Table of Contents
- Key takeaways
- What is a lead generation chatbot?
- What SiteGPT can and cannot do for lead capture
- How to build a lead generation chatbot in 7 steps
- Step 1: Train the chatbot on buying-stage pages
- Step 2: Write lead instructions and pick a persona
- Step 3: Turn on lead collection and choose the contact fields
- Step 4: Choose when the lead form appears
- Step 5: Pick an industry template or add custom fields
- Step 6: Route every lead to the people who follow up
- Step 7: Install the chatbot and test with a new email
- How to choose your trigger and lead routing
- What does a lead generation chatbot cost with SiteGPT?
- Worked example: a demo request on a pricing page
- Common mistakes when building a lead generation chatbot
- Frequently asked questions
- Basics
- What is a lead generation chatbot?
- Is a lead generation chatbot better than a contact form?
- Can the chatbot qualify or score leads?
- Setup
- How do I build a lead generation chatbot without coding?
- What information can the chatbot collect?
- Can the chatbot ask for details before the conversation starts?
- Does the chatbot slow down my website?
- Leads and CRM
- Where do the leads go?
- Does SiteGPT connect to HubSpot or Salesforce?
- What happens when the same visitor submits the form twice?
- Cost and plans
- How much does a lead generation chatbot cost?
- Is there a free plan?
- Can the chatbot capture leads in other languages?
- Sources
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Created time
May 28, 2026 11:01 AM
To build a lead generation chatbot, train an AI chatbot on the pages buyers read before they reach out, tell it to answer first, turn on its in-chat lead form with one trigger, and send each lead to the inbox or system your team works from.
TL;DR
- A lead generation chatbot answers a visitor's question, then shows a short form inside the chat and saves the details as a lead.
- With SiteGPT the build takes 7 steps and no code: train, instruct, turn on lead collection, pick a trigger, add fields, route leads, install and test.
- Pick one of three triggers. When user shows interest is the recommended default. When unable to answer and After N messages are the other two.
- Lead emails, the Leads Dashboard, and CSV export work on every plan. The leads webhook, the only automatic route into a CRM, needs Scale or above.
- The lowest cost is SiteGPT Starter at $468 a year billed annually, or $59 a month billed monthly.
Key takeaways
Question | Short answer |
What does a lead generation chatbot do? | Answers questions from your content and collects contact details in a form inside the chat |
When does the form appear? | At one trigger you choose: when the visitor shows interest, when the AI cannot answer, or after a set number of messages |
What does it collect? | Email always, plus name, phone, and custom fields you define. The page URL is saved automatically. |
Where do leads go? | The Leads Dashboard and lead emails on any plan. A webhook to your CRM on Scale and above. |
Which SiteGPT plan is needed? | Any plan for lead capture. Starter is $59 a month, or $39 a month billed yearly ($468 a year). |
What is a lead generation chatbot?
A lead generation chatbot is a website chat assistant that answers a visitor's questions and collects the visitor's contact details so a person can follow up. It replaces or sits next to the contact form.
The order matters. A contact form asks for details before it gives anything. A lead generation chatbot answers the pricing or product question first, then asks for an email when the visitor has a reason to share it. The chatbots vs forms guide covers when a plain form is still the better choice.
This guide covers lead capture: the form, its trigger, and where each lead goes. Scoring leads and asking qualifying questions is covered in the lead qualification chatbot guide.
What SiteGPT can and cannot do for lead capture
SiteGPT can answer from your content, show a lead form in the chat, and send each lead to email or a webhook. It has no built-in CRM connection, per the SiteGPT docs on sending leads.
Task | SiteGPT | Plan |
Answer product, price, and service questions from your pages | Yes | Any plan |
Show a lead form inside the chat | Yes, with one of three triggers | Any plan |
Ask for details before the chat starts | Yes, with the Pre-Chat User Details form | Any plan |
Collect custom fields such as budget or company size | Yes, with the Custom template | Any plan |
Email each new lead to your team | Yes | Any plan |
Export leads as a CSV file | Yes | Any plan |
Send each new lead to a CRM automatically | Through the leads webhook and a tool that receives webhooks | Scale and above |
Create a CRM contact directly | No. There is no built-in CRM connection, and no HubSpot integration today. | Not available |
How to build a lead generation chatbot in 7 steps
Building a lead generation chatbot in SiteGPT takes seven steps and no code. The running example is a B2B software company that wants demo requests from its pricing and product pages.
