Chatbot Greeting Messages: 30 Examples That Get Replies

A chatbot greeting gets replies when it tells the visitor, in one or two short sentences, exactly what they can ask about. "Hi! How can I help?" asks the visitor to do the thinking. "Questions about delivery times or sizing? Ask me." gives them a reason to type.

Below are 30 greetings you can adapt, grouped by type of business and by page, plus the rules behind them and advice on the suggested-question buttons that sit under the greeting. I build ChatBento, where the greeting and suggested questions are two of the first things you set, so I've written and rewritten a lot of these.

What makes a greeting work?

Four rules cover almost every good greeting:

1. Name the topics. Pick the two or three things visitors actually ask about on your site: price, delivery, booking, compatibility. Put them in the greeting.
2. Keep it short. One or two sentences. The greeting sits next to a closed bubble or at the top of a small window. Nobody reads a paragraph there.
3. Match the page. A visitor on your pricing page has different questions from one on a blog post. If your tool allows page-specific greetings, use them. If not, write one that fits your busiest page.
4. Don't pretend to be a person. "Hi, I'm Jess from the team!" sets up a disappointment when the answers come back instantly and slightly too tidy. In the EU it can also be a legal problem, since the AI Act now requires that people are told they're talking to an AI. I wrote about that in the EU AI Act and website chatbots. A friendly, honest greeting works just as well.

ChatBento's chat header already says "AI assistant · replies instantly", so the greetings below don't all repeat the word "AI". If your widget doesn't label itself, add it to the greeting: "I'm the AI assistant for Bloom Studio."

Online stores

1. "Questions about sizing, delivery or returns? Ask me and I'll answer right away."
2. "Not sure which one to pick? Tell me what you need it for and I'll point you to the right product."
3. "Hi! I can tell you about shipping times to your country, our 30-day returns, or any product on this site."
4. "Looking for a gift? Tell me who it's for and your budget."
5. "Ask me about materials, care instructions or when something will be back in stock."

Local and service businesses

6. "Want to know our prices, opening hours or whether we cover your area? Ask here."
7. "I can answer questions about our treatments and prices. To book, I'll point you to the booking page."
8. "Planning a project? Ask me what we do, rough costs, or how long it usually takes."
9. "Questions about menus, allergies or group bookings? Ask away."
10. "Ask me about lessons, levels and what to bring to your first session."

Software and SaaS

11. "Ask me about plans, limits or how [Product] works with the tools you already use."
12. "Stuck on setup? Describe what you're trying to do and I'll find the right steps in our docs."
13. "Comparing options? Ask me what's included in each plan."
14. "I can answer questions about features, billing and data security. For account changes, I'll pass you to the team."
15. "New here? Ask me what [Product] does and whether it fits your use case."

Agencies, freelancers and portfolios

16. "Thinking about a project? Ask me about services, timelines or how we price work."
17. "Ask me about past projects, what I specialise in, or my availability."
18. "Want to know how working with us goes, from first call to launch? Ask here."

By page type

Pricing page

19. "Questions about plans? I can explain what's included, how billing works and how to cancel."
20. "Not sure which plan fits? Tell me roughly how you'll use it."
21. "Ask me about discounts, yearly billing or what happens if you go over a limit."

Product page

22. "Ask me anything about this product: size, compatibility, delivery or returns."
23. "Wondering if this works for you? Tell me what you have and I'll check."
24. "Questions before you buy? I can answer straight away."

Contact page

25. "You can ask me here first. Most questions get an answer instantly, and I'll pass anything else to the team."
26. "Need a person? Leave your question and email, and someone will get back to you."
27. "Ask me first: I can usually answer questions about orders, hours and policies right away."

Docs and help center

28. "Search not finding it? Describe the problem in your own words."
29. "Ask me how to do something and I'll find the steps in the docs."
30. "Got an error message? Paste it here and I'll look for the fix."

Replace the topics with your own. The point of each example is the structure: a specific list of things the bot can help with, and an easy way to start.

What to avoid

• "Hi! How can I help you today?" It's polite and gives the visitor nothing. Use the space to say what you can help with.
• A pitch. "Welcome to the #1 rated bakery in town!" belongs in your hero section, not your support chat.
• Promises the bot can't keep. "I can sort out any problem with your order" is untrue if the bot can't see orders. Say what it really does.
• Long greetings. If it wraps to four lines in the chat window, cut it in half.
• A fake human. A name is fine. A name plus a stock photo plus "let me check with the kitchen" is not. More on that in should your chatbot have a human name.

Suggested questions: the buttons under the greeting

Most chat widgets let you add a few suggested questions that visitors can tap instead of typing. In ChatBento they appear as small buttons under the greeting. They often do more work than the greeting itself, because tapping is easier than writing.

Good suggested questions:

• Come from real questions. Use the three questions you answer most often by email or phone. If you have chatbot transcripts, use those.
• Are short. "Do you ship to Canada?" fits on a button. "What are your shipping options and costs for international orders?" doesn't.
• Have good answers. Before you add a suggestion, ask it yourself and check the answer. A suggested question that gets "I don't have that information" is worse than none.
• Number three or four. More than that crowds a small window.

A set for an online shop might be:

• "How long does delivery take?"
• "What's your returns policy?"
• "Do you ship internationally?"

For a SaaS product:

• "Is there a free plan?"
• "Can I cancel anytime?"
• "Does it work with Shopify?"

How to test your greeting

You don't need an A/B testing tool to improve a greeting. Try this:

1. Write the greeting and three suggested questions.
2. Leave them for two weeks and note how many conversations started, and how many began with a suggested question versus typed text.
3. Read the first messages people typed. If most visitors ask something your greeting didn't mention, add that topic.
4. Change one thing, the greeting or one suggestion, and compare the next two weeks.

The first messages visitors type are the most useful thing you'll learn from this. They tell you what people came to your site wanting to know.

The short checklist

• Greeting names two or three real topics
• One or two sentences, no pitch
• Doesn't claim to be a person, and the widget or greeting makes it clear it's AI
• Doesn't promise things the bot can't do
• Three or four suggested questions, taken from real questions
• Every suggested question tested and answered well
• First messages reviewed after two weeks

If you're still deciding what to call your bot, the free chatbot name generator gives you ideas by industry and tone. ChatBento lets you set the greeting, suggested questions, name, color and corner on every plan, including the free one.