diff --git a/components/Chat/Chat.test.tsx b/components/Chat/Chat.test.tsx
index d0758c9a..44964a48 100644
--- a/components/Chat/Chat.test.tsx
+++ b/components/Chat/Chat.test.tsx
@@ -72,18 +72,21 @@ describe("Chat component", () => {
       </SearchProvider>,
     );
 
+    const uuidRegex =
+      /^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[4][0-9a-f]{3}-[89ab][0-9a-f]{3}-[0-9a-f]{12}$/i;
     const el = screen.getByTestId("mock-chat-response");
     expect(el).toBeInTheDocument();
 
     const dataProps = el.getAttribute("data-props");
-    expect(JSON.parse(dataProps!)).toEqual({
-      isStreamingComplete: false,
-      searchTerm: "tell me about boats",
-      message: {
-        answer: "fake-answer-1",
-        end: "stop",
-      },
+    const dataPropsObj = JSON.parse(dataProps!);
+    expect(dataPropsObj.question).toEqual("tell me about boats");
+    expect(dataPropsObj.isStreamingComplete).toEqual(false);
+    expect(dataPropsObj.message).toEqual({
+      answer: "fake-answer-1",
+      end: "stop",
     });
+    expect(typeof dataPropsObj.conversationRef).toBe("string");
+    expect(uuidRegex.test(dataPropsObj.conversationRef)).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it("sends a websocket message when the search term changes", () => {
diff --git a/components/Chat/Chat.tsx b/components/Chat/Chat.tsx
index 96a2deab..0666c194 100644
--- a/components/Chat/Chat.tsx
+++ b/components/Chat/Chat.tsx
@@ -15,12 +15,11 @@ import Container from "@/components/Shared/Container";
 import { prepareQuestion } from "@/lib/chat-helpers";
 import useChatSocket from "@/hooks/useChatSocket";
 import useQueryParams from "@/hooks/useQueryParams";
+import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid";
 
 const Chat = ({
-  totalResults,
   viewResultsCallback,
 }: {
-  totalResults?: number;
   viewResultsCallback?: () => void;
 }) => {
   const { searchTerm = "" } = useQueryParams();
@@ -37,35 +36,42 @@ const Chat = ({
     searchState: { chat },
     searchDispatch,
   } = useSearchState();
-  const { question } = chat;
+  const { question, answer } = chat;
 
   const [isStreamingComplete, setIsStreamingComplete] = useState(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (!isStreamingComplete && isConnected && authToken && searchTerm) {
+    if (
+      !isStreamingComplete &&
+      isConnected &&
+      authToken &&
+      searchTerm &&
+      conversationRef
+    ) {
       resetChat();
-      const preparedQuestion = prepareQuestion(searchTerm, authToken);
-      setConversationRef(preparedQuestion.ref);
+      const preparedQuestion = prepareQuestion(
+        searchTerm,
+        authToken,
+        conversationRef,
+      );
       sendMessage(preparedQuestion);
     }
-  }, [authToken, isStreamingComplete, isConnected, searchTerm, sendMessage]);
+  }, [
+    authToken,
+    isStreamingComplete,
+    isConnected,
+    searchTerm,
+    conversationRef,
+    sendMessage,
+  ]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (!message) return;
-
-    // const updateChat = () => {
-    //   searchDispatch({
-    //     chat: {
-    //       answer: message.answer || "",
-    //       documents: sourceDocuments,
-    //       question: searchTerm || "",
-    //       ref: message.ref,
-    //     },
-    //     type: "updateChat",
-    //   });
-    // };
-
-    if (message.type === "final_message") setIsStreamingComplete(true);
+    setIsStreamingComplete(false);
+    setConversationRef(uuidv4());
+  }, [searchTerm]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!message || !conversationRef) return;
   }, [message]);
 
   function handleNewQuestion() {
@@ -90,13 +96,42 @@ const Chat = ({
       </Container>
     );
 
+  const handleResponseCallback = (content: any) => {
+    if (!conversationRef) return;
+
+    setIsStreamingComplete(true);
+    searchDispatch({
+      chat: {
+        // content here is now a react element
+        // once continued conversations ar e in place
+        // see note below for question refactor
+        answer: content,
+
+        // documents should be eventually removed as
+        // they are now integrated into content
+        // doing so will require some careful refactoring
+        // as the documents are used in feedback form
+        documents: [],
+
+        // question should become an entry[] with
+        // entry[n].question and entry[n].content
+        question: searchTerm || "",
+
+        ref: conversationRef,
+      },
+      type: "updateChat",
+    });
+  };
+
   return (
     <>
       <ChatResponse
+        conversationRef={conversationRef}
         isStreamingComplete={isStreamingComplete}
-        searchTerm={question || searchTerm}
+        key={conversationRef}
         message={message}
-        conversationRef={conversationRef}
+        question={searchTerm}
+        responseCallback={handleResponseCallback}
       />
       {streamingError && (
         <Container>
diff --git a/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.styled.tsx b/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.styled.tsx
index 9af3de0d..acde30d4 100644
--- a/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.styled.tsx
+++ b/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.styled.tsx
@@ -43,10 +43,14 @@ const StyledInterstitialIcon = styled("div", {
 const StyledInterstitial = styled("div", {
   color: "$black",
   fontFamily: "$northwesternSansBold",
-  fontSize: "$gr3",
+  fontSize: "$gr4",
   display: "flex",
   alignItems: "center",
   gap: "$gr2",
+
+  em: {
+    color: "$purple",
+  },
 });
 
