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Questionnaires in VISO TRUST can be answered in two ways: automatically by Artifact Intelligence using existing documentation, or directly by the vendor through the collection portal. This page covers both paths — including the full vendor experience from receiving a request to submitting a response.

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AI-Answered Questionnaires

When a questionnaire is configured with Answer with AI, Artifact Intelligence attempts to answer each question automatically using artifacts already available for the vendor — from prior assessments, public sources, or the vendor’s Trust Profile. This approach:
  • Requires no effort from the vendor
  • Completes in seconds
  • Works best when the vendor has submitted high-quality documentation that addresses the questions
If the AI can’t confidently answer a question from available evidence, that question remains unvalidated and may trigger a follow-up to the vendor.

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Vendor-Answered Questionnaires

When a questionnaire requires direct vendor response, it is included in the collection request sent to the vendor. The vendor completes it through the collection portal — a secure, guided interface they access via email.

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The Vendor Experience

1

Receiving the request

The vendor receives an email with a link to the collection portal and a one-time passcode. The email may also include a personal message from your team.
2

Accessing the portal

The vendor enters their passcode and arrives at the portal landing page, which shows:
  • Your organization’s name (and branding, if configured)
  • A summary of what’s being requested
  • Options to get started, request more time, forward the request, or opt out
3

Reviewing the request

The portal clearly distinguishes between:
  • Scope-based requests — standard document types determined by the assessment framework (SOC 2 reports, security policies, etc.)
  • Specific artifact requests — named documents or additional materials your team requested for this relationship
  • Questionnaire questions — written questions requiring direct responses
4

Answering questions

The vendor works through the questionnaire, providing a response to each question. For each one they:
  • Select a response from the available options
  • Add a description to provide context or clarification
5

Submitting

When complete, the vendor reviews and certifies that their responses are accurate, then submits. VISO TRUST immediately begins processing the response.

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Forwarding the Request

If the vendor contact who received the request isn’t the right person to answer — common when requests go to a sales contact instead of a security team — the vendor can forward the request to a colleague directly from the portal. Changing the contact while the request is active sends a new email to the updated recipient.

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Opting Out

Vendors can opt out of a collection request from the portal — intended for when they’re no longer doing business with your organization. Opting out ends the assessment and cannot be undone; if it was a mistake, you’ll need to start a new assessment.

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Follow-Up Questionnaires

After the initial assessment review, if controls remain unvalidated, VISO TRUST may send a follow-up questionnaire targeted at the specific gaps. This is a shorter, more focused questionnaire than the initial one. Vendors have a configurable window (7 days by default) to respond to a follow-up. The portal experience is the same as the initial collection request.

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Answering as a Trust Profile

If your organization has a Trust Profile, documents uploaded there can be used by Artifact Intelligence to automatically answer questionnaires sent to your organization by VISO TRUST customers — without any manual effort. This is the primary benefit of maintaining a complete Trust Profile: when customers assess you, the AI answers their questionnaires using your pre-uploaded documentation rather than requiring your security team to respond manually to each request.

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Tracking Responses

For questionnaires sent to vendors, track response status in the relationship’s Artifacts tab. The questionnaire response appears as a Questionnaire artifact with its analysis status. Once processed, responses are reflected in the Risk Analysis tab. For follow-up questionnaires, the assessment status changes to Collecting Information while the vendor responds, and returns to Review Started once the response is submitted and processing begins.