showing the Right Proof
Rules are the core of how ProofMatch decides which testimonial to show. Each rule defines a specific matching condition. When a visitor matches that condition, they see testimonials that fit.
Understanding Rule Types
Industry Rules
Match visitors based on their company’s industry. For example, a rule that targets “SaaS” visitors will prioritize testimonials from other SaaS companies when a SaaS visitor is detected.
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Example industry rule: Name: SaaS Founders Industry: SaaS Show testimonials tagged: Results, ROI Result: SaaS visitors see testimonials from other SaaS companies with measurable results |
Page URL Rules
Match visitors based on which page they are on. This is one of the most powerful rules because page context tells you exactly what a visitor is thinking about right now.
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Example page rules: /pricing → Show ROI and value testimonials (“pays for itself in week one”) /features → Show feature-specific testimonials (“the AI tagging saved us hours”) /compare or /vs → Show switching testimonials (“we moved from Senja and never looked back”) /onboarding → Show ease-of-use testimonials (“set up in 10 minutes”) |
Persona Rules
Match visitors based on their job title or role. A marketing manager and a CTO care about very different things, even when looking at the same product.
Combined Rules
Rules can combine multiple criteria. A rule that targets “SAAS companies on the pricing page with a CEO persona” will be extremely precise and highly converting.
Creating Your First Rule
To create a rule in Proof Autopilot:
- Go to your dashboard and click “Proof Autopilot” in the sidebar
- Click the Rules tab
- Click “+ New Rule”
- Fill in the rule name (be specific — e.g. “SaaS CEO on Pricing Page”)
- Set your matching criteria: industry, page URL, persona, and/or testimonial tag
- Click Save Rule
- The rule is immediately active — no deploy needed
Rule Best Practices
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DO: • Start with 3–5 rules covering your most common visitor types • Name rules clearly so your team knows what they do • Use testimonial tags (Results, Pricing, Features) to filter what shows • Test each rule by visiting your site from the relevant page • Create separate rules for awareness, evaluation, and decision stage visitors |
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AVOID: • Creating rules that are too broad (“all visitors” is not a rule, it’s a default) • Creating so many rules they conflict with each other • Forgetting to tag testimonials — untagged testimonials are harder to match • Setting minimum score too high — start at 50 and adjust based on results |
4. Buyer Stage Detection
Proof Autopilot automatically detects where a visitor is in their buying journey based on behavioral signals. This happens in real time without any setup required.
The Three Buyer Stages
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Stage |
Signals |
Best Proof to Show |
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Awareness |
First visit, generic pages, low engagement |
Brand credibility, well-known logos, big outcomes |
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Evaluation |
2+ visits, feature pages, comparison pages |
Feature-specific testimonials, use-case stories |
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Decision |
Pricing page, 3+ visits in 48h, checkout pages |
ROI numbers, risk reduction, guarantees, results |
5. Clay Integration: Proof in Every Outbound Email
One of the most powerful features of Proof Autopilot is the ability to use it as a Clay HTTP enrichment column. This means every prospect in your Clay table can automatically get the most relevant testimonial from your library — matched to their company, industry, and persona.
What This Means in Practice
Imagine your sales team is running an outbound sequence to 500 SaaS companies. Instead of using the same generic testimonial in every email, Clay automatically fetches the best matching testimonial for each prospect:
- A SaaS startup gets a testimonial from another bootstrapped founder
- An enterprise prospect gets a testimonial about security and scale
- A marketing agency gets a testimonial about time savings and client results
All automatically. Zero manual work. Every email feels handcrafted.
Setting Up the Clay Integration
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Get your API endpoint In Proof Autopilot, click the Clay Integration tab. Copy your unique API endpoint URL. It will look like: https://app.testimonialboost.com/api/proofmatch/clay |
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Copy your API key Click “Copy API Key” to copy your unique key. You will need this to authenticate requests from Clay. |
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Add HTTP enrichment column in Clay In your Clay table, add a new column and select “HTTP API” as the enrichment type. Set the method to POST. |
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Configure the request body In the request body, map your Clay variables to the API parameters. The API accepts: company (company name), industry (company industry), widgetId (your widget ID), and apiKey (your API key). |
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Map the output fields The API returns several fields you can map to columns: proof_snippet (ready-to-paste testimonial quote), author_name, author_company, rating, ai_highlight (key metric), and relevance_score. |
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Use in your email sequence In Smartlead, Instantly, or your sending tool, use the proof_snippet variable in your email template. Every email now contains a perfectly matched testimonial. |
Example API Response
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SAMPLE OUTPUT FROM THE CLAY ENDPOINT proof_snippet: “We saw a 40% increase in demo bookings within 30 days of adding testimonials.” — Sarah Chen, GrowthLab author_name: Sarah Chen author_company: GrowthLab rating: 5 ai_highlight: 40% increase in demo bookings relevance_score: 18 stage: decision matched_by: industry:SaaS |
6. Slack Alerts: Know When a Hot Buyer Is on Your Site
Proof Autopilot can detect when a high-intent visitor is actively researching your product and send an instant Slack notification to your team. This is your signal to reach out while the iron is hot.
