Guide
AI chat assistants for websites: a buyer's guide
What a good AI website assistant must do, the questions to ask any provider, red flags, how to measure results, and how to stay compliant with the EU AI Act and GDPR.
VAULT 33|27 · Updated 12 November 2026 · Reviewed 12 November 2026 · 2 min read
What a good assistant is for
A website assistant has one commercial job: turn a visitor with a question into an enquiry or a booking, at any hour, without frustrating them. Everything you evaluate should come back to that.
Must-haves
| Capability | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Answers only from your approved information | Prevents invented prices, promises and advice |
| Says clearly that it is AI | Required for EU customers under the AI Act, and builds trust |
| Hands over to a person easily | Urgent, sensitive or complex questions need people |
| Captures the enquiry properly | Name, contact details, need and timing, sent to your CRM |
| Books the next step | Calendar integration turns interest into an appointment |
| Speaks your clients' languages | Especially for international or diaspora clients |
| Works on mobile and with a keyboard | Most visitors are on phones; accessibility matters |
| Lets you read every conversation | So you can improve answers and spot problems |
Questions to ask any provider
- Where does the assistant get its answers, and how do we control what it says?
- What happens when it does not know the answer?
- How does a customer reach a person, and how fast?
- Where is conversation data stored, for how long, and is it used to train models?
- Is there a data processing agreement?
- Does it integrate with our CRM, calendar and messaging channels?
- Can we see and export every conversation?
- How is it labelled as AI?
- What does it cost as volume grows, and are there limits?
- If we leave, what do we keep?
Red flags
- Promises that it "never makes mistakes" or replaces your team entirely.
- No way to restrict it to your approved information.
- Conversations stored somewhere you cannot see or export.
- No clear AI label, or a fake human name and photo.
- A widget that blocks the page on mobile or traps keyboard users.
- Pricing that hides the cost of the volume you will actually have.
How to measure it
| Measure | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Conversations started | Steady, without annoying pop-ups |
| Enquiries captured from chat | The main success metric |
| Bookings made from chat | Proves it moves people forward |
| Handover rate and speed | Handovers happen quickly when needed |
| Out-of-hours enquiries captured | Shows value you were losing before |
| Conversations reviewed and answers improved | Monthly, at least in the first months |
Launch plan
- Write down the 30 to 50 questions customers really ask, with approved answers.
- Decide what the assistant must never answer, and where it hands over.
- Connect the CRM and calendar before launch, not after.
- Test with real staff asking difficult questions.
- Launch, then review conversations weekly for the first month.
We build AI website chat assistants to this standard, connected to your CRM and fully under your control.
Sources
Open your vault.
A free systems audit of your business: where enquiries leak and exactly what we would build.
Book your free audit