Rule-Based vs AI Chatbots for Local Business

Rule-based: cheap, rigid

Button flows ("press 1 for hours") never hallucinate — but die the moment a visitor asks something off-script. Good for under 10 FAQs and single flows.

AI chatbots: flexible, needs guardrails

AI understands free language ("are you open Saturday?") from your business info. Risk: invention without grounding. Always bound it to your data + a human fallback.

An honest decision rule

• Under 20 chats/month: reply manually, buy nothing.
• 20–200/month: hybrid — quick buttons for common stuff, AI for the rest.
• Either way: every dead end must become a contact form.

Buy for your chat volume, not for the trend.