Table of Contents
- Key takeaways: building a recruitment chatbot
- What is a recruitment chatbot?
- How common are recruitment chatbots?
- Scripted screening bot vs content-trained recruitment chatbot
- What SiteGPT can and cannot do in a recruitment flow
- How to create a recruitment chatbot with SiteGPT
- Step 1: Create the chatbot
- Step 2: Train it on your careers page and job descriptions
- Step 3: Open the instructions screen and set a persona
- Step 4: Write answer-first screening instructions
- Step 5: Build the pre-screening form
- Step 6: Route candidates to a recruiter and your ATS
- Worked example: an engineering role on a careers page
- The stack: which tool does which job
- 1. Your ATS: best for applications and hiring decisions
- 2. Paradox or Workable Agent: best for screening and interview scheduling at volume
- 3. SiteGPT: best knowledge-trained answer layer for candidate questions
- How much does a SiteGPT recruitment chatbot cost?
- How to choose your recruitment chatbot setup
- Candidate data, fairness, and hiring laws
- Common mistakes when building a recruitment chatbot
- Frequently asked questions
- Basics
- What is a recruitment chatbot?
- Can a recruitment chatbot replace recruiters?
- What questions should a recruitment chatbot ask?
- Building it with SiteGPT
- Can I build a recruitment chatbot without code?
- How do I customize a recruitment chatbot?
- Can SiteGPT schedule interviews?
- Can candidates upload a resume in the chat?
- Integrations
- Can a recruitment chatbot connect to my ATS?
- Can the chatbot tell candidates their application status?
- Cost and data
- How much does a recruitment chatbot cost?
- Is candidate data safe in a recruitment chatbot?
- Start with one job posting
- Sources
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Created time
May 28, 2026 10:54 AM
To create a recruitment chatbot, train an AI chatbot on your careers page and job descriptions, tell it to answer each candidate's question before it asks one, add a short pre-screening form, and send the answers to a recruiter or your applicant tracking system (ATS).
TL;DR
- A recruitment chatbot answers candidate questions about a role and collects pre-screening answers such as experience, location, work authorization, and notice period.
- SiteGPT covers the answer side and the form. It does not score, rank, or reject candidates, accept resume uploads, or connect to an ATS natively.
- The setup has six steps and needs no code. Custom form fields can be Text, Email, Phone, Text Area, or Select Dropdown.
- Lead emails work on every plan. An automatic hand-off to an ATS uses the leads webhook, which needs the Scale plan: $429 a month billed monthly, or $259 a month billed yearly.
- For high-volume hourly hiring with interview scheduling, a conversational hiring tool such as Paradox or an ATS screening agent such as Workable Agent does the screening, and SiteGPT answers the questions around it.
Key takeaways: building a recruitment chatbot
Question | Short answer |
What does a recruitment chatbot do? | Answers candidate questions and collects pre-screening answers before a recruiter steps in |
How long does the build take? | Six steps in the dashboard, with no code or flow chart |
Who makes the hiring decision? | A recruiter, in the ATS. The chatbot collects answers and does not judge fit |
Cheapest SiteGPT plan for this | Starter: $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly ($468 a year) |
Plan for automatic ATS hand-off | Scale, for the leads webhook: $429 a month billed monthly, or $259 a month billed yearly |
What it cannot do | Score candidates, take resume uploads, check application status, or offer live interview slots |
What is a recruitment chatbot?
A recruitment chatbot is a chat widget on a careers page or job posting that talks to job candidates. It does two jobs: it answers questions about the role, pay, benefits, and hiring process, and it collects the answers a recruiter needs to decide who to call.
The two jobs pull in different directions. A bot that only asks questions feels like a long application form. A bot that only answers questions sends recruiters no structured data. The build below does both, in that order.
How common are recruitment chatbots?
Recruitment chatbots are used by 20% of the Fortune 500, according to Phenom research summarized by SelectSoftwareReviews. In that research, 15% of those companies use the bot to answer FAQs and 10% use it to assess candidates with job-qualifying questions.
Candidates are not all keen on them. In a CareerPlug report cited on the same page, 47% of job seekers said AI chatbots make recruitment seem impersonal, and 40% said they feel uneasy about AI in hiring. Answering first and keeping a clear route to a person address both concerns.
