A potential customer lands on your website at 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday. There's no one to chat with. The contact form asks them to wait for a response. They close the tab and find someone else.
An AI chatbot changes that. It engages the visitor, answers their specific questions about your services, qualifies their needs, and books them an appointment — all before you wake up Monday morning.
OTBDA builds and deploys custom AI chatbots for small businesses that treat every visitor like they're worth keeping.
What a Small Business Chatbot Does
Lead capture: Engages visitors who would otherwise bounce, collects their name and contact information, and routes them into your CRM.
FAQ handling: Answers your 20 most common questions instantly — hours, location, pricing ranges, how to get started, insurance acceptance (for medical/dental), whatever your specific business needs.
Appointment booking: Connects to your calendar and books appointments directly — no back-and-forth, no phone tag.
Qualification: Asks the right questions to filter out time-wasters and identify serious prospects before routing them to your team.
After-hours coverage: 70% of website visits happen outside business hours. A chatbot doesn't need a lunch break.
Escalation: When a conversation needs a human — complex complaints, specific negotiations — the bot hands off smoothly with a transcript of the conversation for context.
Types of Chatbots We Build
Rule-Based Chatbots
Scripted conversation flows for simple, predictable interactions. Lower cost, faster to build, reliable. Works well when the use case is narrow (appointment booking, FAQ, simple qualification).
AI-Powered Chatbots
Uses an LLM (OpenAI or Claude) to generate responses in real time. Handles unexpected questions, maintains context across a conversation, and reads nuance better than scripted flows. More expensive but more capable.
Hybrid
Rule-based for common paths, AI-powered for edge cases. The most practical choice for most small businesses.
Platforms We Deploy On
- Website (embedded widget — works on WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, custom)
- Facebook Messenger
- Instagram DMs
- SMS (text message)
- WhatsApp Business
We configure one bot and connect it to all your channels — customers reach you where they are, not where it's convenient for you.
Real-World Results
Service businesses with properly deployed chatbots typically see:
- 25–40% of website visitors engaged by the bot (vs. 5–10% who fill out a form)
- 3–5x increase in leads captured from after-hours visitors
- 40–60% of appointments booked without staff involvement
- 30–50% reduction in repetitive phone calls (FAQ volume)
The chatbot pays for itself within the first month for most businesses by capturing leads that would have otherwise been lost.
Chatbot Pricing
| Option | What's Included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Starter (rule-based) | 1 channel, FAQ + contact capture, CRM integration | $800 setup + $150/mo |
| Professional (AI hybrid) | 3 channels, booking, qualification, escalation | $1,500 setup + $250/mo |
| Enterprise (full AI) | All channels, custom training, analytics | $2,500 setup + $400/mo |
Monthly maintenance covers: conversation monitoring, refinement based on real conversation data, integration updates, and support.
Request a Chatbot Demo
See a live AI chatbot in action and get a custom quote for your business. 30-minute call, no commitment required.
Book Your Free CallFAQ: AI Chatbot for Small Business
Will customers know they're talking to a bot?
We recommend being transparent — the bot introduces itself as an AI assistant. Most customers accept this readily, especially when it's actually helpful. Deception backfires when customers realize mid-conversation and feel manipulated.
How long does setup take?
A starter chatbot is typically live in 7–10 business days. Professional and enterprise tiers take 3–4 weeks due to deeper integration and AI training.
What if the chatbot can't answer a question?
We build fallback flows that gracefully hand off to a human or take a message. The bot never dead-ends a conversation — it either answers, escalates, or captures the lead for follow-up.