How to set up an AI chatbot with AcquiChat in 5 minutes

AcquiChat is built so you can go from nothing to a working chatbot in one sitting. You create the bot, tell it what you know, and then choose where visitors meet it: as a chat bubble on your website, as a page of its own, or both.

1. Create your chatbot

Sign up, then create a chatbot from the dashboard. Pick the template closest to your business:

• E-commerce store: shipping, returns and product questions
• Software product: plans, billing, features and integrations
• Restaurant: reservations, menu, hours and dietary info
• Blank slate: start from scratch

A template fills in sample instructions and FAQs, so you are editing something instead of staring at an empty page.

2. Give it your information

The bot only answers from what you give it, so this is the step that matters most.

1. On the Basics tab, set the bot’s name and your business name. The business name appears on your chat page and in link previews.
2. In Instructions, say how the bot should behave: its tone, and what it should or should not say.
3. On the Knowledge base tab, replace the template’s sample entries with your own. Add each question and answer as its own entry, or paste a block of text and review it before importing. You can switch an entry off without deleting it.

Start with the 10 to 20 questions your customers ask most. You can add more later, using the conversations where the bot could not help.

3. Test it

The preview next to the editor lets you chat with your bot as you work. Ask the questions you just added, then a few you did not cover. If an answer is wrong or missing, fix the entry and ask again.

4. Publish

Changes you make are saved as a draft, and visitors only see what you have published. Press Publish when you are happy. Publishing unlocks after you verify your email address, so confirm it from the message we send when you sign up.

After that, you only publish again when you want to roll out new changes.

5. Choose where visitors find it

Open the Install tab. You have two options, and you can use both.

Option A: the widget on your website

Copy the code from Add to your website and paste it before the closing </body> tag of your site. Many site builders have a “custom code” or “footer scripts” box for this. A chat bubble appears on your pages once the bot is published.

You can also use Preview on a sample page to see the published bot the way visitors will.

Option B: a hosted chat page

In the Chat page card, choose an address such as acq.chat/your-business. AcquiChat checks that it is available before you save. The page goes live when you publish, and Copy link gives you something to share anywhere:

• Your Instagram or TikTok bio
• Email signatures and newsletters
• Quotes, invoices and printed material
• Messages and social media replies

It works on its own, so you do not need a website to start using it.

6. Make sure you hear about the leads

When visitors want to talk to a person, or the bot cannot answer, it can offer to collect their contact details one field at a time. Under Basics, choose which details you want and where the emails go. Each lead arrives in your inbox with the conversation attached, and you can see all of them in the Leads section of the dashboard. If you are not sure how much those leads are worth, this guide for contractors shows how to work it out for any service business.

What to do next

Check your conversations after a week. Anywhere the bot said it did not know, add an entry. Your bot gets better with every question you answer, and that is the most valuable thing you can do after setup.