An AI receptionist for small business takes over when nobody is free: it answers questions, writes down what people need and moves them toward a booking. Most products sold under that name answer phone calls. This guide is about the customers who type instead, on your website, in Instagram DMs, on WhatsApp and Messenger, where a phone agent never looks. It covers what a text AI receptionist does, how it compares, what it costs and how to add the booking step.
What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist is software that handles the first contact with your customers: it answers their questions from your business information, takes down what they need and passes it on, or books them in, without anyone at the desk. It comes in two kinds. A phone AI receptionist, often sold as an AI virtual receptionist, picks up calls with a synthetic voice. A text AI receptionist answers written messages on your website and in messaging apps.
Ultimo Bots is an AI agent that works as a text AI receptionist: it answers your website chat, a chat link, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram and Slack from your own content, forwards requests to your team and lets you take over the website chat. It does not answer or place phone calls, and it replies to typed messages only, also on your WhatsApp number. If most of your customers call, you need a phone receptionist; if they write, you need this kind.
Text AI receptionistPhone or text: which AI receptionist software fits?
The choice follows where your enquiries arrive. A plumber whose customers call from a flooded basement needs the phone answered. A salon or clinic that gets most questions as DMs and website messages needs those answered. As of October 2026:
The phone services are clear about their unit. On October 27, 2026, Smith.ai listed its AI Receptionist Pro plan at $150 a month for 75 calls, each extra call $2.50 (Smith.ai pricing). My AI Front Desk listed Business-in-a-Box at $99 a month ($79 billed annually) with 200 voice minutes, 100 chat conversations and 400 text messages (My AI Front Desk pricing). RingCentral's AI Receptionist answers calls and text messages, from $49 a month with 100 minutes included, then $0.50 a minute (RingCentral pricing).
Many businesses need both, and they do not compete: one picks up the phone, the other answers the people who would never call.
What does a text AI receptionist do?
It does the job of a good front desk, in writing. This is what Ultimo Bots takes over:
- Answers the repeated questions from your website, files, Q&A pairs, Google Drive, OneDrive, Notion and product catalogs in your knowledge base. When something is missing, it is told to say so rather than guess.
- Takes down requests. When it cannot answer reliably, it offers once to forward the request and asks for name and email only after a yes. The lead lands in leads and analytics with the whole conversation, and you get an email right away.
- Moves people toward a booking with a skill: Wix Bookings, Calendly, Cal.com or your own booking system.
- Looks things up safely. In a connected Wix store it checks order status after the visitor enters a 6-digit code sent to their email.
- Hands the chat to a person. The "Talk to a human" button shows on your website while a teammate is online.
- Replies in the visitor's language, in 80+ languages.
People hate bots that trap them, and they are right. So the handover button only shows when a person is there to join, and everyone else can leave a request instead of waiting for nobody. More in our guide to human handoff.
A Tuesday morning at a two-table dog groomer
Muddy Paws is an example dog groomer run by Jess. Its knowledge base holds the website, a price list PDF and a dozen Q&A pairs. At 10 on a Tuesday, Jess has a doodle in the bath and nobody on the team is online. Three customers write.
On Instagram, someone asks what a full groom for a cockapoo costs. The agent answers from the price list: "Hi, I'm Muddy Paws' AI assistant. A full groom for a cockapoo starts at $85 and takes about two and a half hours; Jess confirms the price at drop-off." It says it is an AI because Jess saved the disclosure behavior shown below.
On the website, Priya writes that her rescue dog panics at the dryer and asks about Saturday. The agent: "Hi, I'm Muddy Paws' AI assistant. Nervous dogs get towel-drying and a quiet dryer, first thing in the morning. I can't see Saturday's free times. Shall I pass your request to Jess?" Priya says yes and types her name and email. The agent sums up the request in one sentence and confirms: "Thanks, Priya. Jess has your request." The "Talk to a human" button stays hidden, since nobody is online.
On WhatsApp, a regular sends a voice note and gets no reply, because the agent answers typed messages only. When she types the question, she gets her answer.
At 11:15 Jess finds one new lead with Priya's conversation attached and two questions answered without her. That is the test for any receptionist: what happens while nobody is at the desk.
Add the booking step with Mo
Answers and requests are the floor. What saves Jess the most typing is the booking itself, a skill you build in the AI Studio by describing it to Mo, the builder there. Muddy Paws keeps appointments in booking software with a public API, so Jess tells Mo:
Mo reads the API docs, asks for the API key in a secure field (stored encrypted, never shown to the AI), builds the skill and tests each call on its own, the ones that would create something as a dry run. Test chats, Mo's and Jess's own, send real requests, so a test booking is a real booking. From then on, the agent can answer Priya's question with three Saturday times and book the one she confirms.
No API? Ready-made skills cover the common tools. On Wix, Wix Bookings shows open times and hands over the booking page with the day preselected; ask Mo to switch on booking in the chat and it asks for a clear yes before it books, or hands over checkout for a paid service. With Calendly the agent sends a single-use booking link; with Cal.com it lists open slots and asks for a clear yes before it books. Through app actions a skill can also send the details to Zapier, Make or n8n; Make and n8n can return a result within 20 seconds, Zapier only receives. More in our appointment guide.