 export { StyledInterstitial, StyledInterstitialIcon };
diff --git a/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.tsx b/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.tsx
index 168c90bf..da0447e7 100644
--- a/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.tsx
+++ b/components/Chat/Response/Interstitial.tsx
@@ -15,17 +15,25 @@ const ResponseInterstitial: React.FC<ResponseInterstitialProps> = ({
   message,
 }) => {
   const { tool, input } = message;
-  let text = "";
+  let text: React.ReactElement = <></>;
 
   switch (tool) {
     case "aggregate":
-      text = `Aggregating ${input.agg_field} by ${input.term_field} ${input.term}`;
+      text = (
+        <>
+          Aggregating {input.agg_field} by {input.term_field} {input.term}
+        </>
+      );
       break;
     case "discover_fields":
-      text = "Discovering fields";
+      text = <>Discovering fields</>;
       break;
     case "search":
-      text = `Searching for: ${input.query}`;
+      text = (
+        <>
+          Searching for <em>{input.query}</em>
+        </>
+      );
       break;
     default:
       console.warn("Unknown tool_start message", message);
diff --git a/components/Chat/Response/Response.styled.tsx b/components/Chat/Response/Response.styled.tsx
index 62100316..1083c9e9 100644
--- a/components/Chat/Response/Response.styled.tsx
+++ b/components/Chat/Response/Response.styled.tsx
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ const StyledQuestion = styled("h3", {
   fontSize: "$gr6",
   letterSpacing: "-0.012em",
   lineHeight: "1.35em",
-  margin: "0",
+  margin: "0 0 $gr4",
   padding: "0",
   color: "$black",
 });
diff --git a/components/Chat/Response/Response.tsx b/components/Chat/Response/Response.tsx
index 39b852fa..11454628 100644
--- a/components/Chat/Response/Response.tsx
+++ b/components/Chat/Response/Response.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import React, { use, useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import {
   StyledQuestion,
   StyledResponse,
@@ -14,16 +14,18 @@ import { StreamingMessage } from "@/types/components/chat";
 
 interface ChatResponseProps {
   conversationRef?: string;
-  message?: StreamingMessage;
-  searchTerm: string;
   isStreamingComplete: boolean;
+  message?: StreamingMessage;
+  question: string;
+  responseCallback?: (renderedMessage: any) => void;
 }
 
 const ChatResponse: React.FC<ChatResponseProps> = ({
   conversationRef,
-  message,
-  searchTerm,
   isStreamingComplete,
+  message,
+  question,
+  responseCallback,
 }) => {
   const [renderedMessage, setRenderedMessage] = useState<any>();
   const [streamedMessage, setStreamedMessage] = useState<string>("");
@@ -83,17 +85,35 @@ const ChatResponse: React.FC<ChatResponseProps> = ({
         </>
       ));
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Final message is the last message in the response
+     * and is used to trigger the responseCallback
+     * to store this response.
+     */
+    if (type === "final_message") {
+      if (responseCallback) responseCallback(renderedMessage);
+    }
   }, [message]);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    resetRenderedMessage();
+    resetStreamedMessage();
+  }, [conversationRef]);
+
   function resetStreamedMessage() {
     setStreamedMessage("");
   }
 
+  function resetRenderedMessage() {
+    setRenderedMessage(undefined);
+  }
+
   return (
     <StyledResponseWrapper>
       <Container>
         <StyledResponse>
-          <StyledQuestion>{searchTerm}</StyledQuestion>
+          <StyledQuestion>{question}</StyledQuestion>
           {renderedMessage}
           {streamedMessage && <ResponseMarkdown content={streamedMessage} />}
           {!isStreamingComplete && <BouncingLoader />}
@@ -103,4 +123,4 @@ const ChatResponse: React.FC<ChatResponseProps> = ({
   );
 };
 
-export default React.memo(ChatResponse);
+export default ChatResponse;
diff --git a/lib/chat-helpers.ts b/lib/chat-helpers.ts
index 87cec0b4..467d3f52 100644
--- a/lib/chat-helpers.ts
+++ b/lib/chat-helpers.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 import axios, { AxiosError } from "axios";
 
 import { DCAPI_CHAT_FEEDBACK } from "./constants/endpoints";
-import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid";
 
-const prepareQuestion = (questionString: string, authToken: string) => {
+const prepareQuestion = (
+  questionString: string,
+  authToken: string,
+  conversationRef: string,
+) => {
   return {
     auth: authToken,
     message: "chat",
     question: questionString,
-    ref: uuidv4(),
+    ref: conversationRef,
   };
 };
 
diff --git a/pages/search.tsx b/pages/search.tsx
index 568886cb..b27958b7 100644
--- a/pages/search.tsx
+++ b/pages/search.tsx
@@ -254,10 +254,7 @@ const SearchPage: NextPage = () => {
               renderTabList={showStreamedResponse}
             />
             <Tabs.Content value="stream">
-              <Chat
-                totalResults={totalResults}
-                viewResultsCallback={handleViewResultsCallback}
-              />
+              <Chat viewResultsCallback={handleViewResultsCallback} />
             </Tabs.Content>
 
             <Tabs.Content value="results">