Give the assistant your own facts, clear limits and a way to hand over to a person. Running costs depend mostly on how many conversations it has.
What a good website assistant does
- Answers common questions from your own information: services, hours, locations, process.
- Asks a few questions to understand what the visitor needs.
- Collects contact details with consent and sends them to you.
- Hands over to WhatsApp, a call or email when a person is needed.
What it should not do
An assistant should not invent prices, promise results or give advice outside your business. The safest setup gives it a written knowledge base, tells it what to refuse, and checks every reply before the visitor sees it.
What drives the running cost
| Factor | Effect on cost |
|---|---|
| Number of conversations | The main driver. Each reply uses the AI provider’s paid service. |
| Model choice | Smaller, faster models cost much less per reply and suit most business questions. |
| Length of answers | Short, focused replies cost less and read better on a phone. |
| Limits | Daily and per visitor limits keep the bill predictable. |
Ask for a monthly cap and a dashboard where you can see usage. Your provider’s pricing page shows current rates.
On a WordPress site
An assistant can be added to an existing WordPress site as a plugin, so you manage it from the same dashboard. Conversations and enquiries should be stored where you can read them, with a way to delete a visitor’s data on request.
English, Kinyarwanda and French
Modern AI models can reply in the visitor’s language. Test each language with real questions before launch, and keep a person in the loop for anything sensitive.
Further reading
Official documentation behind the technical guidance in this article.