Where a 24/7 AI receptionist answers
One agent, one knowledge base and one balance of AI credits serve every channel. A 24/7 AI receptionist helps where your customers already write:
- Your website, as a chat window in your colors, with your welcome messages.
- A chat link for your email signature, a QR code at the counter or your bio.
- Instagram DMs, Messenger and WhatsApp, where you can pause the AI in one conversation and reply from the Inbox.
- Telegram and Slack, if your customers or team use them.
The handover and the notice "You are chatting with an AI assistant" exist on the website and the chat link only. For the messaging apps, save this behavior in the AI Studio: in the "Your agent" panel, open Behaviors, click Add Behaviors, paste it and click Add.
If none of your replies so far has said you are an AI assistant, say so briefly in this reply. The welcome message at the start does not count, since the visitor may not have seen it. If asked whether you are human, say plainly you are an AI.For visitors in the EU, the AI Act's rule that people must be told when they are talking to an AI (Article 50(1)) has applied since August 2, 2026, unless it is obvious (European Commission guidance). On your website, Ultimo Bots gives that notice for you, in eight languages. Practical guidance, not legal advice.
AI receptionist cost: what does a small business pay?
A text AI receptionist is billed by the answer, a phone one by the call or minute. Ultimo Bots is priced per agent in AI credits, and teammates cost nothing extra. As of October 2026, Smart is $29 a month ($19 billed yearly) with 500 AI credits, Boost is $59 a month ($39 billed yearly) with 2,000 AI credits, and Ultimo is $249 a month ($199 billed yearly) with 10,000 AI credits (pricing).
A standard answer uses 1 AI credit, so Smart covers up to 500 standard answers a month. Higher answer levels use 4 or 8 credits, and Mo draws on the same balance: a quick question a few credits, building a skill more. Your own replies cost nothing. Every paid plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
For scale: $150 buys 75 calls on Smith.ai's Pro plan, while Ultimo at $249 covers up to 10,000 standard answers. A call and an answer are different units, but if your customers write, paying per call buys nothing for them. Our guide to AI agent cost does the math.
How to set up a text AI receptionist
- 1
Create the agent
Start in the portal and name it after your business, or install our Wix app, WordPress plugin or Webflow app. Elsewhere, paste a three-line snippet.
- 2
Point it at your content
Add your website, your price list and a Q&A pair for each of the five questions you answer most.
- 3
Save the disclosure behavior
Paste the behavior above into the Behaviors tab.
- 4
Connect your channels
Under Deploy > Channels, connect Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp. New leads alert you in the portal and by email by default.
- 5
Test it like a customer
Ask your five questions in a private window; test chats use AI credits. Then go online in live chat and ask for a person.
How to choose the best AI receptionist
The best AI receptionist for a small business is the one that answers where your enquiries arrive. Check these six points before you choose:
- It answers from your content and admits gaps.
- Requests reach you right away, with the conversation.
- It covers the channels where your enquiries arrive: calls, messages or both.
- It can take the next step: a booking, a CRM contact, a call to your own system.
- A customer can reach a person without starting over.
- It says it is an AI, and you know who processes the data. Ultimo Bots publishes its privacy policy, names its main sub-processors in the help centre and confirms the current list on request.
Count last month's enquiries before you buy
Count where your last 30 customer enquiries came from: email, Instagram, WhatsApp, the website or the phone. If most of them rang, start with a phone service. If most were typed, ask an AI agent the five that came up most, word for word, and fix every weak answer with a Q&A pair. A quarter of an hour tells you which receptionist you need.
Questions and answers
Can an AI receptionist answer phone calls?
Phone AI receptionists such as Smith.ai or RingCentral's AI Receptionist answer calls. Ultimo Bots is a text AI receptionist: it answers your website chat, a chat link, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram and Slack, and it does not answer or place phone calls. Many businesses run one of each.
What is the average cost of an AI receptionist?
Phone services bill by call or minute. On October 27, 2026, Smith.ai's Pro plan listed $150 a month for 75 calls, and RingCentral's AI Receptionist started at $49 a month with 100 minutes. Ultimo Bots bills answers in AI credits: Smart $29 a month ($19 billed yearly) with 500 AI credits, Boost $59 ($39 yearly) with 2,000, Ultimo $249 ($199 yearly) with 10,000.
Are AI receptionists worth it?
If you answer the same questions every week or lose enquiries while your hands are busy, usually yes. Point the agent at your content during the 7-day trial, ask your five most common questions and look at the requests it forwards.
Is AI replacing receptionists?
No. An AI receptionist takes the repeated questions and the moments nobody is free; people keep complaints, exceptions and regulars. With Ultimo Bots a website visitor can ask for a person while someone on the team is online; otherwise the agent offers to forward the request.
Is there a free AI receptionist?
Fully free ones are rare. Ultimo Bots gives every new agent a small one-time allowance of free AI credits, and every paid plan starts with a 7-day free trial. On October 27, 2026, Smith.ai listed a free tier of 25 calls a month, then $3.00 per call.
How do I create my own AI receptionist?
Create an agent, point it at your website and files, and connect the channels your customers write on. Then describe extra skills to Mo, the builder in the AI Studio, for example "check free slots in our booking system and book the time the customer confirms". Your system needs a public HTTPS API with a key or token.
