# What is Chatbot / AI Assistant?

What is Chatbot / AI Assistant? An automated conversation system — rule-based or AI-powered — that handles customer inquiries 24/7.

## How it works in practice

A good chatbot answers 30-40% of common questions without an agent. 'Where's my order?', 'What's your return policy?', 'How long does shipping take?' — questions a chatbot can answer accurately. Agents handle the complex ones.

## Related metrics

- Customer Service — a chatbot replaces agents for simple questions
- FAQ — a chatbot is an interactive FAQ
- Helpdesk — the chatbot filters before the helpdesk
- AI — an AI-based chatbot is far more flexible

## Common misconception

'A chatbot hurts the customer experience.' A bad chatbot does. A good one that escalates to an agent when it can't answer improves the experience. 64% of customers prefer an instant chatbot answer over waiting for an agent.

## How to fix it

Chatbot underperforming? (1) Check the fallback rate — what % of questions escalate to an agent? Target: under 40%, (2) review logs of unanswered questions — these are your gaps, (3) add a proactive trigger — the chatbot offers help after 30 seconds at checkout.

## Real-world example

A cosmetics store: 400 inquiries/month, 70% about 'when will my order arrive?' A chatbot connected to the shipping API answered automatically within 5 seconds. Support inquiries fell to 150/month. Response time for basic questions went from 6 hours to 2 minutes.

## Where to start

A chatbot is worth investing in past 100+ inquiries/month. Tools: Tidio, Intercom, Gorgias AI (for Shopify). Start with 10 common questions, add tracking integration, and refine based on monthly logs.

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Category: Technology · From the [Jimmy OS KPI Glossary](https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi.md) · Source page: https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi/chatbot-ai-assistant