PIPELINEGuide
Checklist: preparing an AI chatbot
What you should clarify before requesting quotes for an AI chatbot. The more is settled in advance, the more reliable the quotes will be.
Before deciding on an AI chatbot, a quick assessment is worthwhile: which process takes the most time, who will manage the system later, and whether the necessary content is even available. The complete checklist is further down.
01 — Checklist
Clarify before the first quote
- What should improve? In one sentence, no jargon.
- How will you know? One number that should change.
- Who decides? One person, not a committee.
- What budget is available? A range is enough — it makes quotes comparable instead of arbitrary.
- By when? And what the deadline depends on.
- Which systems are involved? And who has access to them.
- What do you already have? Content, data, preliminary work — this reduces the cost.
02 — Participation
What we need from you
- A contact person who can make decisions — not just forward them.
- Access to the affected systems, in time and not on launch day.
- Real examples from daily business — the messier, the more useful for testing.
- Two to four hours for coordination, distributed over the project duration.
- An answer to the question of what success means. Without it, nothing can be assessed afterward.
03 — Questions
Questions you should ask
- What happens if the project becomes more expensive than estimated — who bears that?
- Who owns data, access, and, if developed, the source code?
- What does operation cost in the second and third year?
- What does the documentation we receive at the end look like?
- How would you measure whether the project was successful?
- Is there a case in which you would advise us against this?
04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions
What happens to our customers' data?
The conversations run through servers in the EU, no training is done with your data, and we write the appropriate section for your privacy policy. On request, chat logs are automatically deleted after a set period.
Does this even pay off for us?
The calculation is simple: requests per week times processing time times hourly rate. With twenty repeat questions per week and seven minutes each, that's a good two hours of work — every week. We calculate this with your real numbers before the quote.
Can we turn the bot off again?
Anytime, with one click. The snippet remains, the bot is gone. There's no minimum term that binds you.
Doesn't an AI chatbot just make up answers?
A free-running language model does. That's why we build the bot so it only answers from a verified knowledge base and provides the source. If it finds nothing, it says so and redirects — that's the most important part of the configuration.
How much work does this create for us?
At the start, about two to three hours for gathering content and one alignment round. After that, nothing regular — unless you want to add new topics, which works through a simple document.
Do we have to label the chatbot as AI?
Yes. Since August 2026, the transparency requirements of Article 50 of the EU AI Act apply: Anyone communicating directly with an AI system must be able to recognize it. We build the labeling in as standard, it costs nothing extra.
Does this also work on a WordPress site?
Yes. The integration is a single code snippet in the footer and works the same on WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Wix, TYPO3, or a custom-built site.
05 — Next
Related pages
- AI chatbot — Overview
- AI chatbot — Small businesses
- AI chatbot — Alternatives
- AI chatbot — Team and acceptance
- AI chatbot — Risks
- AI chatbot — Provider comparison
- AI chatbot — data protection
- AI chatbot — Requirements
- WhatsApp chatbot
- AI phone assistant
- Customer support automation
- All guides
AI chatbot by region
Next step
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Briefly describe what you need. You'll get an honest answer about what's realistic and what it will roughly cost.