What Triggers a Slack Alert
- A visitor lands on your pricing page (decision stage signal)
- A visitor returns to your site 3 or more times within 48 hours
- A visitor visits both your features and pricing pages in the same session
- Any combination of signals that puts a visitor in the “decision” stage
Setting Up Slack Alerts
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Create a Slack webhook In Slack, go to your workspace settings and create an Incoming Webhook for the channel where you want alerts to appear (e.g. #hot-leads or #sales-alerts). |
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Add webhook to Proof Autopilot In your dashboard, go to Proof Autopilot → Slack Alerts tab. Paste your Slack webhook URL into the field and click Save. |
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Set your alert threshold Choose whether to receive alerts for evaluation stage, decision stage, or both. We recommend starting with decision stage only to avoid noise. |
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Send a test alert Click “Send Test Alert” to confirm the integration is working. You should see a message appear in your Slack channel within seconds. |
What the Slack Alert Looks Like
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🔥 High-Intent Visitor Detected A decision-stage visitor is actively viewing your proof. Company: Acme Corp Stage: Decision Page: /pricing Visits: 3 in 48 hours Best proof to send: “We doubled revenue in 60 days” — Marcus T. [View in Dashboard →] |
What To Do When You Get an Alert
When a Slack alert fires, your team has a narrow window to act. Here is the recommended playbook:
- Check the company name and look them up on LinkedIn
- Find the decision maker — the person who would buy your product
- Send a personalized outreach using the “Best proof to send” snippet from the alert
- Reference what they were looking at: “I noticed you were checking out our pricing”
- Offer a 15-minute call or demo
Companies that act on high-intent signals within 1 hour are 7x more likely to connect with the prospect. Speed matters.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to install anything on my website?
You need the TestimonialBoost widget embed code installed on your website. This is a single script tag that you add once. After that, ProofMatch works automatically — no additional installs required.
How does ProofMatch know what industry a visitor is from?
ProofMatch uses the signals you provide via the API (for Clay integration) or infers from page behavior and URL patterns. For the most accurate matching, use the Clay integration which passes company and industry data directly.
What if no testimonial matches the visitor’s profile?
ProofMatch falls back to your highest-rated general testimonials. You will never show an empty widget — there is always a fallback. You can configure the minimum relevance score required before a match is considered valid.
How many rules should I create?
Start with 3 to 5 rules covering your most common visitor types. Too few rules means imprecise matching. Too many rules can create conflicts. Review your analytics after 2 weeks and add rules based on what visitor segments you are seeing most.
Can I use ProofMatch without Clay?
Yes. ProofMatch works as a standalone widget matching system. Clay integration is optional and adds the ability to use matched testimonials in outbound email sequences. The core matching and Slack alert features work without Clay.
How do I know if it’s working?
Check the Proof Autopilot dashboard for match activity. You can also test by visiting your own website from different pages and checking which testimonials appear. For Clay, run a test enrichment on a sample row and verify the proof_snippet field populates correctly.
Is there a limit on how many rules I can create?
Rule limits depend on your plan. Pro plan includes up to 10 rules. Agency plan includes unlimited rules. Enterprise plan includes unlimited rules plus custom rule logic and API access.
Quick Reference Card
Key Terms
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Term |
Definition |
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Proof Autopilot |
The operational dashboard for monitoring rules, Clay integration, and Slack alerts |
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ProofMatch™ |
The AI engine that matches testimonials to visitors based on rules and weights |
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Matching Rule |
A condition that determines which testimonials are shown to which visitors |
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Buyer Stage |
Where a visitor is in their journey: awareness, evaluation, or decision |
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Clay Integration |
Using ProofMatch as an HTTP enrichment column in Clay to personalize outbound emails |
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Slack Alert |
A real-time notification sent to Slack when a high-intent visitor is detected |
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Relevance Score |
A numerical score (0–100) indicating how well a testimonial matches a visitor |
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Weighted Matching |
Matching mode that uses AI scoring across multiple criteria simultaneously |
Clay API Reference
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POST https://app.testimonialboost.com/api/proofmatch/clay Request body fields: company — Company name (string) industry — Industry vertical (string) widgetId — Your widget ID (string, required) apiKey — Your API key (string, required) pageUrl — Page the visitor is on (optional) visitCount — Number of visits (optional, for stage detection) Response fields: proof_snippet — Ready-to-use testimonial quote with attribution author_name — Testimonial author full name author_company — Author company name rating — Star rating (1-5) ai_highlight — Key metric or result extracted by AI relevance_score — Match quality score (0-100) stage — Detected buyer stage (awareness/evaluation/decision) strategy — Recommended proof strategy for this stage |
Getting Help
If you need help setting up Proof Autopilot or ProofMatch, use these resources:
- In-app chat: Click the chat bubble in the bottom right of your dashboard
- Help Center: app.testimonialboost.com/help
- Email support: support@testimonialboost.com
- Video walkthrough: Available in your onboarding checklist
