What is an AI chat agent for websites and WhatsApp?

How does an AI chat agent work?

An AI chat agent works by reading each incoming message, matching it against the knowledge it was trained on, and writing a reply that moves the conversation toward a booking or a handoff. It runs on every text channel connected to the CRM at once, so a WhatsApp message at 11 pm and a website chat at noon get the same answer in the same tone.

The agent is not a scripted bot with buttons. It answers free-text questions about services, hours, prices you have chosen to publish and location, asks the qualifying questions you set, and offers real calendar slots. When a message matches a handoff rule, it stops and a person takes over in the same thread.

Skill Up Experts builds the agent on GoHighLevel Conversation AI, connected to the same pipeline and calendar as the voice agent and the text sequences in the lead follow-up system.

What is the agent trained on?

The agent is trained on your own material: the services page, the FAQ, price lists you choose to publish, opening hours, service area, and a written set of answers to the questions your front desk hears most. It is not trained on the open internet, so it does not invent a service you do not offer.

Training also includes what the agent must not do: quote a price that is not on the list, diagnose a medical condition, promise a delivery date, or discuss a competitor. Those boundaries are written as rules and tested with real transcripts before launch.

Every month the transcripts are reviewed and the training is updated with the questions the agent could not answer, which is how the answer rate rises over the first quarter.

When does the agent hand over to a person?

The agent hands over when a message matches a handoff rule: the customer asks for a person, the message contains a complaint, the question is outside the trained topics, the lead qualifies for a high-value service, or the conversation reaches a set number of turns without a booking. On handoff the thread is assigned to a team member with a notification, and the agent stays silent until it is told to resume.

Outside business hours the handoff message tells the customer when a person will reply and offers a booking slot in the meantime, so the lead is not lost to the next business on the list.

Handoff rules are the difference between an agent customers trust and one they avoid. We write them with the owner before launch and adjust them from transcripts.

What rules and costs apply?

On WhatsApp the agent can reply freely inside the 24-hour window after the customer’s last message; after that it can only send an approved template, which the workflow handles. In the United States, SMS replies from the agent fall under the TCPA consent captured when the customer first messaged or filled the form, and the number must be registered under A2P 10DLC.

Conversation AI usage is metered by GoHighLevel per message, separate from the per-minute Voice AI rate of $0.10 to $0.20, and an agency can only rebill that usage on the $497 plan. We pass usage through at cost and show it on the weekly report.