Step 1: Train the chatbot on buying-stage pages
Training the chatbot means adding the pages and files visitors read before they contact sales. In SiteGPT, add a website with Scrape Website, a sitemap, or a list of specific links, and upload files such as a product sheet.
Add these pages first:
- The pricing page, so the chatbot answers cost questions without guessing.
- Product, feature, or service pages, so it answers "does this fit my case?"
- Comparison and integration pages, which hold the answers that decide a purchase.
- FAQ, security, and policy pages, which answer the objections that stop a visitor from reaching out.
The chatbot answers only from this content. A missing page means a missing answer. The chatbot training guide covers how to prepare the content.
Step 2: Write lead instructions and pick a persona
Instructions are the rules the chatbot follows in every answer. Open Chatbot Instructions, select Add New Instructions, and write one rule per line. Then open Chatbot Persona and pick a tone.
SiteGPT has 12 built-in personas. Three fit lead generation:
- Sales Expert highlights benefits and guides the visitor toward taking action.
- Consultant advises, asks qualifying questions, then suggests a solution.
- Urgent & Action-Oriented creates urgency and uses strong calls to action. Use it with care on considered purchases.
Example instructions for a lead generation chatbot:
You are the website assistant for [Company Name].
Answer only from the product, pricing, and FAQ content you were trained on.
Answer the visitor's question first. Then offer a demo or more information.
Never invent a price, a feature, an integration, or a customer result.
If the content does not answer the question, say so and offer to have the team follow up.
Keep answers short and end with one clear next step.Keep facts such as prices on your website pages, not in the instructions. Content holds the facts, and instructions hold the rules.
Step 3: Turn on lead collection and choose the contact fields
Lead collection shows a lead form inside the chat and saves what the visitor submits as a lead. In SiteGPT, open Leads, then Leads Settings, and turn on Enable Lead Collection.
- Under Basic Contact Fields, turn on Name, Phone Number, or both. Email Address is always collected and cannot be turned off.
- Under Industry Template, pick a template or Custom. Step 5 covers this choice.
- Under Collection Triggers, pick one trigger. Step 4 covers this choice.
- Select Save Changes.
Ask for as few fields as you can. Ask for a phone number only if someone will call.
Step 4: Choose when the lead form appears
The trigger decides when the form appears, and you can select only one. The AI is told to show the form one time per conversation.
Trigger | What happens | Fits |
When user shows interest (Recommended) | The AI shows the form when the visitor shows real interest, for example a pricing question | Most sales and demo pages |
When unable to answer | The AI shows the form when it needs more details about the visitor's situation to answer well | Quotes and case-specific services |
After N messages (static form) | The form shows after the visitor's Nth message, with N from 1 to 20. The AI does not decide. | Teams that want the same moment every time |
A separate Pre-Chat User Details form can ask for details before the conversation starts. Set it to Required, Optional, or Off. Required means every visitor must share details before asking anything, so fewer visitors start a chat.
Step 5: Pick an industry template or add custom fields
An industry template sets preset form fields and topic keywords for one type of business. SiteGPT has templates for Dental Clinic, HVAC Services, Legal Services, Real Estate, Automotive, Healthcare, SaaS/Software, E-commerce, and Consulting, plus Custom.
All templates except E-commerce include booking and require a Booking System URL. The appointment booking chatbot guide covers that setup.
Select Custom to set your own fields:
- Under Custom Form Fields, select Add Field.
- Enter a Display Label, such as Company size, and a Field Name, such as company_size. The field name shows in exports and webhooks.
- Pick a Field Type: Text, Email, Phone, Text Area, or Select Dropdown.
- Turn on Required field if the visitor must fill it in, then select Save Changes.
Do not use message or reason as a field name, because both are reserved. With Custom, you can also add trigger keywords such as pricing, demo, quote. The AI then tries to collect details when a visitor mentions one.
Step 6: Route every lead to the people who follow up
Routing decides where a lead goes after the visitor submits the form. Every lead lands in Leads, then Leads Dashboard, where your team can search, star, archive, and open the conversation behind it.
