A practical checklist before adding an AI chatbot to your website
A website chatbot can reduce repetitive questions — or embarrass your brand. Use this checklist to launch one that is accurate, safe and genuinely helpful.
An AI assistant on your website should answer routine questions accurately and hand over to a person when it should. Work through this checklist before launch.
Knowledge
- Your prices, policies, hours and FAQs are written down, current and approved.
- Someone owns keeping that knowledge up to date.
- The assistant answers from your approved content, not from general internet knowledge.
Boundaries
- You've listed topics the assistant must never answer (for example medical, legal or financial advice) and what it says instead.
- It can say “I don't know” and offer a human contact.
- It never invents discounts, promises or policies.
Handover
- Customers can reach a person easily at any point.
- Your team sees the full conversation when they take over.
- Out-of-hours messages are acknowledged with a realistic response time.
Privacy & security
- The chatbot collects only the information needed.
- Your privacy policy explains the chatbot and any third-party AI providers.
- You have tested it against prompt-injection attempts and requests for other customers' data.
Quality
- You tested it with at least 50 real past questions before launch.
- Conversations are reviewed weekly for the first month.
- There's a simple way for customers to flag a bad answer.
If you'd like help setting up a knowledge assistant with these safeguards built in, request a custom solution or book a demo.