A website chatbot is only as good as the content behind it. If your site doesn’t say when you’re open, the best chatbot in the world can’t tell a visitor. Before launch, and every few months after, it’s worth checking your site against the questions people really bring to a chat window.
Below are 40 of them, grouped by theme. Not every one applies to every site; pick the ones that fit, then run the check at the end.
Opening hours, location and contact
- What are your opening hours?
- Are you open on public holidays?
- Where are you, and is there parking?
- How do I get there by public transport?
- What’s the best way to contact you?
- Who do I speak to about a complaint?
- How quickly do you reply to e-mails?
Tip: put hours and address as text on a page, not only in an image or map. If holiday hours change each year, give them their own dated section.
Prices and payment
- How much does it cost?
- Is there a discount for students, seniors or groups?
- Which payment methods do you accept?
- Do you charge a deposit or cancellation fee?
- Is there a free trial or first session?
- Are prices different for members?
Tip: if prices depend on options, say what they depend on. “From $40, depending on size” is far more useful to a chatbot, and a visitor, than no price at all.
How things work
- How do I book, register or apply?
- What do I need to bring?
- How long does it take?
- Can I change or cancel my booking?
- What happens after I sign up?
- Do I need an account?
- Is there a waiting list?
Tip: step-by-step processes work best as numbered lists on one page. See our guide to writing content an AI chatbot can use.
Policies and rules
- What is your refund or returns policy?
- Can I bring children, guests or pets?
- Is the building accessible?
- What are the age requirements?
- What is your privacy policy?
- What are the terms for memberships or subscriptions?
Dates and events
- What’s on this week?
- When is the next event, class or meeting?
- Is last month’s event happening again?
- When does registration open?
- When is the deadline?
Tip: if events are a custom post type with a date field, share that field in the chatbot’s Fields settings and choose Upcoming first, so the next event comes first and past dates are marked as past. See Content settings.
Documents and forms
- Where can I find the application form?
- Is there a price list or menu I can download?
- Where are the minutes from the last meeting?
- What does the handbook say about this?
Tip: documents are only answerable if the chatbot can read their text. Turn on document reading and check your PDFs have a text layer; our guide to making PDFs readable explains how.
About you
- What do you do, and who is it for?
- Who runs the organization?
- How long have you been operating?
- Are you hiring?
- Do you offer something I can’t see on the site?
That last one matters. Visitors will ask about things you don’t do, and a grounded chatbot should say it can’t find them on your site rather than invent an answer.
How to check your site against the list
You can do this in an afternoon.
- Pick your 15 most likely questions from the list, and add any your staff hear often.
- Find the answer on your site for each one, the way a visitor would. Note the page, or “not published”.
- Fix the gaps. Add the missing information to the most natural page, or create a short FAQ page for the leftovers.
- Ask the chatbot each question in a private browser window and compare its answer with the page. The sources under each answer show which pages it used.
- Add the best ones as suggested questions in the chatbot’s General settings, so first-time visitors can tap them.
Write answers a chatbot can quote
Having an answer somewhere on the site isn’t quite enough. The way it’s written decides whether the chatbot, and the visitor, can use it.
- Answer in a sentence, near the top. “Yes, you can bring one guest per visit” before the detail, not after three paragraphs of background.
- Include the conditions. “Guests must be 18 or over and sign in at reception” saves a follow-up question.
- Use the visitor’s words. If people ask about “parking”, say “parking”, even if your team calls it something else.
- Keep one source of truth. If the same fact appears on three pages, make sure all three agree, or link to one.
A useful test: read the sentence out of context. If it still answers the question, a chatbot can quote it.
Keep the list alive
Your visitors will quickly show you questions you didn’t think of. Read your conversations for the first couple of weeks, and afterwards keep an eye on the Most asked list on the chatbot’s Overview screen. On Growth and Pro, Questions it could not answer is effectively a live version of this checklist: every item is a gap to close. Our guide to chatbot analytics shows how to work through it.
If your organization uses abbreviations your visitors type, add them under Abbreviations in the General settings, one per line as abbreviation = meaning, so short questions are expanded before the search runs.