What Is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is a software program that simulates human conversation through text or voice, using pre-set rules or AI to understand a message and respond automatically. Businesses use chatbots on websites, WhatsApp, and other messaging channels to answer questions, qualify leads, and handle routine support without needing a live agent for every conversation.

Last updated August 2026.

Types of Chatbots

Most chatbots fall into one of two categories:

Rule-based chatbots — follow a fixed decision tree. They match keywords or button clicks to pre-written responses. Fast to set up and predictable, but they can only handle questions you've already planned for.
AI chatbots — use natural language processing (and increasingly large language models) to understand the intent behind a message, even if it's phrased differently than expected. More flexible, but need more setup and monitoring.

Many business chatbots today are a hybrid: rule-based flows for common, high-volume questions (order status, business hours, pricing), with AI or a human handoff for anything more complex.

How Chatbots Work

A customer sends a message — through a website widget, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or another channel.
The chatbot processes the message — matching it against keywords/rules, or using AI to interpret intent.
It responds automatically — with a pre-written answer, a menu of options, or a dynamically generated reply.
Complex requests are escalated — a well-built chatbot hands the conversation to a human agent when it can't confidently answer, rather than leaving the customer stuck.

Chatbot vs Live Chat

Chatbot	Live Chat
Automated, available 24/7	Requires a human agent to be online
Handles repetitive, high-volume questions instantly	Better for complex or sensitive conversations
No wait time	Wait time depends on agent availability
Best paired with live chat, not a full replacement for it	Best paired with a chatbot to triage volume first

Most businesses use both together: a chatbot to instantly handle the questions it can, and a live handoff to a human agent for everything else. This is exactly how WhatsApp live chat and chatbot automation work side by side on oChats.

WhatsApp Chatbots

A WhatsApp chatbot runs specifically on WhatsApp Business API, automatically replying to incoming WhatsApp messages using rules, keywords, or AI. Common use cases include answering FAQs, sending order confirmations, qualifying leads before handing off to sales, and running simple booking or catalog flows — all inside the WhatsApp conversation your customer already has open.

oChats' autoreply WhatsApp builder lets you build these flows without writing code, connected to the same team inbox your agents use for live conversations.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Not always. Some chatbots are simple rule-based systems with no AI at all — they just match keywords to pre-written replies. Others use AI (natural language processing or large language models) to understand more varied phrasing. Both are called "chatbots"; only some are actually AI-powered.

No, not with most modern platforms. Tools like oChats' autoreply builder use a no-code, drag-and-drop flow builder, so you can set up keyword-triggered replies and simple decision trees without writing code.

For most businesses, no — and it shouldn't try to. Chatbots are best at handling repetitive, predictable questions at scale. Complex, sensitive, or unusual requests still need a human agent. The most effective setups use a chatbot to triage and handle routine volume, then hand off to a live agent when needed.

Yes. WhatsApp chatbots run on top of WhatsApp Business API and can automatically reply to incoming messages, send order updates, and qualify leads. See our guide to WhatsApp Business API for how the underlying connection works.

Related Guides

What Is WhatsApp Business API? — the platform most business WhatsApp chatbots run on. See all guides on the Knowledge Base.

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