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Imagine your WhatsApp replying to customers, answering their questions, and booking appointments on its own. With Conversation AI Agents and your GoGHL.ai channels, that’s exactly what you get:
  • A customer messages your business on WhatsApp
  • The AI agent reads the message, understands the intent, and replies instantly
  • If they want to book an appointment, it offers available slots from your calendar
  • If they have a question, it answers from your knowledge base
  • If it doesn’t know the answer, it hands off to a human
All automatic, all on WhatsApp, from your own number connected via GoGHL.ai.

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Full Setup Video

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Prerequisites

Before getting started, ensure you have:
  • An active GoGHL.ai account with the marketplace app installed on your sub-account
  • WhatsApp connected to the sub-account (see WhatsApp Setup)
  • Conversation AI enabled on your CRM plan
  • A calendar configured in your CRM (required for appointment booking)

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Step 1: Open Conversation AI

1

Select Your Sub-Account

Log in to your CRM and switch to the sub-account you connected to WhatsApp via GoGHL.ai.
2

Go to AI Agents

In the left sidebar, click AI Agents, then open the Conversation AI tab.
Conversation AI Agents dashboard
The dashboard shows how your agents are performing: unique contacts handled, actions triggered, appointments booked, and time saved.

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Step 2: Create a Bot

1

Click Create Bot

Click the + Create Bot button in the top-right corner.
2

Choose the Bot Type

Pick how you want to build your bot:
  • Prompt Based Bot: provide custom instructions (a prompt) for lead capturing, appointment booking, or general Q&A. Recommended if you are comfortable writing prompts.
  • Flow Based Builder: a visual flow builder for advanced lead capturing and nurturing with complex logic and branching. Recommended for advanced users.
Choose between Prompt Based Bot and Flow Based Builder
This guide uses the Prompt Based Bot.
3

Pick a Template

Select a starting template and click Continue:
  • General Q&A: answers common questions instantly; perfect for FAQs and quick resolutions
  • Appointment booking: helps customers select available slots and confirm appointments
  • Marketplace Templates: pre-built ConversationAI templates (agency admins only)
  • Start from Scratch: build a fully custom bot
Pick a bot template
This guide follows the Appointment booking template, the most common use case for WhatsApp automation.

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Step 3: Configure Bot Settings

Bot Settings with channels selected
1

Name Your Bot

Give the bot a recognizable name, for example WhatsApp Booking Assistant.
2

Set the Bot Status

Choose the operating mode:
  • Off: Conversations AI is turned off
  • Suggestive: the bot suggests replies inside the chat window, and you decide what to send
  • Auto Pilot: the bot replies automatically based on its trained data
Bot status options
Start with Suggestive while testing, then switch to Auto Pilot when you’re confident in the bot’s replies.
3

Select Communication Channels

Under Supported Communication Channels/Providers, select the channels where the bot should be active. GoGHL.ai connects to your CRM as a conversation provider of type SMS, so select SMS for the bot to reply on your GoGHL.ai provider (WhatsApp QR, iMessage, and SMS Android). You can also enable Live Chat, Chat Widget (SMS chat), Instagram, and Facebook.
SMS selected under Supported Communication Channels
4

Enter Your Business Name

Optionally set a Business Name (defaults to the location name). The bot uses it when referring to your business in replies.

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Step 4: Configure Auto-Pilot Mode

Fine-tune how the bot behaves when replying automatically.
Auto-pilot mode settings
  • Wait time before responding: how long the bot waits before replying (seconds, minutes, or hours). A short delay lets customers finish typing multi-part messages.
  • Maximum messages a bot can send in a conversation: caps bot replies per conversation to control AI usage and costs.
  • Also allow this bot to respond to: enable Images and/or Voice Notes so the bot can understand them. These responses may take slightly longer and are supported only in Auto-Pilot mode.
  • Send bot to sleep when I send a: pause the bot when a Manual Message or Workflow Message goes out. Enable both to pause on any outbound message, so the bot never talks over you or your existing workflows.
  • Response Settings: enable Response Style Settings to choose how the bot writes: concise, balanced, or detailed.
Click Save when done.

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Step 5: Train the Bot

The bot answers from your knowledge base. Open the Bot Training tab to connect one.
1

Create a Knowledge Base

Click Manage Knowledge Base (or launch a new one from Bot Training), give it a name and an optional description, and click Create.
2

Add Content

Add sources the bot can learn from:
  • Website: import an exact URL or all URLs in a domain; pages are fetched and indexed automatically
  • FAQs: add question and answer pairs
  • Tables: structured data such as price lists
  • Rich text: free-form content
  • Upload file: documents like PDFs
3

Add a Knowledge Base Trigger

Back in Bot Training, click Add Trigger, choose your knowledge base (you can connect up to 7), and optionally add instructions such as:
Use this knowledge base when the user asks about pricing and discounts
Add a knowledge base trigger
Instructions are optional; the agent autonomously decides when to use each knowledge base. Adding instructions makes routing more predictable.