Scripted screening bot vs content-trained recruitment chatbot
Type | How it works | What happens with an unscripted question |
Scripted flow (for example a Landbot flow) | Asks the questions you wrote, in the order you wrote them | Falls back to a menu or a default reply |
Content-trained chatbot (SiteGPT) | Writes each answer from your careers content, then shows a form | Answers it from the job description or benefits page, or says it does not know |
Conversational hiring tool (Paradox) | Screens, schedules interviews, and moves candidates through hiring steps | Depends on the vendor setup, sold by demo |
The difference between the two chatbot types is covered in more depth in the best conversational AI chatbots.
What SiteGPT can and cannot do in a recruitment flow
SiteGPT can answer candidate questions and collect screening answers, but it cannot screen candidates in the sense of scoring or rejecting them. The SiteGPT docs say the chatbot answers from the content you add and "does not look up live data", so it cannot check an application in another system.
What the docs show today:
- Lead form. Email is always collected. Name and phone are optional. Custom fields can be Text, Email, Phone, Text Area, or Select Dropdown, and each can be required. There is no file upload field, so resumes go through your ATS application form.
- Form timing. One trigger per chatbot: when the visitor shows interest, when the AI cannot answer, or after a set number of messages from 1 to 20.
- Booking link. You can add a booking page URL, for example a Calendly or Acuity link. The AI includes it when it collects the details. It does not show open slots or book on the candidate's behalf.
- Recruiter hand-off. Human support works on every plan. A conversation escalates when the candidate asks for a person, when your escalation rules say so, or when the form is submitted with auto-escalate on.
- Getting answers out. Lead emails and CSV export work on every plan. The leads webhook needs the Scale plan. SiteGPT has no built-in CRM or ATS connection.
How to create a recruitment chatbot with SiteGPT
The build has six steps in the SiteGPT dashboard. Each step below names the screen to open and the setting to change.
Step 1: Create the chatbot
Start a SiteGPT trial and create a new chatbot from the dashboard. The trial lasts 7 days and needs a credit card.
- Name the chatbot something a candidate recognizes, such as "Acme Careers Assistant".
- Write a welcome message that says what the bot can answer. For example: "Hi! I can answer questions about our open roles, pay ranges, benefits, and the interview process."
A welcome message that names topics tells candidates the bot is there to help. That makes them more willing to answer screening questions later.
Step 2: Train it on your careers page and job descriptions
Training is what lets the chatbot answer a candidate before it asks anything. Add the pages a candidate reads while deciding whether to apply. The general method is in chatbot training: what to feed your AI chatbot.
What to add:
- The careers page and every open job description
- The benefits page and any published pay ranges
- The remote, hybrid, and relocation policy
- The interview process, step by step
- Visa sponsorship rules, if you publish them
Upload documents such as a benefits summary if they are not on a public page. Everything you add can appear in an answer, so leave out internal salary bands you do not publish.
Job postings change often. Starter refreshes content manually. Growth adds a monthly auto-sync, and Scale adds a weekly auto-sync plus a daily sitemap scan that finds removed URLs. On Starter or Growth, run a manual resync each time a role closes, or the bot keeps answering about it.
Step 3: Open the instructions screen and set a persona
Instructions and the persona shape every answer. Open Chatbot Instructions and select Add New Instructions, then keep that screen for Step 4. For the tone, SiteGPT has 12 built-in personas. The Consultant persona "asks qualifying questions, then suggests solutions", according to the docs, which matches a screening conversation.
- Open Chatbot Persona in the sidebar.
- Select Consultant, or add a custom persona such as "Warm and direct. Plain words. Under 5 sentences."
- Select Save Changes.
Step 4: Write answer-first screening instructions
Instructions turn a general Q&A bot into a recruitment chatbot. Paste the text below into the new instruction set, replace the bracketed parts, and select Add Instructions.
You are the careers assistant for [Company Name].
Answer the candidate's question first, using only the training content.
If the content does not answer it, say you do not know and offer to connect them with a recruiter.
After you have helped, ask one screening question at a time: years of relevant experience, current location, work authorization for [country], and earliest start date.