- Lead email. Under Lead Capture Email Notifications, keep Enable Lead Notifications on and add recipients. With an empty list, every team member except the Agent role gets the email.
- Leads webhook. In Settings, then Webhooks, enter a Leads Webhook URL and a token. SiteGPT sends a JSON POST for each new lead with the token in the X-WEBHOOK-TOKEN header. This needs Scale or above.
- CSV export. In the Leads Dashboard, select Export CSV for every lead that matches the current filter.
- Auto-escalate on lead capture. Turn this on to hand the chat to a person after the visitor submits the form. Human support must be set up first.
The lead email contains the name, email, phone, custom fields, time of capture, and the page URL. It has a Reply to button that writes to the visitor.
Two limits matter for a CRM. The webhook is sent one time, with no retry if your endpoint is down. A returning visitor who submits the same email again updates the existing lead and sends no webhook.
Step 7: Install the chatbot and test with a new email
Installing the chatbot takes one script. In Installation, copy the JavaScript embed and paste it in the head section or just before the closing body tag. The script loads in the background, so it does not slow down the page.
WordPress sites can use the SiteGPT plugin, which needs only the chatbot ID. The SiteGPT install docs give steps for Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, and HTML.
Then test in a private browser window:
- Ask a question that matches your trigger, such as a pricing question for When user shows interest.
- Submit the form with a new test email address.
- Check that the lead shows in the Leads Dashboard.
- Check each route you set up: the New Lead Capture email, the webhook request, or a row in the CSV export.
- Ask a question your content does not cover, and confirm the chatbot says so instead of guessing.
Use a new email for each test. A repeat email updates the existing lead and does not fire the webhook.
How to choose your trigger and lead routing
Choose the trigger by how visitors talk to the chatbot, and choose the route by where your team already works.
If you need | Pick | Why |
Demo or quote requests from pricing questions | When user shows interest | The AI asks when the visitor shows buying interest, after it answers |
Leads for case-specific questions such as a custom quote | When unable to answer | The form appears when the AI needs the visitor's details to answer |
The same capture moment in every chat | After N messages | Fixed and predictable. The AI does not decide. |
A contact for every conversation, even short ones | Pre-Chat User Details set to Required | No one chats without sharing details, so fewer people start a chat |
A salesperson alerted in their inbox | Lead email on any plan | Each new lead arrives with its fields and a Reply to button |
Every lead in a CRM without manual work | SiteGPT Scale with the leads webhook | The webhook is the only automatic route out of SiteGPT |
A weekly import into a spreadsheet or CRM | CSV export on any plan | No webhook needed, so Starter is enough |
What does a lead generation chatbot cost with SiteGPT?
A SiteGPT lead generation chatbot costs $468 a year on Starter billed annually, or $59 a month billed monthly. Lead capture works on every plan. The plan changes the message quota, the number of chatbots, and whether the leads webhook is available.
Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | What it adds for lead generation |
$59 a month | $39 a month ($468 a year) | 1 chatbot, 4k messages a month, lead form, lead emails, CSV export | |
$129 a month | $79 a month ($948 a year) | 2 chatbots, 10k messages, 4 members, iOS app, Slack and other chat integrations | |
$429 a month | $259 a month ($3,108 a year) | 3 chatbots, 40k messages, 10 members, leads webhook | |
SiteGPT Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom limits, signed DPA on request |
The math:
- Starter: $468 a year billed yearly, against $708 billed monthly ($59 x 12). Annual billing saves $240, or 34%.
- Growth: $948 a year billed yearly, against $1,548 billed monthly. Annual billing saves $600, or 39%.
- Scale: $3,108 a year billed yearly, against $5,148 billed monthly. Annual billing saves $2,040, or 40%.
- The webhook step-up: moving from Starter to Scale to get the leads webhook adds $2,640 a year on annual billing. A team that imports leads once a week can use CSV export on Starter instead.
- Message volume: 4k messages a month on Starter is about 133 a day. The quota is 4k GPT-4.1-mini messages or 400 GPT-4.1 messages, with any mix in between.
SiteGPT has a 7-day free trial with a credit card required, and no free plan.
Worked example: a demo request on a pricing page
A demo request conversation follows four moves: answer, offer, collect, route. This is an illustrative example of the flow the setup above produces, using When user shows interest and a Custom template with a Company size field.
