If you're seeing few answers for the size of your team, there are four usual causes, roughly in this order.
1 · The browser extension isn't installed widely enoughLink to this section
This is the most common cause. The extension shows each pulse in the browser's toolbar when it is due. Without it, people answer only when they open their AI Adoption Portal, for example from a reminder email.
Quick test: ask three people at random whether they have The GAiGE extension installed and pinned to their browser toolbar. If the answer is "what extension?", you've found it. The Extension column on People → All people shows who has it.
Fix:
- Send (or send again) the install email to your whole team. There's a template in Rolling out the extension to your team.
- For larger organisations, install the extension for everyone through Google Workspace or your device management. The same article has the policy to push.
- Pin it for people by default if your IT set-up allows.
2 · People have the extension, but haven't allowed it on all sitesLink to this section
The close second, and the one that hides best, because from your side it looks like a healthy rollout: extension installed, people signed in, pulses coming due on schedule.
Putting a pulse on the website someone is working on needs broad site access, which the browser treats as optional. Each person allows it themselves, in the extension's panel, with Allow on all sites under Pulses and notices. No admin console, force-install or device policy can allow it for them. Without it, pulses wait in the panel under Waiting on you, and in the person's AI Adoption Portal. Few people open a toolbar panel unprompted, so those pulses go unanswered.
Quick test: ask three people to click the G icon. If Allow on all sites still shows under Pulses and notices, that's your answer.
Fix:
- Send a short note asking people to open the extension and press Allow on all sites, saying plainly what it's for: it's what lets a pulse, or a tool's decision, appear on the website they're on
- If someone's browser didn't ask, or they said no, the panel says "Access to all sites is still off.", and How to turn it on has the steps
- Add the step to your note for new starters, beside install and sign-in
A missing domain isn't why response rate is low, though it does stop the tool's decision showing on its site. A tool's websites decide where the extension shows its decision, and play no part in when pulses arrive.
3 · The pulse is pausedLink to this section
Each pulse can be paused on its own. You may, for example, have started only some of the three core pulses.
Quick test: go to Measurement → Standard pulses in the menu. The AI Pulse should show as Active. If it's paused, nobody is asked about any tool.
Fix:
- Open the pulse and turn on Active
4 · The cadence is lower than you thinkLink to this section
The AI Pulse runs three times a week per assigned tool by default, the AI Review fortnightly and the AI Capability Check monthly. If someone has changed those, or you're expecting a daily count, the raw count looks thin even when everyone is answering. The estimate scales each person's answers to cover the days they weren't asked, by no more than 2.5×, so a lower cadence gives a lower, more cautious estimate.
Pulses are also kept inside working hours (Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4pm by default) and at least 30 minutes apart, and a pulse nobody gets to stays due until its week, fortnight or month ends, then drops off rather than queueing. A team on leave leaves a gap, not a backlog.
Quick test: Measurement → open the pulse on its list → check its cadence.
Fix: ask more often if you want finer-grained figures and your team is happy with the extra asks.
What response rate to aim forLink to this section
As a starting point, aim for most people installed and allowed on all sites in the first week. Below about 30% answering, work through the causes above.
More answers make every figure more reliable. How we work out hours saved explains how the estimate copes with the days people weren't asked.
Helping people respondLink to this section
A few things that help once the extension is installed and allowed on all sites:
- Say what the answers change. People answer when they can see the point. A pulse is how a tool that wastes their time gets dropped, so it's their say in what they're asked to use rather than a measure of how they're performing.
- Tell people who reads their answers. Each pulse says before its first question whether answers are anonymous or identifiable. On an anonymous pulse, names aren't shown with the answers to anyone, admins included, and a group's results only appear once at least five people in it have answered. Say the limit plainly too: in a small group, or from a comment, someone may still be able to work out an answer is theirs. Who sees my answers? is written for your team to read directly.
- Lead by example. When leaders answer, others follow.
- Ask what's getting in the way. Where five or more people haven't answered a pulse in three months, your next review recommends a check-in: one question from us, with the reasons counted and never linked to anyone. See Running a review.
If getting people on board is the harder part, see Getting outside help.
Something missing or out of date here? Tell us.