Direct answer
GB/T 47746—2026 is China's national standard for how human agents and AI customer service must work together. It was published on 2026-05-25 and took effect on 2026-09-01. Six questions cover the whole practical path: what the standard is and who it covers, whether a recommended standard can be ignored, how many self-check items the standard actually yields (61) and where the widely quoted 53 came from, which five situations require automatic transfer to a human, how to run a self-check, and whether going live needs filing or registration. Each answer below states the clause it rests on.
Why AI customer service stopped being just a technology question
Until recently, choosing an AI customer service tool was a technology decision: does it answer accurately, how much does it cost, how long does setup take. That changed on 2026-09-01, when GB/T 47746—2026 took effect.
The standard is about one thing: the handover between an intelligent service and a live agent. Not the AI model, not the accuracy of the answers — but what happens at the moment the conversation has to move from machine to human, and back again. That is the part that had been left to each vendor's judgement, and it is the part customers complain about most.
For a small business this matters in a specific way. If your AI customer service is a vendor's product that you simply switched on, the handover behaviour is whatever the vendor chose. If a customer complains, the question is no longer what the vendor does — it is what your business does.
What this cluster answers
Six atomic answers, each complete on its own:
- What the standard is and which businesses are in scope.
- Whether a recommended national standard is binding if it is not labelled mandatory.
- How many self-check items the standard yields — 61, and how that number relates to the text itself.
- The five situations that require automatic transfer to a human agent, as listed in 5.2.2.6.
- How to self-check whether your AI customer service is compliant, step by step.
- Filing versus registration for going live, and what the difference means in practice.
Two points of discipline apply throughout. First, every claim about what the standard requires points to the clause it comes from. Second, where a figure is derived — produced by parsing the standard rather than printed in it — the page says so, because conflating the two is what creates false confidence during an audit.
Frequently asked in this cluster
When did GB/T 47746—2026 take effect?
Published 2026-05-25, effective 2026-09-01. Both dates appear on the standard's cover and bibliographic record.
Which businesses does it apply to?
It governs customer contact service where human agents and intelligent customer service operate together — most directly businesses running customer service on chat or phone, including small and medium businesses using a third-party AI tool.
It is a recommended standard. Can I ignore it?
It is a GB/T standard, which is recommended rather than mandatory, so it does not create a fine on its own. But it can become binding through procurement requirements, platform rules, contracts, or being referenced in registration and filing processes — and it is increasingly the yardstick a customer or a partner will measure you against.
How many items does a self-check involve?
A clause-level parse of chapters 4-9 yields 31 clauses — 35 checkable nodes once clause 5.2.2.6 is split by its a)-e) scenarios — which become 61 self-check items: 48 shall + 4 should + 9 may, including 5 deal-breakers. The figures 53 and 59 that circulate online came from an earlier coarse pass and were retired on 2026-09-19.
Where can I get the original text?
The standard is published through China's national standards system and the full text is distributed by the standardisation authority. Any summary — including this one — should be checked against it.
All answers in this cluster
What is GB/T 47746—2026 and who does it cover?
GB/T 47746—2026 is China's national standard on collaboration between live and intelligent customer services. Published 2026-05-25, effective 2026-09-01, governing the handover between AI and human agents.
GB/T 47746: does my company have to comply?
GB/T 47746—2026 is a recommended standard, so there is no automatic legal duty to comply — yet its chapters 4-9 yield 61 self-check items (48 shall + 4 should + 9 may, including 5 deal-breakers). Here is when a recommended standard becomes a requirement you actually face.
How many self-check items does GB/T 47746—2026 actually have?
61 items, not 53 and not 59: how our clause-by-clause parse of chapters 4-9 (31 clauses) becomes 48 shall + 4 should + 9 may checkable rows, including 5 deal-breakers — and where the widely quoted 53 came from.
Which five situations require transfer to a human?
GB/T 47746—2026 clause 5.2.2.6 lists five situations requiring automatic transfer from intelligent to live service — including explicit refusal, information security, and response timeout.
How to self-check AI customer service against GB/T 47746
Five steps to self-check AI customer service against GB/T 47746—2026: scope the channels, build a ledger, clear the 48 shall items first, leave evidence, set a re-check cycle — on a 61-item checklist (48+4+9, including 5 deal-breakers).
Does AI customer service need filing or registration?
备案 (filing) and 登记 (registration) are two different processes for AI services in China. What separates them, what each requires, and why the distinction matters before you go live.
How should AI-to-human transfer be designed to meet the standard?
Clause 5.2.2 of GB/T 47746—2026 sets out seven routes for intelligent-to-live handover. How to combine a primary route with an automatic fallback, configure the five mandatory scenarios, and carry context across the switch.
What evidence does an AI customer service self-check need, and how long must records be kept?
Three categories of evidence for a GB/T 47746—2026 self-check — configuration, operational and process — plus a practical sampling method and how to set a defensible retention period.
Emotion-sensing transfer: how do you actually implement it?
GB/T 47746—2026 lists emotion sensing as one of the intelligent-to-live transfer routes without prescribing the technology. Three implementation tiers — rules, sentiment scoring and human monitoring — with costs and ways to verify each.
Which metrics actually measure human-AI collaboration?
Four groups of metrics for human-AI customer service collaboration — transfer timeliness, transfer smoothness, the value of AI containment and recheck closure — and why AI resolution rate alone misleads.
How long does a GB/T 47746 self-check take, and who needs to be involved?
Time and staffing for a GB/T 47746—2026 self-check: stage-by-stage estimates for a small business, the three roles it needs, and how to cover them when only one person is available.