Question 1

The Brand Vault — Everything You Need to Know

Accepted Answer

What Is the Brand Vault?

Q: Troubleshooting: AI Issues

<h1 id="aiseemstohaveforgottenmybrand">AI Seems to Have Forgotten My Brand</h1> <p><strong>First, check your Brand Vault — go to the Brand Vault tab and confirm your documents are still there. If a document has disappeared, re-upload it.</strong> <strong>If your Brand Profile fields are empty, go through the Brand Interview again. Your data is in the database — a refresh usually brings it back. If not, try logging out and back in.</strong></p> <h3 id="aiforgettingearlierpartsoftheconversation">AI Forgetting Earlier Parts of the Conversation</h3> <p><strong>This is normal for very long chats. AI has a context window — it can only hold so much conversation at once. Start a new session. Your brand memory (Brand Vault + Brand Profile) carries across automatically. For specific things you want remembered verbatim, star them or upload them to the Brand Vault.</strong></p> <h3 id="aigivinggenericresponses">AI Giving Generic Responses</h3> <p><strong>This usually means the Brand Vault isn't fully set up yet. The more context the AI has about you, the more personalised it gets. Complete your Brand Interview and upload your key documents.</strong></p> <h3 id="chatnotsendingspinningforever">Chat Not Sending / Spinning Forever</h3> <p><strong>Check your internet connection first. Then try a hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R). If the issue persists, log out and back in. If it's happening consistently, submit a bug report.</strong></p>

Q: Troubleshooting: Brand Vault Issues

<h1 id="documentnotbeingreadbytheai">Document Not Being Read by the AI</h1> <p><strong>Make sure your document has clear headings and structure — the AI reads it top to bottom. Very large documents may be truncated at 30,000 characters (~15-20 pages).</strong> <strong>• Try deleting the document and re-uploading</strong> <strong>• If it's a .doc file — save as .docx, .pdf, or .txt first (.doc is not supported)</strong> <strong>• If it's a scanned PDF (image-based) — the AI can't read it. Re-save as a text-based PDF</strong></p> <h3 id="brandprofilenotsaving">Brand Profile Not Saving</h3> <p><strong>When the AI updates a brand field and shows a 'Lock In </strong>✅<strong>' button — you must click Lock In to save it. Just reading the AI's response doesn't save the field.</strong> <strong>If you clicked Lock In and it still didn't save — refresh the page and check the Brand Vault. If it's still missing, try the update again.</strong></p> <h3 id="uploadeddocumentdisappeared">Uploaded Document Disappeared</h3> <p><strong>Re-upload it. Your document content is stored in the database but the display can sometimes need a refresh. Log out, log back in, and re-upload if needed.</strong></p>

Q: Account & Billing

<h1 id="upgradingfromlitetounlimited">Upgrading from Lite to Unlimited</h1> <p><strong>You can upgrade anytime from inside your portal. Click the 'Manage Plan' button in your settings to open the billing portal where you can switch plans instantly.</strong></p> <h3 id="downgradingfromunlimitedtolite">Downgrading from Unlimited to Lite</h3> <p><strong>Same process — click 'Manage Plan' and switch to Lite. The change takes effect at your next billing cycle.</strong></p> <h3 id="cancellingyoursubscription">Cancelling Your Subscription</h3> <p><strong>Click 'Manage Plan' inside the portal and follow the cancellation steps. Your access remains active until the end of your current billing period. Your data is retained — if you come back, everything will still be there.</strong></p> <h3 id="foundingmembers">Founding Members</h3> <p><strong>Founding members are on a locked rate for the lifetime of their continuous subscription. Your billing is managed separately — you won't see a 'Manage Plan' button in the portal. If you have billing questions, contact&#32;hello@karlamaree.co&#32;directly.</strong></p> <h3 id="dataaftercancellation">Data After Cancellation</h3> <p><strong>Your data is not immediately deleted when you cancel. If you resubscribe, your brand profile, vault, and coaching memory will all still be there. For permanent data deletion, email&#32;hello@karlamaree.co.</strong></p>

The Brand Vault is your portal's long-term memory. It stores your brand profile (21 fields), uploaded documents, and reference files. Every content and coaching session draws from this automatically.

Brand Profile vs Uploaded Documents — What's the Difference?

Think of it in two layers: • Brand Profile — the 21 core fields (mission, voice, offers, dream client etc). This is your core memory. Fill these in through the Brand Interview or by uploading a brand doc. • Uploaded Documents — full documents like sales pages, testimonials, offer decks. These are your contextual memory. They're referenced when relevant but don't live in the profile fields.

How to Upload a Brand Document

• Click the Brand Vault tab • Click Upload Document • Select your file — PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV, MD, RTF supported • When asked 'Do you want me to extract brand profile data?' — click Yes if it's a brand doc, No if it's a reference document (like an offer doc or testimonials)

File Size Limits

• Images: 10MB — JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP (in-chat only, not Brand Vault) • PDFs and DOCX: 5MB • Documents (TXT, CSV, MD, RTF): 2MB • Maximum 5 files per upload • Total Brand Vault size: 10MB — keep only essential documents here

Tips for Best Results

• Keep Brand Vault documents clean with clear headings • For core brand memory — upload to the Brand Vault **• For one-off context (e.g. a specific offer for today's

Question 2

Memory, Sessions, and Getting the Best Results

Accepted Answer

How Memory Works

Empire by Design has three layers of memory: • Brand Profile — your 21 core brand fields, always loaded • Brand Vault Documents — uploaded docs, always referenced • Coaching Memory — automatically generated summaries of your coaching conversations, building over time

Starting New Sessions

For best results, start a new session for each new topic rather than continuing one very long chat. A new content session, a new coaching session — keep them focused. Your brand memory carries across regardless.

