AI Website Chat: Turn Your Practice Website Into a 24/7 Reception Desk

What the Chat Widget Does

When a visitor arrives on your website, a small chat bubble appears in the bottom corner. If they click it, they're greeted by your AI receptionist — the same AI that powers your phone receptionist, now available as text chat.

The AI can:

• Answer practice questions. Hours, location, parking, telehealth availability, cancellation policy, what to expect at a first appointment — anything you've configured in your practice settings or custom FAQs.
• Provide fee information. Session rates, Medicare rebates, NDIS pricing, gap payments — pulled directly from your service rate card.
• Book appointments. The AI checks your real-time calendar availability, shows open slots, collects the visitor's details, and creates an appointment request for your review.
• Match visitors to the right practitioner. For group practices, the AI can direct visitors to the appropriate practitioner based on the type of service requested, preferred funding type (Medicare, NDIS, private), and availability across your team.
• Capture new client details. Even if a visitor doesn't book immediately, the AI can collect their name, contact details, and reason for enquiry so you can follow up.

All of this happens in a natural, conversational format — not a rigid form or a scripted chatbot with "Press 1 for..." menus.

Why Chat Matters for Practices

People Research Before They Call

Most potential clients don't pick up the phone as their first step. They search online, visit your website, read your services page, and then decide whether to reach out. The gap between "browsing your website" and "making contact" is where you lose the most potential clients.

A chat widget bridges that gap. Instead of hoping visitors will find your contact form or pick up the phone, you give them an immediate, low-barrier way to get answers. For many people — particularly younger demographics, people with social anxiety, or those researching outside business hours — typing a quick question is far easier than making a phone call.

After-Hours Capture

Your website doesn't close at 5pm. Analytics for most practice websites show that a significant portion of traffic happens outside business hours — evenings and weekends. These visitors are actively looking for help and are ready to engage.

Without a chat widget, that traffic bounces silently. With one, every after-hours visitor gets a responsive, knowledgeable interaction. A visitor at 10pm on a Saturday can ask about your availability, get your rates, and book a provisional appointment — all without waiting until Monday.

Lower Friction Than Phone or Email

Not everyone wants to call. Some people prefer text. Some are researching from their desk at work and can't make a call. Some are comparing multiple practitioners and want quick answers without committing to a phone conversation.

Chat is the lowest-friction contact method you can offer. It takes seconds to type a question, and the AI responds immediately. No hold music, no voicemail, no waiting for an email reply.

How It Works

Setup

The chat widget is configured from your Grounded Scribe dashboard under Settings. You customise the appearance (colours, position, greeting message), set your practice information, and optionally add custom FAQs for questions specific to your practice.

Once configured, you receive a short code snippet — a single line of HTML — that you paste into your website. If you use Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, or any website builder, it takes about two minutes to add.

That's it. The widget is live on your site, ready to talk to visitors.

The Visitor Experience

Here's what a typical interaction looks like from the visitor's perspective:

Visitor clicks the chat bubble.

> "Hi! Welcome to Mindful Psychology. I'm here to help with questions about our services, fees, or booking an appointment. How can I help?"

Visitor: "Do you have availability this week for a new client?"

> "Yes! Dr Sarah Chen has openings on Wednesday at 10:00 AM and Thursday at 2:30 PM this week. Would either of those work for you?"

Visitor: "Thursday works. How much is an initial session?"

> "An initial consultation with Dr Chen is $240 for a 60-minute session. If you have a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan, the Medicare rebate is $93.35, bringing your gap payment to $146.65. Would you like to book the Thursday 2:30 PM slot?"

Visitor: "Yes please."

> "Great! I'll just need a few details to secure that appointment."

>

> *[Booking form appears: name, phone, email]*

Visitor fills in their details.

> "All set! Your appointment with Dr Sarah Chen is requested for Thursday at 2:30 PM. You'll receive a confirmation once the practice confirms the booking. Is there anything else I can help with?"

