Add an AI chatbot to WhatsApp
Your assistant answers your business number, in your business's name
People message a business on WhatsApp the way they used to phone it, and they expect an answer now. Connect your number and your assistant replies from the same content your website answers from, in your business's own name, while anybody on your team can take a conversation over in one click.
What it does
It answers as your business, not as us
Every reply leaves from your own number, under the name Meta approved for it. Your customer sees the sender they would have seen if a person had typed it, and the word WelcomeAI appears nowhere in the conversation.
Every conversation starts with a phone number
WhatsApp identifies people by the number they are writing from, so a lead is reachable before anybody is asked anything. The assistant is told it already has the number and asks the other questions instead, which is the difference between a chatbot and one that pays attention.
A person takes over in one click
Every conversation shows what was said and how long is left to reply. Switch the assistant off for one customer and the thread is yours; their messages keep arriving and the assistant stays quiet until you hand it back.
How to connect it
Read the full guide- 1
Get the number onto the platform
A number on the WhatsApp Business Platform, with its name approved by Meta. It cannot be one currently signed in to the WhatsApp apps unless you migrate it.
- 2
Connect it
Social media, WhatsApp, choose the knowledge base, and paste the token and the phone number id from Meta. We read the number back from Meta before saving, so a wrong id is refused rather than silently ignored.
- 3
Write what it says
Its instructions, the longest reply you want, and the line that tells people they are talking to a bot. Meta requires that disclosure and we send it once per conversation.
- 4
Watch the first ones
The inbox shows every thread with a live countdown. Take one over whenever an answer needs a person.
Questions people ask
Will the chatbot say WelcomeAI?
No. The sender is your own number and the name Meta approved for your business, and nothing in this product can change that name. What we decide is what the assistant knows and how it writes; if you want it to introduce itself by a name, you write that into its instructions.
Can I connect my number today?
If your business has access to its own Meta app, yes, from a short form, and the guide walks through it. The one-click version needs Meta's App Review of our app, which is under way. The date on this page is when we expect to open that.
How long can the assistant reply for?
24 hours from each message somebody sends you. That is Meta's rule for the platform, not a setting. When it runs out nobody can answer from here, not even a person on your team -- WhatsApp has no equivalent of the seven-day extension Instagram gives, and the reply has to come from the business's own WhatsApp.
Do I get the customer's phone number?
Yes, and that is the difference between this channel and every other one. WhatsApp identifies people by the number they write from, so it is on the lead from the first message, whether or not the assistant asks for anything else.
Can I keep using WhatsApp on my phone?
A number on the API is not a number in the WhatsApp Business app, so plan for one or the other unless you use Meta's coexistence option. Your team answers from the inbox here, where every conversation shows how long is left to reply.
Can it message people first?
Not yet. Reaching somebody outside the 24-hour window means a message template approved by Meta in advance, and Meta charges for each one. This integration answers people who wrote to you.
What teams use it for
Upload your documents, get answers that cite them
One knowledge base, an AI chat or an Ask AI search on any site, and every answer with the passage it came from. Free for 14 days.