The short version
An Instagram chatbot is software that answers your DMs and comments for you. In practice it has two layers: keyword automations (the price for anyone who types "price") and an AI assistant that answers whatever matched no rule. BixoChat has both: the automations check first; if nothing matches, the assistant answers in text, based on your business description. This page covers the assistant's setup, what it can and cannot do, and what a useful business description looks like.
Two layers
| Keyword automation | AI assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| When it answers | the message matches a trigger | no automation matched |
| Who writes the reply | you, in advance | the assistant, from your description |
| Reply types | text, image, video, audio, cards, buttons | text only |
| Best for | fixed answers: price, shipping, orders | unexpected, free-form questions |
| Control | full | steered by the description and the goal |
A healthy setup uses both: automations for the five to ten most-asked topics (Instagram DM automation), the assistant for everything else.
What the AI assistant does
- Works workspace-wide: it answers the DMs and comments no automation caught.
- Business description: you describe your business once, up to 5,000 characters; ready-made templates get you started.
- Two goals: one for DMs, one for comments ("answer and ask the person to type order").
- Channel switches: DMs and comments switch on and off separately.
- Profile details: it can use the address, phone and hours saved in your profile.
What it cannot do
- It sends text only; no images, cards or buttons.
- It does not read your website. Everything it should know goes in the description.
- It has no memory: every message is judged on its own.
- It does not go quiet when you step in: it keeps replying while you are in a chat yourself.
- It takes no orders, no payments, and writes nothing in your calendar. The Form Builder collects order details; payments and bookings stay with your team.
A Comment Automation's own AI
A Comment Automation can answer with its own AI instead of fixed text: you give it a goal and a short description and the public replies follow. When both that AI and the workspace assistant could answer the same comment, the automation's own AI wins. Comments in detail: Instagram comment-to-DM automation.
Setup in five steps
Open the AI assistant page
Open the AI assistant. If it is your first time, start from the ready-made template closest to your business; it is faster than a blank page.
Describe your business
The more concrete the description, the better the replies. Use the sample below as a model; 5,000 characters is plenty for most businesses.
Write a goal for DMs and one for comments
The goal is where the assistant points people in every reply. For DMs: "Answer briefly and politely; ask anyone who wants a price or an order to type order." For comments: "Thank them briefly; if there is a question, invite them to send a DM."
Switch the channels on and hand unmatched DMs to the assistant
Switch on DMs and comments. Then, on the Direct Automation list, switch the setting for all other messages to AI replies; otherwise unmatched DMs get no reply.
Read the replies for a few days and refine
Read your Instagram inbox every day for the first week. When you see a wrong reply, fix the description, not the assistant: add the missing fact, sharpen the sentence that was misread.
A sample business description
A shortened example for a boutique; replace it with your own facts:
Nora Studio is a women's clothing boutique in Brooklyn, selling on Instagram and at example.com. Products: dresses, shirts, pants, bags. Prices from $40 to $260. Orders ship within one business day; delivery takes 2–4 business days nationwide; shipping is free over $80, otherwise $6. Returns and exchanges within 14 days of delivery on unworn items with tags. Payment: card (secure link), PayPal, Venmo. The store is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Size guide: example.com/size-guide. Do not quote exact prices; ask people to type "price". On complaints and returns, apologize and say the team will follow up; do not promise a solution.
The last two sentences matter: you also teach the assistant what not to say.
What to keep away from the assistant
Before you start
The assistant is on every plan at no extra fee. Setting up five to ten automations first (Instagram auto reply) and then switching the assistant on lightens its load and raises the quality of its replies. The whole of BixoChat in one page: What is BixoChat.