The portal will give you a gentle warning when a chat is getting long. This isn't a lockout — it's a nudge to start fresh so you keep the best possible context.

Starring Content

Click the ⭐** button on any response to save it to your Saved Outputs. Saved items live in the database permanently and they're there to save important outputs such as hooks, discussions that you don't want to forget for later etc. These DO NOT open like a chat, but you can you click on them anytime you need them to copy them into another chat.

Exporting Chats

You can export any chat as a PDF using the export button at the top of the portal. Great for saving your blueprint or a really valuable coaching session.

Using Your Mic

The 🎤 button in the input area lets you speak your messages. Especially useful during the Brand Interview — speaking naturally often produces better brand voice data than typing.

Question 3

Troubleshooting: AI Issues

Accepted Answer

AI Seems to Have Forgotten My Brand

First, check your Brand Vault — go to the Brand Vault tab and confirm your documents are still there. If a document has disappeared, re-upload it. If your Brand Profile fields are empty, go through the Brand Interview again. Your data is in the database — a refresh usually brings it back. If not, try logging out and back in.

AI Forgetting Earlier Parts of the Conversation

This is normal for very long chats. AI has a context window — it can only hold so much conversation at once. Start a new session. Your brand memory (Brand Vault + Brand Profile) carries across automatically. For specific things you want remembered verbatim, star them or upload them to the Brand Vault.

AI Giving Generic Responses

This usually means the Brand Vault isn't fully set up yet. The more context the AI has about you, the more personalised it gets. Complete your Brand Interview and upload your key documents.

Chat Not Sending / Spinning Forever

Check your internet connection first. Then try a hard refresh (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R). If the issue persists, log out and back in. If it's happening consistently, submit a bug report.

Question 4

Troubleshooting: Brand Vault Issues

Accepted Answer

Document Not Being Read by the AI

Make sure your document has clear headings and structure — the AI reads it top to bottom. Very large documents may be truncated at 30,000 characters (~15-20 pages). • Try deleting the document and re-uploading • If it's a .doc file — save as .docx, .pdf, or .txt first (.doc is not supported) • If it's a scanned PDF (image-based) — the AI can't read it. Re-save as a text-based PDF

Brand Profile Not Saving

When the AI updates a brand field and shows a 'Lock In ✅' button — you must click Lock In to save it. Just reading the AI's response doesn't save the field. If you clicked Lock In and it still didn't save — refresh the page and check the Brand Vault. If it's still missing, try the update again.

Uploaded Document Disappeared

Re-upload it. Your document content is stored in the database but the display can sometimes need a refresh. Log out, log back in, and re-upload if needed.

Question 5

Understanding Your Usage Allowance

Accepted Answer

How Usage Works

Usage is measured in AI tokens — the amount of text the AI reads and writes. Every message you send and every response uses tokens. Longer responses use more tokens than short ones.

What Has a Limit

• Content tab — counted toward your daily and monthly allowance • Coaching tab — counted toward your daily and monthly allowance

What Is Completely Unlimited

• Blueprint tab — always unlimited • Brand Interview — always unlimited • Brand Vault uploads and document extraction — always unlimited • Design Dashboard tooltips — always unlimited • Memory summaries and background tasks — always unlimited

Lite Plan Daily Allowance

The Lite plan includes a generous daily token allowance that resets at midnight UTC. The usage meter in your portal sidebar shows your current usage. Short messages use barely any allowance — big content generation requests use more. Most members never hit the limit in a normal session.

Unlimited Plan

The Unlimited plan has no daily cap. Create as much as you want, back to back — full content calendars, email sequences, coaching sessions, all in the same day.

If You Hit Your Limit

Your typed message is automatically saved in the input box so you don't lose it. Your Blueprint, Brand Vault, and Design Dashboard remain fully accessible. Your allowance resets at midnight UTC.

Question 6

Account & Billing

Accepted Answer

Upgrading from Lite to Unlimited

You can upgrade anytime from inside your portal. Click the 'Manage Plan' button in your settings to open the billing portal where you can switch plans instantly.

Downgrading from Unlimited to Lite

Same process — click 'Manage Plan' and switch to Lite. The change takes effect at your next billing cycle.

Cancelling Your Subscription

Click 'Manage Plan' inside the portal and follow the cancellation steps. Your access remains active until the end of your current billing period. Your data is retained — if you come back, everything will still be there.

Founding Members

Founding members are on a locked rate for the lifetime of their continuous subscription. Your billing is managed separately — you won't see a 'Manage Plan' button in the portal. If you have billing questions, contact hello@karlamaree.co directly.

Data After Cancellation

Your data is not immediately deleted when you cancel. If you resubscribe, your brand profile, vault, and coaching memory will all still be there. For permanent data deletion, email hello@karlamaree.co.

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