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Ask Data chat about one client
Name the client in your question. Data chat then answers from that client’s data, the same data as their performance report.
Before you start
- Who can do this
- Anyone at your agency
- You need
- The client’s ad accounts assigned to them in Account Mapping.
- Access to the client. Data chat recognises only clients you can see.
- Where in Orbit
- Sidebar › Workspace › Data chat
Steps
Tick a step’s number when it’s done. We’ll remember where you were.
In the sidebar, open Data chat.
Type a question that names the client, the metric and the period, for example “What did Acme spend on Google Ads in the last 30 days?”.
Press Ask, or press Enter. Shift+Enter adds a new line instead.
To compare with the client’s report, open it for the same period. Standard periods, such as the last 30 days, match exactly.
When it worked
The answer shows that client’s numbers for the period, matching their performance report for the same dates.
If something goes wrong
Orbit showsI don't have any performance data for that period.
The period may be before the client’s data starts, or their accounts may not be assigned yet. Check the dates, then check Account Mapping.
Data chat says it couldn’t match a platform or channel to your data.
It didn’t recognise the name you used, so it didn’t answer rather than mix everything together. Ask again with one of the names it lists under “Platforms with data here” or “Channels with data here”.
Orbit showsYou asked for live/same-day numbers. There is no live connection for this source, so this covers complete days only — today is not included.
That platform can’t be queried directly, so the answer runs to yesterday. Today’s numbers will be in tomorrow’s answer.
The numbers don’t match the report.
Check both cover the same dates. Data chat ends every period yesterday, so use the same standard period, such as last 30 days, in both.
How it works
Explainer: Which dates an answer covers
If you don’t name a period, Data chat uses the last 30 days. Every period ends at the last complete day, which is yesterday in UTC, because platforms are still adding to today’s numbers.
| You ask for | What it covers |
|---|---|
| No period | The last 30 days, ending yesterday. |
| “Last 7 days”, “last 30 days” or “last 90 days” | Those days, ending yesterday: the same windows as the performance report. |
| “This month” or “month to date” | The start of this month to yesterday. |
| “Last month” | The previous calendar month. |
| Dates, such as “March 1 to March 15” | Exactly those dates, up to yesterday. |
| More than 365 days | The most recent 365 days of the range you asked for. |
| “Today” or “right now” | Live numbers where the platform can be queried directly. Otherwise complete days only, with a note. |
- Follow-ups such as “break that down by campaign” keep the period from your previous question.
Prevention: Get accurate answers from Data chat
Name the client, the metric and the period, and ask one thing at a time. That’s what Data chat needs to pull the right numbers first time.
- Name the client to get that client’s numbers alone, for example “What did Acme spend last month?”.
- Use the standard periods, “last 7 days”, “last 30 days”, “last 90 days” or “month to date”, when you want to match the performance report exactly.
- Use platform names as they appear in your data. If a name doesn’t match, the reply lists the ones that do.
- Ask multi-part questions one part at a time. If an answer fails part-way, ask again in parts.
- Ask for breakdowns by campaign, ad group, creative, platform or channel, which Orbit always stores.
- Press New when you change topic, so earlier questions don’t steer the answer.
- Check numbers you’ll share against the report: “Orbit can make mistakes. Always verify with the underlying report.”
Explainer: What assigning an account does
Each ad account belongs to one client. That decides whose dashboards, reports, pacing and Data chat answers its data appears in.
- Until an account has a client, its data syncs but appears nowhere: not in dashboards, reports or Data chat.
- An account can belong to one client only.
- Assigning an account starts a sync straight away. Earlier days catch up as Orbit re-syncs them, up to 90 days back.
- When you choose accounts on a connection, Suggested means Orbit pre-filled a client because its name appears in the account’s name. Nothing is saved until you save.
- Find Accounts adds accounts already chosen on a connection that are missing from this list. It doesn’t fetch new accounts from the platform: to add those, open the connection from Integrations.
- Re-check account names from Google/Meta refreshes names for every connection whose accounts you pick from a list, not only Google and Meta. Google Analytics, Shopify and Amazon Marketplace aren’t included.