ANDLANE v2.1

↳ chatbot · service

AI chatbots for small businesses — trained on your business, not generic.

Chatbots that actually know what you sell. Handles 60-80% of customer questions automatically. On your site, WhatsApp, or Messenger.

Book your free 15-min call See pricing →

Overview

Why automate this, exactly?

Most small business chatbots in 2026 are still terrible. Generic FAQ bots that frustrate customers, can't read your actual product catalogue, and end every conversation with 'I'll connect you to a human' (who isn't there). Andlane builds AI chatbots powered by modern large language models (Claude, GPT-4, Llama) that are trained specifically on your business — your product pages, your FAQs, your past customer conversations, your tone of voice — and integrated with your live systems (inventory, booking calendar, CRM) so they can actually take actions, not just answer questions. The typical Andlane chatbot handles 60 to 80 percent of routine customer questions completely autonomously, escalates the rest with full context to a human, and never sleeps. It works on your website, WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram DMs from the same training base — so the customer gets a consistent experience no matter where they message you. Setup takes 1 to 3 weeks depending on complexity.

What we'll build

Four pieces that work together.

Each one is useful on its own. Stacked, they remove a category of work from your week entirely.

build
01 / piece

Website chatbot

Live chat widget on your site, trained on your full website content, product pages, FAQs and policies. Answers questions, qualifies leads, books appointments, and escalates to a human with full context when needed.

build
02 / piece

WhatsApp Business bot

Same intelligence, on the channel your customers actually use. We handle the WhatsApp Business API setup, message templates, and 24-hour customer service window logic so you stay compliant.

build
03 / piece

Multi-channel deployment

Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, web chat — all powered by the same training base, so the customer gets a consistent answer wherever they ask.

build
04 / piece

Action-taking, not just answering

Real integrations with your live systems. The bot can check live inventory, book into your calendar, generate a quote, create a support ticket, or update your CRM — not just point at an FAQ page.

In practice

What it looks like in a real business.

A real-world scenario ↘

A boutique London e-commerce brand was answering the same 30 customer questions hundreds of times a month — sizing, shipping times, return policy, fabric care. Their support team was drowning, and weekend enquiries went unanswered until Monday. We built an AI chatbot trained on their FAQs, product pages, sizing guide and past support transcripts. It now handles around 72 percent of customer enquiries by itself, with full context on the customer's order history and the specific products they're asking about. For the remaining 28 percent, it gathers all the relevant context before escalating to the support team — so when a human takes over, they don't have to re-ask everything. The support team went from drowning to caught up by lunchtime, and weekend enquiries get answered in minutes instead of two days.

Tools we plug into

Plays nice with the tools you already use.

If yours isn't on this list, ask — we can almost certainly work with it.

Anthropic Claude OpenAI GPT-4 WhatsApp Business API Meta Messenger Instagram DM Intercom Crisp Tidio Custom web widget Zendesk

Common questions

About ai chatbots.

What's the difference between this and a generic ChatGPT bot on my website?
Generic ChatGPT doesn't know your products, your prices, your stock, or your policies. It hallucinates answers, frustrates customers, and damages your brand. Our chatbots are grounded in your actual business data, only answer from sources we've trained them on, and refuse to answer (or escalate) when they don't have the information.
Will it hallucinate or make things up?
We build with retrieval-grounded architectures — the chatbot can only answer from a defined source of truth (your knowledge base, product catalogue, policies). If there's no answer in the source data, it either escalates or politely says so. We test exhaustively for hallucinations during the build phase.
How much does an AI chatbot cost for a small business in the UK?
Andlane chatbot builds start at £1,400 for a single-channel deployment (web or WhatsApp), with monthly running costs of typically £30 to £150 depending on conversation volume. Multi-channel deployments and complex integrations cost more — we quote on the audit call.
Can it handle WhatsApp Business?
Yes — this is one of our most-requested channels. We handle the WhatsApp Business API approval, message template setup, and compliance with the 24-hour customer service window rules. Most UK small businesses see significantly higher engagement on WhatsApp than on web chat.
What languages does it support?
By default, UK English. The underlying models handle most European languages well — French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian — at production quality. Multilingual deployments are common for businesses serving expat London or EU customers.
Does it work outside business hours?
Yes — that's one of the biggest wins. The bot handles enquiries 24/7. Weekend and evening enquiries (typically 30 to 40 percent of small business traffic) get answered immediately, which significantly improves conversion.
How long does setup take?
Simple deployments (single channel, basic FAQ): 5 to 10 working days. Complex deployments (multi-channel, deep integrations, custom actions): 2 to 3 weeks. We always run a quiet pilot phase first so you can see real conversations before fully launching.
Ready when you are ↘

Start small. Start with a call.

Tell us what's slowing you down. We'll tell you, in plain English, whether and how we can automate it. Free, 15 minutes, no pitch.

  • Free 15-min call
  • £250 audit option
  • Fixed quotes
  • No long contracts
£250
audit · fixed · one-off
Book the audit → — or — Book a free 15-min call →