Copilot in SharePoint Is Now Generally Available: What Intranet Teams Need to Do

What Is Copilot in SharePoint?

Copilot in SharePoint is Microsoft's AI assistant built into SharePoint sites. It helps people create and edit pages, organise libraries, manage lists and build SharePoint agents using plain-language prompts. Microsoft's overview groups what it can do by role:

• Content consumers

  Anyone with read access can ask questions about site content, summarise files and use agents.

• Content creators

  Members with edit rights can draft pages, sections and FAQ web parts, and get design suggestions.

• Content managers

  Can create autofill columns, set up rules and build custom library views.

• Site managers

  Owners and admins can use site-improvement tools, such as flagging outdated pages and broken links.

It respects existing SharePoint permissions. Copilot only works with content the person asking can already open.

What Changes at General Availability?

The move to GA brings four practical changes for intranet teams.

Microsoft's EVP Jeff Teper framed the launch on the SharePoint blog on September 25 as SharePoint powering the new Copilot app and agents. In practice, that means SharePoint content is now the main source Copilot draws on when employees ask about your organisation.

What's Included and What Costs Extra?

The Microsoft 365 Copilot licence covers everyday Copilot in SharePoint work: asking questions, drafting and editing pages, and routine content creation. Microsoft describes this as "no extra cost; included with license."

Advanced, agentic work is different. It needs usage-based billing, which draws on Copilot Credits. Topedia's September 27 summary lists image generation, automated reporting and column autofill among the advanced features. Site-wide, real-time metadata autofill also needs usage-based billing switched on for that specific site.

Microsoft's own guidance on who needs credits is useful for budgeting:

• Prioritise: content managers (knowledge, records and compliance roles) and site managers (SharePoint admins, intranet managers).
• Assign as needed: content creators. Everyday creation is included, but high volume may need credits.
• Usually not needed: everyone else.

How Do You Turn On Advanced Work in SharePoint?

Usage-based billing is off until an admin creates a spending policy. Here's the path from Microsoft Learn:

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Copilot > Cost management.
2. Select Add spending policy and give it a name.
3. Under Access scope, choose all users or specific security groups.
4. Under Agents and services, select Advanced work in SharePoint.
5. Set limits and alerts, choose a billing method, then review and add the policy.

Note: Existing policies with "Allow new agents and services as they become available" turned on may pick up this service automatically. Review them before September 30 so costs don't surprise you.

What Must Admins Change Before November 1, 2026?

During preview, many tenants limited Copilot to a pilot group of sites with PowerShell. Those settings (KnowledgeAgentScope, KnowledgeAgentSelectedSitesList and KnowledgeAgentSelectedSitesListOperation) keep working until November 1, 2026. After that, Topedia reports "the existing tenant settings to control Copilot in SharePoint are no longer honored."

If you used ExcludeSelectedSites, IncludeSelectedSites or NoSites, move to the two new controls:

A simple rule of thumb: use Site AI settings to shape the experience, and Restricted Content Discovery for sites that should never feed AI answers, such as HR case files or legal matters.

Pre-GA Checklist for Intranet Teams

• List the sites you excluded in preview and decide: Site AI settings or Restricted Content Discovery?
• Review spending policies and decide who gets Copilot Credits.
• Tell site owners about the new Site AI panel and who approves SharePoint agents.
• Clean up outdated pages on high-traffic sites. Copilot will quote them.
• Check regional fit. GA doesn't cover GCC, GCC High, DoD, air-gapped clouds or 21Vianet. EU customers should also check data-boundary details: Topedia reports the new models aren't covered by the EU Data Boundary commitment.
• Brief your helpdesk on the new buttons and billing questions.

SharePoint Agents: Who Can Build Them?

SharePoint agents are focused AI assistants grounded in chosen sites, libraries, folders, lists or files. According to Microsoft's FAQ (updated September 25, 2026), each agent can use up to 20 sources. Members with edit rights can create agents, and site owners approve them and set the site's default. Agents are available in SharePoint, Teams and Microsoft Copilot.

For intranet teams, a well-scoped agent (say, an "HR policies" agent grounded in one policy library) is often more reliable than open-ended questions across the whole tenant. For more options, see the 7 best AI tools for SharePoint intranets and our guide to AI for SharePoint .

How ShortPoint Helps

Copilot in SharePoint is strong at content: drafting text, summarising files and organising libraries. Many teams also want pages that look polished and on-brand without developer time. ShortPoint works inside your own SharePoint, so pages, permissions and content stay where they are. The AI Designer builds complete, branded intranet page layouts from a prompt inside your SharePoint once your trial is activated, and the template library (included with every plan) gives you ready-made starting points. It's used by 12M+ people across 350K+ SharePoint sites. For a side-by-side view, see SharePoint Copilot vs AI Designer .

The Bottom Line

Copilot in SharePoint GA is good news for intranet teams: AI page and content help is now part of the licence, with no opt-in hoops. The two things to act on are cost (decide who gets Copilot Credits) and control (replace preview PowerShell settings before November 1). Do both this month and the rollout will be smooth.

Want your intranet pages to look as good as Copilot makes them read? Start a 15-day free trial of ShortPoint (no credit card needed) or browse the template library .

Frequently Asked Questions