Add an AI support chatbot to WordPress

Botsmith works on WordPress with one line of code. There is no plugin of ours to install: you paste a short script into your site's footer, and a chat bubble appears on every page, answering visitors from your own content. The whole job takes about five minutes.

Before you start

• A Botsmith account. The 14-day trial is free and needs no card.
• A bot created with your WordPress site's address, so it has already read your pages. You can ask it a few questions in the dashboard preview before it goes live.
• An administrator login for your WordPress site.

Step 1: copy your embed code

In your Botsmith dashboard, open your bot. The overview page shows your embed code; clicking it selects the whole line for copying. It looks like this, with your own bot ID:

<script src="https://botsmith.chat/bot.js" data-bot="fb_xxxxxxxxxxxx" async></script>

Step 2: paste it into your footer with WPCode

WPCode is a free plugin that adds code to your site's header or footer without touching theme files. It is one of the most widely installed plugins on WordPress.org.

1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New, search for WPCode, then install and activate "WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets".
2. Go to Code Snippets → Header & Footer.
3. Paste your Botsmith line into the Footer box.
4. Click Save Changes.

Why the footer? The script then loads after your page content, and its async attribute means it never blocks the page from displaying.

Other ways to add it

• Your theme's settings. Many themes have a field for custom scripts or footer code in their options panel. Paste the same line there instead of installing a plugin.
• WordPress.com. Whether you can add scripts depends on your plan. WordPress.com explains the options in its guide to adding code to your site header.
• Avoid editing theme files directly. A line pasted into your theme's footer template disappears the next time the theme updates.

Step 3: check that it works

1. Open your site in a private browser window, so you are not looking at a cached copy.
2. Look for the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner, open it and ask a question your site answers, such as your opening hours or delivery times.
3. If you use a caching or performance plugin and cannot see the bubble, clear its cache and reload.

If the bubble does not appear

• A different domain. For your security, the widget only runs on the website address you gave the bot, with or without www, and its subdomains. A staging copy on another domain will not show it.
• Script optimisation. Plugins that delay, combine or defer JavaScript can hold the widget back. Exclude bot.js from those settings.
• The bot is paused or the trial has ended. Check the bot's settings page in your dashboard; a paused bot tells visitors to contact you directly instead of answering.

Cannot edit the site at all?

Every bot also has its own chat link that opens straight into the conversation. Add it to your menu as a "Chat with us" link, or put it on a button in any page, and nothing needs to be installed. You will find the link and a QR code on the bot's overview page.

Comparing options first? See how Botsmith stacks up against Chatbase, or try the dental clinic demo to see the bot answer from a real-looking website.