Turn | Visitor | Chatbot |
1 | Does the Pro plan include single sign-on? | Answers from the pricing page and names the plan that includes it. |
2 | What would it cost for 40 users? | Explains the per-user price from the pricing page, then offers a demo. |
3 | Yes, a demo would help. | Shows the lead form with name, email, and company size. |
4 | Submits the form | Confirms the details were saved and keeps answering questions. |
5 | Leaves the site | Nothing. The sales rep has the lead email with the page URL and can reply from it. |
The same flow works for other jobs. An AI FAQ chatbot answers without a lead form, and a recruitment chatbot collects candidate details instead of buyer details.
Common mistakes when building a lead generation chatbot
Most lead generation chatbot problems come from asking too early, asking for too much, or losing the lead after capture.
- Asking before answering. A required pre-chat form stops visitors before their first question. Start with When user shows interest.
- Too many fields. Every extra field is one more reason to close the chat. Email plus one custom field is often enough.
- Training on the home page only. Pricing, comparison, and FAQ pages hold the answers that lead to a demo request.
- Prices typed into the instructions. Keep prices on a page the chatbot is trained on. Starter refreshes content manually, Growth monthly, and Scale weekly.
- No one reads the lead emails. Add a named recipient list instead of relying on the default team list.
- Testing with the same email. A repeat email updates the existing lead and does not fire the webhook, so a test can look broken when it is not.
- Promising a CRM sync on Starter. The leads webhook needs Scale. On Starter and Growth, use lead emails or CSV export.
Speed of follow-up matters too. A Harvard Business Review study of online sales leads found that most companies do not respond to web leads fast enough. The lead email and auto-escalation cut the time between the form and the first reply.
Frequently asked questions
Basics
What is a lead generation chatbot?
A lead generation chatbot is a website chat assistant that answers a visitor's questions and collects contact details in a form inside the chat. A person on your team then follows up from the lead.
Is a lead generation chatbot better than a contact form?
A lead generation chatbot fits visitors who have a question before they share details, because it answers first. A contact form is still simpler for visitors who already know they want a call. Many sites keep both.
Can the chatbot qualify or score leads?
SiteGPT can collect qualifying answers in custom fields, such as budget or company size, and the Consultant persona asks qualifying questions. It does not score leads. Qualification design is covered in the lead qualification chatbot guide.
Setup
How do I build a lead generation chatbot without coding?
Build a lead generation chatbot without coding in seven steps. Train it on your pricing and product pages, write instructions, turn on lead collection, pick a trigger, add fields, set lead emails or a webhook, and paste one script on your site.
What information can the chatbot collect?
The chatbot always collects email. Name and phone number are optional, and the Custom template adds fields of type Text, Email, Phone, Text Area, or Select Dropdown. SiteGPT also saves the page the visitor was on.
Can the chatbot ask for details before the conversation starts?
Yes. The Pre-Chat User Details form shows before the conversation and can be Required, Optional, or Off. It works independently of the in-chat lead form.
Does the chatbot slow down my website?
No. The SiteGPT install docs say the script loads in the background, so it does not slow down the page.
Leads and CRM
Where do the leads go?
Every lead goes to the Leads Dashboard. On any plan, SiteGPT can email each new lead and export leads as a CSV file. On Scale and above, the leads webhook sends each new lead to a URL you choose.
Does SiteGPT connect to HubSpot or Salesforce?
SiteGPT has no built-in CRM connection and no HubSpot integration today. To send leads to a CRM, connect the leads webhook (Scale and above) to the CRM or to an automation tool that receives webhooks.
What happens when the same visitor submits the form twice?
SiteGPT updates the existing lead. It sends no webhook, and it sends a Returning Lead email only if Email for every form submission is turned on.
Cost and plans
How much does a lead generation chatbot cost?
A SiteGPT lead generation chatbot costs $468 a year on Starter billed annually, or $59 a month billed monthly. The leads webhook needs Scale, at $3,108 a year billed annually or $429 a month billed monthly.
Is there a free plan?
No. SiteGPT has no free plan. Every self-serve plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and a credit card is required.
Can the chatbot capture leads in other languages?
Yes. SiteGPT supports 95+ languages. The answers are only as good as the content the chatbot is trained on in that language.
Sources
Checked on 23 October 2026.
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