What is a chatbot template?

About this template

What is inside a chatbot template?

Every template on this site has six parts. The greeting says the bot is automated and offers a human. The steps are the conversation itself, and each one is a message, a row of buttons, a question, an AI answer or a handover.

The captures list what the bot collects: always a name and an email or phone number, sometimes a short message. The starter answers cover the questions visitors ask most, with square brackets where your details go. The handover rules say when a person takes over. The AI instructions are plain text you paste into the bot so it stays on script.

Each step also carries a reason. Read the reasons before you cut a step, because a few of them hold the others up.

Why start from a template instead of a blank bot?

A blank screen produces bots that open with three paragraphs, demand an email before answering anything, and forget that staff exist. A template starts from a sound order instead. Answer first. Ask for contact details second. Keep a person one tap away throughout.

That leaves your time for the parts only you know: prices, hours, service area and the questions your team answers every week.

The example on this page is a general inquiry bot, the plainest useful one. It answers a question, takes a message or fetches a person. Every other template in the library adds steps to that skeleton.

Which chatbot template should you start with?

Start from the job your chats do most. Visitors who mostly want a price get the price quote chatbot. Visitors who want a time slot get the appointment booking chatbot. Existing customers with a problem get the customer support chatbot.

Not sure yet? Run the general inquiry bot below for a few weeks. Then read what people typed, and move to the job template that matches them.

Why does no template ask how people heard about you?

Because a visitor's answer is a guess. Ask and you get a shrug and the word Google. Tagged campaign links tell your analytics whether the visit came from an ad, a search, a referral or a newsletter. Dropping the question also removes one more reason to close the window.

How the conversation branches

1. 1. Buttons Ask a question → step 2; Leave a message → step 4; Talk to a person → step 7
2. 2. AI answer → step 3
3. 3. Buttons Yes, thanks → step 8; Another question → step 2; I'd like a reply → step 4
4. 4. Asks for → step 5
5. 5. Asks for → step 6
6. 6. Asks for → step 8
7. 7. Handover → step 4
8. 8. End

The AI instructions

Paste these into any chatbot tool that takes written instructions, in the box where it asks how the bot should behave. Replace everything in square brackets first.

You are the automated assistant on the website of [BUSINESS NAME], which [WHAT THE BUSINESS DOES] in [SERVICE AREA].
If anyone asks, say you are an automated assistant. Never claim to be a person.
Answer only from the information at the end of these instructions. If the answer is not there, say so and offer to pass the question to the team.
Never guess a price, a date or a policy.
When someone wants a reply, ask for their name first, then an email or phone number, then one line about what they need.
Hand over to a person at once if the visitor asks for one, is upset, describes something urgent, or mentions work worth more than [VALUE].
Keep each reply to two or three short sentences.
Information: [PASTE YOUR SERVICES, HOURS, PRICES AND COMMON ANSWERS HERE]

Starter answers

Placeholders, not facts: replace each bracket with your own answer before the bot goes live.

What do you do?

[BUSINESS NAME] [WHAT THE BUSINESS DOES] for [WHO YOU SERVE] in [SERVICE AREA].

What are your hours?

[HOURS]. Messages sent outside those hours get a reply [RESPONSE TIME].

Where are you?

[ADDRESS OR SERVICE AREA].

How much does it cost?

[PRICING WORDING, or: Prices depend on the job. I can ask the team to quote.]

How fast will someone get back to me?

[RESPONSE TIME] during [HOURS].

Do you offer [SERVICE]?

[YES OR NO, plus one line on what you offer instead]

Can I speak to a person?

Yes. I'll pass you to the team now.

When it hands over to a person

• The visitor asks for a person
• The visitor is upset or complaining
• Anything urgent or safety related
• Work worth more than [VALUE]
• The bot has said it does not know twice in a row

What the bot collects

• Name (required)
• Email or phone (required)
• Message

How to set it up

1. Pick the template closest to the job your chats do, or begin with the general inquiry bot on this page.
2. Copy the AI instructions into the chatbot you already run.
3. Replace every square-bracket placeholder and load your own answers, so the bot speaks from your content.
4. Choose who receives handovers, then test the bot with real questions from your inbox before it goes live.