Connect WhatsApp

Connect a WhatsApp number to your chatbot. The chatbot answers the messages that people send to that number. Your team can reply from the SiteGPT dashboard, or from the WhatsApp Business app if you keep your app number. WhatsApp is an add-on. The chatbot owner buys it on the Billing page, with one number for each chatbot that connects to WhatsApp. For the price, see sitegpt.ai/pricing.

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Before you start

• The chatbot owner has a SiteGPT subscription, on any plan. See Plans and limits.
• The chatbot owner has the WhatsApp (Addon), and it covers more numbers than are connected now. See Buy the WhatsApp add-on.
• You have the Manager, Admin, or Super Admin role on the chatbot.
• For Get a free number or Connect a dedicated number: a Facebook login. Meta asks you to sign in during the setup.
• For Keep your WhatsApp Business app number: the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, with that number. You scan a QR code from the app.
• Your chatbot is not in a HIPAA workspace. Integrations are not available there. See HIPAA. WhatsApp for a HIPAA workspace is scoped as part of an Enterprise package. Talk to us through sitegpt.ai/pricing.

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Buy the WhatsApp add-on

Only the chatbot owner can buy the add-on, because the add-on belongs to the owner’s account. You buy one number for each chatbot that you connect to WhatsApp. For example, to connect three chatbots, set the add-on to 3 numbers. The numbers count across all chatbots that you own. For the limit, see Plans and limits. During a free trial, the add-on is not billed. It starts to bill with your plan when the trial ends. After the trial, the add-on is charged right away for the time left in your billing period, then renews with your plan. While your subscription is paused, you cannot change the add-on. See Manage your plan and billing.

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Add or remove numbers

The card shows how many numbers are connected, for example “1 of 2 connected”. You cannot set fewer numbers than you have connected. To use fewer numbers, first disconnect WhatsApp from a chatbot.

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Choose how to connect

The WhatsApp dialog shows three options. Pick the one that fits how you use WhatsApp today. With Keep your WhatsApp Business app number, a reply that you send from the app pauses the AI in that chat. See Reply from the WhatsApp Business app. Meta does not bill you for WhatsApp conversations with any of the three options. The add-on covers them. Messages on WhatsApp use your plan’s monthly message allowance, like messages on your website. See How messages are counted.

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Connect WhatsApp

Each WhatsApp number connects to one chatbot. Each chatbot connects to one WhatsApp number. Each connected number counts as one number of your WhatsApp add-on. If every number of the add-on is in use, a chatbot without a number cannot connect. When you select Continue, the dialog shows “All the WhatsApp numbers your plan covers are in use. Add a number to the WhatsApp add-on on the Billing page, then connect.” A chatbot that already has a number can change to a different number. If you connected before and want to use a different number, select Connected before? Start over with a different number below Continue. This link does not show for Get a free number.

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Check that it works

1. From another phone, send a text message to your WhatsApp number.
2. The chatbot replies with an answer from your content.
3. In SiteGPT, open Chat History. The conversation shows there. See Review conversations.

The WhatsApp dialog also shows the state of your number under the green banner:

• Number healthy: the number can send messages. It can also show the quality rating from Meta.
• Setup is completing on Meta’s side: a new number is limited, or Meta confirms delivery with the first message. You do not need to do anything.
• This number may not be able to send messages: a check failed. The card lists the failed checks. If this does not go away, contact support.

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Set the display name

For Get a free number and Connect a dedicated number, set the business name that your customers see on WhatsApp.

1. Open the WhatsApp dialog.
2. Under WhatsApp display name, enter your business name.
3. Click Save.

Meta reviews each change, usually within 24 to 48 hours. The dialog shows when the name waits for review. If Meta declines the name, the dialog shows the reason. Try a name that matches your public branding. With Keep your WhatsApp Business app number, this setting does not show. Change the name in the WhatsApp Business app.

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How the chatbot works on WhatsApp

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Answers

The chatbot answers each text message from your content, like on your website. If you show sources, they show as plain links under the answer. The chatbot reads text only. A photo or file with a caption is read as the caption. For voice notes, stickers, and media without a caption, the chatbot replies “Sorry, I can only read text messages right now. Please type your question.”

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Buttons

The chatbot shows your follow-up suggestions and its own suggested questions as buttons at the end of the answer. The first answer in a new conversation also shows your conversation starters. See Follow-up suggestions.

• Up to 3 buttons with short labels (20 characters or fewer) show as reply buttons.
• More buttons, or longer labels, show as a list that the person opens. The list shows up to 10 items.
• A tap on an Escalate button hands the conversation to your team. A tap on a link button sends the link.

An answer that hands the conversation to your team shows no buttons.

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Let the visitor choose the AI or a person

If you select Let the Visitor Choose in Settings > Chat Modes, a new conversation starts with a question. See Let the visitor choose the AI or a person.