The visitor goes from browsing to booked in under two minutes — at any time of day.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

When a booking is made through the chat widget, the same workflow triggers as a phone booking:

1. An appointment request is created in your calendar (status: requested)
2. A notification is sent to you via email and in-app
3. The visitor's details are matched to an existing client record or a new one is created
4. The full chat transcript is saved and accessible from your dashboard

You review and confirm the appointment from your calendar's pending queue, just as you would for a phone booking or manual request.

Group Practice Support

For practices with multiple practitioners, the chat widget supports intelligent practitioner matching. When a visitor says "I'm looking for help with anxiety" or "Do you have a female psychologist?", the AI can:

• Filter practitioners by specialisation and services offered
• Check each practitioner's real-time availability
• Present options with next available times
• Handle Medicare, NDIS, and private fee differences per practitioner

This means the chat widget acts as a triage receptionist for your group practice — directing visitors to the right practitioner based on their needs, availability, and funding preferences. No phone tag, no "let me check and call you back."

Custom FAQs

Every practice has questions that come up repeatedly. "Do you offer telehealth?" "Is there parking?" "What should I bring to my first appointment?" "Do you see children?" "What's your cancellation policy?"

The chat widget lets you add custom FAQ pairs that the AI draws on when answering questions. You write the question and answer in plain language, and the AI incorporates them naturally into conversations — it doesn't just copy-paste your answer, it weaves the information into a conversational response.

This means the AI gets smarter about your specific practice over time as you add more FAQs. The more context you give it, the more accurately it can respond to visitor questions.

Privacy and Data Handling

The chat widget handles administrative information only — appointment scheduling, practice details, fees, and contact information. It never accesses or reveals clinical notes, session content, assessment results, diagnoses, or treatment plans.

For visitors who identify themselves as existing clients, the widget can be configured to verify their identity before showing any personalised information. This ensures that appointment details and account information are only shared with verified individuals.

All conversations are stored securely and accessible only to authorised practitioners in your dashboard. The same privacy principles that apply to phone call records apply to chat transcripts.

Embedding on Your Website

The widget works with any website platform. You receive a single script tag to add to your site:

```html

<script src="https://app.groundedscribe.com.au/widget/chat.js" data-api-key="your-key" async></script>

```

Platform-specific instructions:

• WordPress: Paste in Appearance → Widgets → Custom HTML, or use a plugin like "Insert Headers and Footers"
• Squarespace: Settings → Advanced → Code Injection → Footer
• Wix: Settings → Custom Code → Add Code → Body end
• Webflow: Project Settings → Custom Code → Footer Code
• Static HTML: Paste before the closing `</body>` tag

The widget loads asynchronously, so it won't slow down your page load. It renders inside an isolated container to prevent style conflicts with your existing website design.

Included With Paid AI Receptionist Plans

The AI website chat widget is included with all paid AI Receptionist plans at no additional cost:

Website chat conversations are unlimited on all paid plans. You get both channels — phone and web — under the same subscription, with a single dashboard to manage everything.

Phone + Chat: Two Channels, One AI

The phone receptionist and website chat widget share the same underlying knowledge base. Your practice information, service rates, business hours, calendar availability, and custom configuration are used by both channels. When you update your rates or business hours, both the phone AI and the chat AI reflect the change immediately.

This means you configure once and reach clients everywhere — whether they prefer to call or type.

Getting Started

1. Sign up for a free Grounded Scribe account at groundedscribe.com
2. Configure your practice details — services, rates, hours, and greeting
3. Subscribe to a paid AI Receptionist plan (Plus or above)
4. Enable the chat widget in Settings → Chat Widget
5. Copy the embed code and paste it into your website
6. Test it — visit your website and start a conversation

The entire setup takes under 10 minutes. Once live, every website visitor has instant access to a knowledgeable, professional receptionist — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Get started free — test the AI in your browser, then add the chat widget to your site.

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*The AI website chat widget provides general practice information and appointment scheduling assistance. It does not provide medical advice, clinical assessments, or therapeutic interventions. All appointments created through the chat widget are set to "requested" status and must be reviewed by the relevant practitioner. The chat widget does not access or display clinical notes, session records, assessment results, or treatment plans. Practice owners are responsible for the accuracy of information configured in their widget settings.*

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