Never say whether a candidate is a good or bad fit. Never make or suggest a hiring decision.
Never ask about age, family status, health, religion, ethnicity, or any other protected characteristic.
You cannot see applications. If a candidate asks about an application they already sent, give them this link: [application status or contact URL].
To apply, send candidates to the job posting: [apply URL].Keep the Creativity Level low so answers stay close to your content. The docs set it at 0.5 by default and recommend a low level for support chatbots.
Step 5: Build the pre-screening form
The pre-screening form is a SiteGPT lead form with custom fields. Open Leads > Leads Settings. The same page holds the lead email and auto-escalation settings used in Step 6. Turn on Enable Lead Collection.
- Under Basic Contact Fields, turn on Name. Email is always on.
- Under Industry Template, select Custom. No preset template covers recruiting.
- Under Custom Form Fields, add the fields in the table below.
- Under Collection Triggers, pick When user shows interest so the form appears after the bot has helped.
- Select Save Changes.
Display label | Field name | Field type | Options or note |
Role you are interested in | role | Select Dropdown | One option per open role |
Years of relevant experience | experience_years | Select Dropdown | 0-2, 3-5, 6-10, 10+ |
Authorized to work in [country]? | work_authorization | Select Dropdown | Yes, Need sponsorship. Set as required |
Current location | location | Text | City and country |
Earliest start date | notice_period | Select Dropdown | Now, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2+ months. Optional |
Profile link | profile_url | Text | LinkedIn or portfolio, since the form takes no file uploads |
Do not name a field
message or reason. The docs reserve both names. Keep the form to five or six fields. Each extra field adds friction. Chatbots vs forms covers when a short in-chat form beats a full application form.To let a candidate book a call, turn on Enable booking integration and paste your booking page URL. The AI adds the link when it collects the details.
The same booking link setup is explained step by step in how to build an appointment booking chatbot.
Step 6: Route candidates to a recruiter and your ATS
Routing decides where the screening answers land. SiteGPT offers three routes, and the plan decides which ones you get.
- Lead email (any plan). In Leads > Leads Settings, add recruiter addresses under Email Recipients. Each email shows the name, email, custom fields, and the page the candidate was on. It links to the lead in the dashboard, where the full conversation sits.
- Recruiter escalation (any plan). In Leads > Human Support, turn on Enable Human Support. Turn on Auto-escalate on lead capture if a recruiter should pick up every submitted form.
- Leads webhook (Scale and above). In Settings > Webhooks, add a Leads Webhook URL from an automation tool that creates the candidate in your ATS. The payload carries each custom field under
customData, keyed by the field name.
Three details matter for hiring teams:
- The escalation email does not include the conversation. The recruiter opens it from View in dashboard.
- The webhook fires once per new lead and does not retry. A returning candidate with the same email updates the lead and sends no webhook.
- Escalation rules can be your own. For example: "Escalate when the candidate asks for a recruiter, or asks about an application they already sent."
Then install the bot. Open Installation, copy the JavaScript embed, and paste it on the careers page or on each job posting. The docs give steps for WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, and plain HTML.
Test it in a private window: ask about a role, check the answer against the posting, then fill in the form with a new test email.
Worked example: an engineering role on a careers page
This example shows the full conversation for one candidate on a remote engineering posting.
- The candidate asks first. "Is this role remote, and is there a salary range?" The bot answers from the job description: remote within the listed countries, with the range shown on the posting.
- The bot helps, then asks. "Happy to help with anything else. Would you like to share a few details so a recruiter can follow up?" The form appears because the candidate showed interest.
- The candidate fills in six fields. Role, 3-5 years, "Need sponsorship", Berlin, 1 month, and a LinkedIn link.
- The bot does not judge. It thanks the candidate, sends the apply link, and adds the recruiter's booking link.
- The recruiter decides. The lead email arrives with the six answers. The recruiter checks the sponsorship policy in the ATS and replies.
A sibling post shows a real SiteGPT deployment in hiring: the career guidance chatbot case study.
The stack: which tool does which job
SiteGPT is not an ATS or a recruiting platform. In a hiring stack it is the knowledge-trained answer layer on the careers page, next to the tools that hold applications and run interviews.