1. The person sends the first message. The chatbot does not answer it yet. It sends your question with two reply buttons, for example Chat with AI and Talk to a person.
2. If the person taps the AI button, the AI answers the first message.
3. If the person taps the person button, the conversation goes to your team. It starts in human mode with the first message, and it escalates. The person gets your Human Support Confirmation Message. If you did not set one, they get “Thanks. Someone from our team will reply here soon.”
4. If the person writes again instead of tapping a button, the AI answers both messages.

Until the person taps a button or writes again, the conversation does not show in Chat History. SiteGPT keeps the first message for 24 hours. If the person does not tap a button or write again in that time, SiteGPT deletes the message. A tap on the buttons then does nothing, and the next message from the person starts with the question again. After you resolve a conversation, the next message from the person starts with the question again. If WhatsApp does not accept the buttons, the person gets the question as plain text. Their next message then goes to the AI.

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Lead form

If lead collection is on, the chatbot collects leads with a WhatsApp form. The person taps Share details, fills in the form, and sends it. The form has the same fields as your website lead form. Field labels are cut to 20 characters.

• With When user shows interest (Recommended) or When unable to answer, the AI decides when to send the form.
• With After N messages, the chatbot sends the form after its answer to the person’s Nth message. If the conversation is already past that number, it sends the form after the next answer. It sends the form one time per conversation. It does not send the form if the person already gave their details.
• After the person sends the form, the chatbot replies “Thanks! We’ve received your details.”
• If you turned on booking and set a Booking System URL, the chatbot then sends “You can also pick a time that works for you here:” and your booking link.

The lead shows in Leads > Leads Dashboard. See Collect leads from conversations.

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Hand-off to your team

A conversation goes to your team when:

• The person taps an Escalate button.
• The person taps the person button of the visitor choice.
• The chatbot decides that the person needs a human. This needs human support to be on. See Set up human support.
• A team member replies or takes over in the SiteGPT dashboard. See Reply to and take over conversations.
• With Keep your WhatsApp Business app number, you reply from the WhatsApp Business app.

While a human has the conversation, the chatbot saves new messages but does not reply. One exception: outside your working hours, with Your team answers later, the chatbot sends your away message one time.

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Reply from the dashboard

Replies that you send from Chat History go to the person on WhatsApp. WhatsApp delivers them only within 24 hours of the person’s last message. After 24 hours, the reply stays in the transcript, and you see “Saved to the transcript, but WhatsApp couldn’t deliver it: more than 24 hours since the visitor’s last message.”

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Reply from the WhatsApp Business app

This works only with Keep your WhatsApp Business app number. When you reply to a customer from the app, SiteGPT shows your reply in the conversation and pauses the AI for that conversation. The AI stays paused until you resolve the conversation or release it to the AI in the SiteGPT dashboard. Replies from the app to a person who has no open SiteGPT conversation do not start one. Replies that contain only media do not pause the AI.

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Getting the chatbot back

• Select Release to AI in the dashboard. The chatbot answers the next message in the same conversation.
• Resolve the conversation in the dashboard. The person’s next message starts a new conversation.

See Conversations and hand-off.

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Webhook verification

After you connect, the Webhook verification section on the Integrations page shows a WhatsApp row. You do not need to set anything. SiteGPT sets up and checks the webhook signatures for you.

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Disconnect WhatsApp

The chatbot stops answering on the number immediately. Your conversations, chat history, leads, contact details, and analytics stay in SiteGPT. What happens to the number depends on how you connected:

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Remove the WhatsApp add-on

You must disconnect WhatsApp from every chatbot before you can remove the add-on. The removal takes effect immediately. Your chatbots cannot connect a WhatsApp number until you buy the add-on again. Your WhatsApp conversation history stays in SiteGPT. The unused time of your billing period becomes a credit on your next invoice. During a free trial, or while your subscription is paused, nothing is credited.

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If a number is not covered

A connected number stops answering when your add-on does not cover it. This happens when the add-on ends, for example when your subscription ends. It also happens when more numbers are connected than your add-on covers, for example after a chatbot transfer. The numbers that you connected first keep answering. The newer numbers pause. A paused number stays connected. People who message it get no reply, and their messages do not show in Chat History. Replies from the dashboard are saved in the conversation but not sent.

• Without the add-on, the WhatsApp card shows Connected — not answering, and the WhatsApp dialog shows WhatsApp is not answering.
• With more numbers than the add-on covers, the WhatsApp (Addon) card on the Billing page shows, for example, “3 connected” and “Your newest number is paused. Add a number to turn it back on.”

To start again, add numbers on the Billing page, or disconnect a number that you do not need. The paused number answers the next message. To stop for good, disconnect the number.

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Troubleshooting