How to add an AI chatbot to WhatsApp for your business

Most customers in Bangladesh and India would rather send a WhatsApp message than fill in a form or wait on a call. An AI agent on WhatsApp answers them in seconds — at night, on Fridays, during Eid — and hands the chat to your team when it matters.

Two ways to connect

There are two ways to put an AI on a WhatsApp number, and the right one depends on your volume.

Official WhatsApp Business API

This is Meta's own platform for businesses. You add your number in Meta Business, create a permanent access token and connect it.

• Good: no risk of the number being banned for using automation, a verified business profile, and it handles high volume.
• Keep in mind: WhatsApp only allows free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message. Outside that window you need approved message templates.

QR code (“Lite”)

You scan a QR code from WhatsApp → Linked devices, the same way you'd use WhatsApp Web.

• Good: works with any number, including your current one, in about a minute.
• Keep in mind: it isn't official, so WhatsApp may limit numbers that send a lot of messages. Use it for normal customer conversations, not mass marketing.

Setting it up

1. Train the agent first. Add your website, price list and delivery policy. An agent is only as good as what it knows.
2. Test with real questions. Ask what your customers ask — price, stock, delivery time, return policy — and fix gaps with Q&A answers.
3. Connect the number. Choose Official API or QR code under Channels → WhatsApp.
4. Decide when a person takes over. Upset customers, big orders and anything the agent isn't sure about should reach your team quickly.

Five tips for AI replies customers like

• Answer in their language. If they write Banglish, a reply in clear Bangla feels natural; a formal English answer doesn't.
• Keep it short. WhatsApp is a chat, not an email. Two or three lines beat a paragraph.
• Quote exact prices. Let the agent use your real price list instead of guessing — and show prices in the customer's currency.
• Let people reach a human. Never trap someone in a loop. "Talk to a person" should always work.
• Pause when your team replies. If a staff member answers from the phone, the AI should step aside for that chat.

What about voice notes and payment screenshots?

Customers send both all the time. A good agent listens to voice notes, reads screenshots, and can check the amount and transaction ID of a bKash or Nagad payment before passing the order on.

Getting started

You can try all of this free: create an agent, add your website, and test it in the Playground before connecting your number. The WhatsApp guide walks through both connection methods step by step.