Layer | Job | Tool |
1. System of record | Applications, resumes, pipeline stages, hiring decisions | Your ATS, for example Workable |
2. Screening and scheduling at volume | Screens candidates by chat or text and books interviews | Paradox, or an ATS agent such as Workable Agent |
3. Answer layer | Answers candidate questions from careers content and collects pre-screening answers |
1. Your ATS: best for applications and hiring decisions
An ATS holds the application, the resume, and the decision. Workable, for example, lists an applicant tracking system, a careers page builder, a jobs widget, and custom application forms on all plans, according to Workable pricing.
- Best for: the record of every candidate and every decision.
- Limit: a careers page builder does not answer free-text candidate questions on its own.
2. Paradox or Workable Agent: best for screening and interview scheduling at volume
A conversational hiring tool screens and schedules. Paradox lists applicant screening "through chat or text" and interview scheduling for its assistant, Olivia. Its home page shows no prices and offers a demo request.
Workable Agent is an add-on that "sources, screens and qualifies candidates", per Workable pricing. It runs on AI credits:
Workable Agent item | Price |
Evaluate a candidate against your profile | 1 AI credit |
A candidate interacts with the chat | 10 AI credits each time |
5,000 credits | $600 ($0.12 a credit) |
10,000 credits | $1,000 ($0.10 a credit) |
50,000 credits | $4,750 ($0.095 a credit) |
A candidate who is evaluated once and has one chat interaction uses 11 credits. At that rate, 500 candidates use 5,500 credits, or $550 at the $0.10 rate of the 10,000-credit pack. The 3,000 free credits on a paid account cover about 272 such candidates. Credits expire one year after purchase, and the free trial does not include the agent.
- Best for: teams that want the screening done and scheduled inside the hiring system.
- Limit: Paradox is sold through a demo, and Workable Agent runs on a paid Workable account.
3. SiteGPT: best knowledge-trained answer layer for candidate questions
SiteGPT answers candidate questions from your careers content and collects pre-screening answers in a form. It holds 4.9 out of 5 from 12 reviews on G2.
- Best for: a careers page that gets the same questions every day, where a recruiter still makes every decision.
- Strengths: trains on websites, sitemaps, files, YouTube, GitHub, Google Drive, Notion, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box. Answers in 95+ languages, which suits multilingual hiring. Escalation works on every plan.
- Limits: no scoring, no resume upload, no interview scheduling beyond a booking link, no native ATS connection, and the webhook needs Scale.
How much does a SiteGPT recruitment chatbot cost?
A SiteGPT recruitment chatbot costs $59 a month on Starter billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly. The automatic ATS route needs Scale.
Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Messages a month (GPT-4.1 mini) | Fit for recruiting |
$59 | $39 a month ($468 a year) | 4,000 | One careers bot, lead emails, manual content refresh | |
$129 | $79 a month ($948 a year) | 10,000 | Monthly auto-sync, 4 team members, Slack and other chat integrations | |
$429 | $259 a month ($3,108 a year) | 40,000 | Leads webhook to an ATS, weekly auto-sync, daily sitemap scan |
The math, done in messages:
- A candidate's question and the bot's answer use 2 messages. Starter's 4,000 GPT-4.1 mini messages cover 2,000 answered questions a month. Growth covers 5,000 and Scale covers 20,000.
- On GPT-4.1 the quotas are one tenth: 400, 1,000, and 4,000 messages.
- Starter billed yearly costs $468 a year, against $708 billed monthly. That saves $240, or 34%.
- Scale billed yearly costs $3,108 a year, or $2,640 more than Starter billed yearly. That gap is the price of the automatic webhook route. A recruiter who copies lead emails into the ATS can stay on Starter.
How to choose your recruitment chatbot setup
If you need | Pick | Why |
Answers to candidate questions on a careers page | SiteGPT Starter | Trained on your postings, from $39 a month billed yearly |
Pre-screening answers sent to a recruiter | SiteGPT with a custom lead form | Dropdown fields and lead emails work on every plan |
Screening answers created in the ATS automatically | SiteGPT Scale plus an automation tool | The leads webhook needs Scale |
Candidate scoring against a profile | Workable Agent or your ATS | SiteGPT does not score or rank candidates |
Thousands of hourly applicants with interview booking | Paradox | Screens and schedules by chat or text |
A fixed list of scripted questions | A flow builder | A script is enough when nobody asks follow-up questions |
Candidate data, fairness, and hiring laws
A recruitment chatbot collects personal data, and some laws treat AI used in hiring as a regulated use. Plan for both before launch.