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Step 6: Set the Bot’s Personality and Goals

Open the Bot Goals tab to define how the bot talks and what it should achieve.
Bot Goals with personality and prompt
  • AI Model: pick the model that powers the bot (for example, OpenAI GPT 4.1).
  • Personality: describe the tone and role, for example: 
    You are a friendly and professional customer assistant for {{ai.business_name}}.
You help businesses connect their WhatsApp for automating messages,
AI-powered replies, and multi-channel communication.
  • Goal: what the bot should drive toward. With the Appointment booking template, the goal is to get customers to book an appointment; you can extend it, e.g. answer questions about features, pricing, setup, and integrations.
  • Additional Information: conversation guidelines, for example: 
    Conversation Guidelines:
* Maintain a casual, purposeful, and concise tone.
* Mirror the customer's language and manner of speaking.
* Always identify the query type first: feature question,
  technical issue, billing question, or booking request.

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Step 7: Set Up Actions

Actions let the bot do more than chat. Configure them from the Bot Goals tab.
Connect a single calendar or multiple calendars and click Proceed. Then configure:
  • Book via link: send customers a booking link instead of booking in-chat (leave off to let the AI book directly)
  • Pause bot response after booking: stop the bot once an appointment is booked
  • Trigger workflows after booking: fire a workflow for confirmations or reminders
  • Transfer to employee post appointment booking: assign the conversation to a specific team member
  • Allow the bot to cancel appointments and reschedule appointments: enable both so customers can manage bookings entirely in chat
Let the bot collect information during the conversation (for example, city) and automatically save it to the contact record. You can add new fields directly from this screen.
When a customer says “bye”, “goodbye”, or “thank you, have a nice day”, the bot stops responding. This also prevents wasted AI usage. Optionally set:
  • A final message (e.g. “Thank you for your time, have a nice day!”)
  • Reactivate bot after a set number of minutes, hours, or days, or keep it off
  • A custom tag so you can track conversations where the bot stopped
Hand the conversation to a real person in three scenarios:
  1. Human requested: triggers on phrases like “I want to talk to a manager” or “I want to talk to a human”. Assign the conversation to a specific user, and enable Skip assigning if contact has an assigned user to avoid reassigning.
  2. Can’t find relevant information: the bot lacks an answer. Set a final message such as “I’m sorry, I don’t have the answer to your question at the moment. I’m forwarding your request to our team and someone will get back to you within 24 hours.”
  3. Failed to resolve issue: multiple attempts to resolve the issue have failed; the conversation is escalated to your team.
Pair human handover with GoGHL.ai internal notifications to get pinged on WhatsApp or email the moment the AI can’t answer, and jump in to reply yourself.
Route the conversation to another bot: either a default transfer to your primary bot when this bot doesn’t know the answer, or scenario-based transfers to specialized bots you’ve created.
If a contact stops replying, the bot follows up automatically after the delay you set (minutes, hours, or days), with multiple follow-up steps if needed. If the contact says they’re busy (“contact me after 15 minutes”), the bot honors the requested time.
Generate an automatic conversation summary when a conversation goes quiet for a set inactivity time, and send it to a specific user or a custom email.

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Step 8: Test Your Bot

Use the Test Your Bot panel (available on the Bot Settings, Bot Training, and Bot Goals tabs) before going live.
  • Ask questions your customers would ask: pricing, features, booking a demo
  • Try booking: the bot offers real slots from the calendar you connected
  • Rate answers with the like/dislike buttons to flag wrong responses
  • Open a reply’s details to see the prompt and intent used, chat history, and actions executed
When answers look right, set the Bot Status to Auto Pilot in Bot Settings, click Save, and your WhatsApp AI agent is live.

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Best Practices

  • Start in Suggestive mode and review the bot’s suggestions before enabling Auto Pilot
  • Keep your knowledge base focused: connect separate knowledge bases for pricing, support, and product info with clear trigger instructions
  • Set a sensible maximum messages cap to control AI usage
  • Enable goodbye detection to avoid unnecessary replies
  • Always configure human handover so customers are never stuck with a bot that can’t help
  • Enable send bot to sleep on manual message so the bot never interrupts your team’s conversations

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Troubleshooting

Bot doesn’t reply on WhatsApp
  • Make sure you have money in your wallet (check View credits in the top bar). Without balance, Conversation AI will not work.
  • Confirm SMS is selected under Supported Communication Channels (GoGHL.ai is a conversation provider of type SMS)
  • Check the bot status is Auto Pilot (in Suggestive mode it only suggests, never sends)
  • Verify your WhatsApp number is connected in GoGHL.ai (see WhatsApp Setup)
Bot gives wrong or empty answers
  • Check the knowledge base finished indexing your website pages
  • Add trigger instructions so the right knowledge base is used
  • Tighten the Personality and Additional Information prompts
Appointments not booking
  • Ensure a calendar is connected in the Appointment Booking action
  • Confirm the calendar has available slots

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Support

If you need help setting up your Conversation AI agent:

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FAQ

Yes. The bot replies through the WhatsApp number you connected to your sub-account via GoGHL.ai, on any channel you enable.
Select SMS. GoGHL.ai connects to your CRM as a conversation provider of type SMS, so the bot must be active on the SMS channel to reply on your GoGHL.ai provider (WhatsApp QR, iMessage, and SMS Android).
Yes. Create multiple bots (e.g. one for Q&A, one for booking) and use the Transfer Bot action to route conversations between them. You can also set one bot as the Primary Bot.
Not if you enable Send bot to sleep when I send a Manual Message in Auto-pilot settings. The bot pauses whenever you step into the conversation.
Yes. Enable Images and Voice Notes under Auto-pilot mode. These replies may take slightly longer and are supported only in Auto-Pilot mode.
You’re now ready to run a fully automated WhatsApp AI agent using GoGHL.ai + Conversation AI.