Setting Up Your AI Chatbot
About This Course
Transcript
Why it matters
If nobody's watching your website at 11pm, a guest with a question just leaves — and a guest who wanted to book leaves too. TripWorks' Chatbot closes that gap: a chat bubble on your site that answers real questions from your Knowledge Base and live availability, and can complete a real booking, any time of day, without anyone monitoring it.
A generic third-party AI chatbot could answer some FAQs too — that part isn't hard. What it can't do is securely check your real availability or complete an actual paid booking on your behalf. That takes deep integration with your live TripWorks account, not just conversational AI, which is why TripWorks' Chatbot can complete a real booking and a bolt-on chatbot can't.
What you'll learn
- How to create a chatbot under Setup, Sell Online, Chatbots.
- Why a chatbot needs a synced Knowledge Base before it can answer anything.
- How Allowed domains controls where the chatbot loads.
- How to install the embed snippet — no developer required.
- What the chatbot can do beyond answering: completing a real booking.
Prerequisites
- A TripWorks account with a public booking site.
- At least one Knowledge Base already built and synced.
- Access to edit your website's HTML, or its custom-code area on Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress.
What it looks like for a guest
Before the setup steps, here's the payoff: a real chatbot, on a real live account, answering four different kinds of real questions — hours and location, tomorrow's availability, a policy question about bringing a child on a tour, and pricing — each pulled from that account's actual Knowledge Base and live experience details, not a canned script or a static FAQ page.
Setting it up
- Create the chatbot. Go to Setup, Sell Online, Chatbots and create a new one. Give it a Name for internal reference and a Header greeting guests will see when the widget opens.
- Connect a Knowledge Base. A chatbot only knows what its Knowledge Base contains. Only synced Knowledge Bases are selectable — a "Not synced" badge means you need to finish syncing that Knowledge Base first.
- Set Allowed domains (optional). Leave it empty to let the chatbot load anywhere, or list specific domains to restrict it.
- Install the embed snippet. Open Install and copy the one-line script tag. Paste it into your site's HTML right before the closing </body> tag, or into your website builder's custom-code area.
What it can do beyond answering
Chatbot can complete an actual booking — it collects the guest's details, creates a draft booking, and texts them a payment link. Bookings made this way are tagged "AI Chat Bot," so you can report on them separately.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to add your live domain under Allowed domains before going live, if you set one at all.
- Expecting the chatbot to know things that aren't in the Knowledge Base yet — it only knows what you've given it.
FAQ
Do I need a developer to install the chatbot?
No — it's a single script tag you paste into your site's HTML before the closing body tag, or into your website builder's custom-code area on Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress.
Why can't I select a Knowledge Base when creating a chatbot?
Only synced Knowledge Bases are selectable. A "Not synced" badge means that Knowledge Base needs to finish syncing before the chatbot can use it.
Can the chatbot actually complete a booking, or just answer questions?
It can complete a real booking — it collects the guest's details, creates a draft booking, and texts them a payment link, tagged "AI Chat Bot" for reporting.
Can I restrict which websites the chatbot loads on?
Yes — set Allowed domains when creating the chatbot. Leave it empty to allow all domains, or list specific ones to restrict it.
Can I have more than one chatbot?
Yes — for example, a separate chatbot with a different Knowledge Base for a partner site.
Why not just use a generic AI chatbot instead?
A generic third-party chatbot can hold a conversation, but it isn't connected to your live TripWorks account — so it can't securely check real availability or complete an actual paid booking. TripWorks' Chatbot is built into your account, which is what makes a real booking possible, not just an answer.