- Notice and consent. SiteGPT can show a disclaimer line under the message box and a terms checkbox. The docs say acceptance of the checkbox is not saved, so keep proof of consent elsewhere if you need it.
- Deletion requests. Delete all visitor data removes a candidate's conversations, lead record, and visitor identity. Data already sent to your ATS stays there.
- Hosting. SiteGPT stores data mostly in the United States and offers no EU-only hosting, per its security page. The GDPR chatbot requirements guide covers consent and retention.
- Automated decisions. Colorado SB 26-189 covers technology whose scores, rankings, or recommendations are used to make or assist decisions about employment. Keeping the bot out of scoring and the decision with a recruiter is the safer design. The AI chatbot compliance guide lists the other state laws.
Access control for the dashboard is covered in secure enterprise chatbot deployment strategies.
Common mistakes when building a recruitment chatbot
- Asking before answering. A form on the first message reads as an application form. Use the interest trigger.
- Letting the bot judge fit. A line such as "you look like a strong fit" sets an expectation the recruiter may not meet. It also moves the bot toward an automated decision.
- Leaving closed roles in the content. Remove or resync a posting the day it closes.
- Asking for too much. Six fields is enough. Resumes belong in the ATS form.
- Hiding the human. Turn on human support so a candidate can reach a recruiter.
Frequently asked questions
Basics
What is a recruitment chatbot?
A recruitment chatbot is an AI chatbot on a careers page that answers candidate questions and collects pre-screening answers. A recruiter then reviews the answers and decides who to contact.
Can a recruitment chatbot replace recruiters?
No. A recruitment chatbot handles repeated questions and the first set of screening questions. Decisions, interviews, and offers stay with recruiters and the ATS.
What questions should a recruitment chatbot ask?
A recruitment chatbot should ask role, years of relevant experience, location, work authorization, and earliest start date. Ask one at a time, after answering the candidate, and never ask about protected characteristics.
Building it with SiteGPT
Can I build a recruitment chatbot without code?
Yes. SiteGPT needs no code for training, instructions, the form, or routing. Installation is one script tag, or the SiteGPT plugin on WordPress.
How do I customize a recruitment chatbot?
Customize a recruitment chatbot with four settings: the persona for tone, the instructions for rules, the custom form fields, and the widget appearance. Each is a separate screen in the SiteGPT dashboard.
Can SiteGPT schedule interviews?
No. SiteGPT can share a booking page link, such as a Calendly link, when it collects the details. The candidate picks a time on that page. Slot-picking inside the chat needs a recruiting tool with interview scheduling.
Can candidates upload a resume in the chat?
No. The SiteGPT lead form has five field types and no file upload. Ask for a profile link, and send candidates to the ATS application form for the resume.
Integrations
Can a recruitment chatbot connect to my ATS?
SiteGPT has no native ATS connection. On the Scale plan, the leads webhook sends each new candidate's answers to a URL, and an automation tool can create the record in the ATS. On other plans, use lead emails or CSV export.
Can the chatbot tell candidates their application status?
No. SiteGPT does not look up live data in other systems. The instructions can give candidates a link to the page or contact that shows status.
Cost and data
How much does a recruitment chatbot cost?
A SiteGPT recruitment chatbot starts at $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly. The ATS webhook route needs Scale at $429 a month billed monthly, or $259 a month billed yearly.
Is candidate data safe in a recruitment chatbot?
SiteGPT reports a SOC 2 Type II examination, encrypts data in transit and at rest, and does not use conversations to train AI models. Data is stored mostly in the United States, and a candidate's data can be deleted from the lead page.
Start with one job posting
Pick your busiest open role, train the bot on its posting and the benefits page, and add the six-field form. Run it for a week, then read the conversations to see which questions candidates ask most.
Sources
All sources were checked on 16 October 2026.
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