Edinburg links city systems in one AI assistant for residents

The City of Edinburg launched Ask Edinburg in 2026, an AI assistant that connects CivicClerk, Municode and the city’s events calendar through the city website. The tool has handled more than 3,300 communications so far, showing how local governments are using AI to make city information easier to find without forcing residents to navigate separate systems.

Why it matters: - Residents can get answers about city services, council business and community events from one place instead of searching multiple systems. - The approach aims to make local government easier to use for people who do not know where specific information is stored. - Ask Edinburg has handled more than 3,300 communications since launch, which suggests residents are using the tool for routine city questions.

What happened: - The City of Edinburg launched Ask Edinburg in 2026 with Citibot. - The AI assistant is available through the city website. - Ask Edinburg connects CivicClerk, Municode and the city’s events calendar in one experience. - Residents can ask about topics such as last night’s City Council meeting, weekend events, free events and age-appropriate activities. - The assistant keeps conversational context, so follow-up questions can still refer to earlier topics.

The details: - Since launch, residents have used Ask Edinburg across nearly 2,000 sessions. - The assistant answers 89.6% of questions without a human handoff. - Only 19 escalations were recorded during the reporting period. - Calendar and event questions accounted for 380 conversations. - City Council questions accounted for 331 conversations. - Utilities questions accounted for 509 conversations. - “Water” was the single most common keyword, appearing in 389 communications. - Ask Edinburg does not replace CivicClerk, Municode or the events calendar. - Each system still manages its own data, agendas, code and community listings.

Between the lines: - The launch shows a shift from siloed city tools to a single resident-facing entry point. - The setup preserves existing back-end systems while changing only how residents access them. - Citibot’s pitch is that AI becomes more useful when it sits on top of the systems a city already uses. - Daniel Vera, director of information technology for the City of Edinburg, said the goal is to make city information easier to access regardless of where that information lives. - Bratton Riley, co-founder and CEO of Citibot, said Edinburg shows where AI in local government is headed.

What’s next: - Text-message access to Ask Edinburg is planned for a future phase. - The city is keeping the assistant live through its website now, with broader access likely to follow if the rollout succeeds.

The bottom line: - Edinburg is using AI not to replace city systems, but to unify them into one resident-friendly interface.