Build your own AI chatbot for websites

What is an AI chatbot for a website?

An AI chatbot for a website is a digital agent that supports visitors during their visit. It answers questions, helps people find information and guides them as they move through your website.

The key difference compared to other forms of website chat is context. The agent does not only respond to what someone asks, but also to what they do: which pages they have viewed, where they came from and what stage of orientation they are in. This allows the assistance to match the visitor’s situation far more closely. In Eloquent this behaviour is defined through configuration rather than code. Modern AI chatbots are set up using visual editors where sources, boundaries and response behaviour are clearly defined.

There are several common types of website chatbots, it's important to understand the difference when choosing an AI chatbot:

• Rule-based chatbots: These work with predefined flows and menus. They respond only to expected input and quickly reach their limits when a visitor deviates from the script.
• Live chat: This offers direct contact with a human agent, but is not scalable and rarely available at all times.
• AI chatbots: These combine scalability with intelligence. They understand open questions, use session context and provide guidance based on current content and visitor behaviour.

An AI chatbot is not a human and does not make decisions. It is a digital agent that operates within clear boundaries, while remaining continuously available and able to follow every visitor’s journey.

Why use an AI chatbot on your website?

Without an AI chatbot, a website is largely static. Visitors have to search, interpret and decide on their own. That works when everything is immediately obvious — but in practice, it rarely is.

Many websites contain strong content, yet:

• visitors don’t find what they’re looking for
• intent remains invisible
• doubts are not addressed
• questions remain unanswered

The result is drop-off, unnecessary contact requests or missed opportunities.

An AI chatbot fundamentally changes this. The agent is always present, understands what visitors are doing and can assist at exactly the right moment not only when someone fills in a form, but already during the orientation phase.

At the same time, live support does not scale. Outside office hours, during peak traffic or with many visitors at once, human support simply isn’t feasible. An AI chatbot operates 24/7, handles multiple conversations simultaneously and provides consistent support to every visitor without requiring additional staffing or complex technical maintenance.

Without an agent, much of visitor behaviour and intent goes unused. With an agent, that information actively contributes to better website performance.

Use cases of an AI chatbot for websites

An AI chatbot has one core purpose: making your website smarter and more effective. How that shows itself depends on the type of website and the needs of its visitors.

AI chatbot for website support

The agent acts as the first point of contact for questions. This includes explanations of services, processes, conditions or help with finding specific pages. Because the agent understands where the visitor is on the website, it can immediately point to the most relevant information.

Many recurring questions are handled automatically, while more complex cases can still be escalated. This reduces pressure on teams and prevents visitors from dropping off.
See our support use case for details on configuration and behaviour.

AI chatbot for lead generation

Instead of passive forms, the agent actively guides visitors. By asking questions and using context, it builds a much clearer picture of the visitor’s needs.

The agent can also identify the company a visitor is coming from (IP-to-company) and combine this with on-site behaviour. This results in richer, more relevant lead data that is far more useful for follow-up.

AI chatbot as an alternative to search

Many visitors struggle to find the right keywords. An AI chatbot allows them to simply ask questions in natural language. The agent understands intent and connects it to the right content.

This makes finding information easier and reduces frustration for visitors who would otherwise get stuck using a traditional search function.
A technical explanation is available in our AI chatbot search use case.

AI chatbot for explaining services and offerings

On websites with many pages or services, the agent helps visitors make sense of their options. By combining behaviour and context, it can suggest relevant content or services that match what someone is currently looking for.

This makes complex websites easier to navigate and increases the chance that visitors find what is relevant to them.
The setup and behaviour of this approach are described in the AI chatbot discovery use case.

Which websites benefit from an AI chatbot?

An AI chatbot works best on websites where visitors do not all follow the same path.

Government websites

Visitors often have specific questions and limited time. An agent provides direct answers and prevents people from getting lost in long pages.

Knowledge platforms

Large volumes of content and frequent search behaviour. An AI chatbot makes knowledge more accessible and helps connect related topics.

Service providers

Visitors want to understand what fits their situation. The agent supports orientation, clarification and decision-making.

SaaS websites

Multiple audiences, features and questions. An agent guides visitors without requiring them to figure everything out themselves.

Large content websites

The more content there is, the higher the chance visitors get stuck. An agent adds guidance and structure.

B2B websites

Company recognition adds context, enables better conversations and generates more valuable data.

On simple one-page sites, an AI chatbot adds little value. On websites with content, choices and intent, the impact is significant.

How does an AI chatbot work technically?

An AI chatbot works based on content, context and behaviour. The agent is connected to your website content and any supporting documents, which form the basis for its responses.

In addition, the agent is enriched in real time with data such as:

• IP-to-company

• session information

• viewed pages

• on-site interactions and actions

This allows the agent to understand not just what someone asks, but why they are asking it.

All interactions are logged. This produces valuable insights into questions, intent, friction points and interests — data that would otherwise remain invisible.

Implementing an AI chatbot on your website

Implementing an AI chatbot is straightforward. The agent is added via a JavaScript embed: a single snippet placed on your website. See our documentation for details.

Once embedded, the agent is immediately active. No heavy integrations are required and no changes to your CMS are needed. The agent operates independently of the system your website runs on.

Management and enrichment are handled centrally. Content, behaviour and data connections can be adjusted without re-embedding the chatbot. This allows the agent to evolve alongside your website and remain relevant over time.

Context-aware AI chatbot and built-in insight

An AI chatbot for a website becomes significantly more effective when it acts as an active agent rather than a passive chat interface. In addition to answering questions, the AI chatbot uses context to support visitors throughout their journey.

Where appropriate, the AI chatbot can recognise the visiting organisation through IP-to-company identification and combine this with on-site behaviour such as viewed pages, interactions and questions asked. This enables the AI chatbot to adapt its guidance in real time and provide more relevant support.

All interactions contribute to a broader understanding of how visitors and organisations use the website. This highlights where guidance is effective, where intent emerges and where visitors benefit from additional support — insights that are often missed by traditional analytics alone.

Context and insight are not goals in themselves. They exist to make the AI chatbot more helpful, the website more responsive and the overall experience more effective, while remaining within clear privacy and regulatory boundaries. Read our guide with best practices and optimisation tips for AI chatbot for websites that visitors will actually use.

Security, privacy and data protection by default

An AI chatbot for a website processes questions, behaviour and context. That makes security and data protection a prerequisite, not an optional feature.

Eloquent operates under ISO 27001 certification. Security controls, access management, logging and incident handling are structurally embedded through an Information Security Management System, rather than added on later.

All infrastructure is hosted within the European Union, with data processed and stored on EU-based servers. This ensures compliance with GDPR and clear jurisdiction for organisations operating in regulated or public environments.

The chatbot operates within clearly defined boundaries. It uses only approved content sources and does not collect or retain personal data unless explicitly required. Behaviour data is used to support visitors, not to profile individuals.

Security, compliance and data residency are not differentiators. They are the baseline. An AI chatbot that cannot meet these requirements should not be deployed on a professional website.

When is Eloquent a logical choice?

Eloquent is designed for websites where visitors do not all follow the same path and where intent is not immediately visible. By adding a single AI chatbot that runs alongside the website, visitors receive guidance while the organisation gains insight.

The chatbot operates as an agent that observes behaviour, questions and context, and uses that information to support visitors at the right moment. At the same time, it generates data that shows where visitors get stuck, where interest emerges and where improvements are possible.

For organisations that want their website to do more than just present information — and instead actively support visitors — this is a logical next step.