Answers treatment questions from your list; Sends reminders; Nudges rebookings.
Agents / AI receptionist
AI receptionist for small business
A friendly front desk that answers enquiries and phone calls from your own information, takes a proper message and flags anything urgent to you, any hour. Ready-made, free, and works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or on the phone.
Customer: Hi, do you do emergency call-outs on Sundays?
Grace: Hello! I'm Grace, the AI assistant here. I don't have Sunday emergency cover in my information, so I'll pass this to the team straight away. Could I take your name, number and a quick description of the problem?
What your AI receptionist does
- ✅ Answer common questions from the business's own information
- ✅ Take name, contact details and what they need
- ✅ Book or suggest appointment slots
- ✅ Pass urgent matters straight to a human
- ✅ Send the owner a tidy summary of every enquiry
What it never does
- 🛡️ Never guesses prices
- 🛡️ Never pretends to be human
- 🛡️ Never promises what you haven't
- 🛡️ Never shares one customer’s details with another
Put it on the phone
Every receptionist kit (Grace, Iris, Pip, or one you build) includes a phone version: instructions rewritten for speaking, a greeting, a fill-in sheet about your business, and the details to collect on every call. Paste them into a voice-AI service and your receptionist answers calls in a natural voice.
- 📞 Step-by-step setup for ElevenLabs Agents, Vapi and Retell AI. Test free in your browser before buying a number.
- 🇬🇧 A UK number: how to get one through Twilio and forward your existing line to it, always or only when you’re busy.
- 🔀 Transfers urgent calls, or anyone who asks for a person, to your mobile.
- 🛡️ Says it’s an AI and that the call may be recorded, never takes card details, and tells callers to dial 999 in an emergency.
You sign up to the voice service yourself and pay it per minute of calls. In ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, the same receptionist handles written enquiries: email, messages and website chat.
Set it up in five minutes
- Download Grace (free) or build your own receptionist in the AI agent builder.
- Create a new Project in ChatGPT or Claude (or follow the Gemini guide) and paste in the instructions from the kit.
- Add one document with your opening hours, services, areas, prices you’re happy to share and common questions.
- Start a new chat and test it: ask a question it should know, one it shouldn’t, and an urgent one.
More front-desk agents
Offers free slots; Sends day-before reminders; Handles reschedules.
Answers from your help docs; Walks through fixes; Spots repeat problems.
Free receptionist prompts
- 👉 Answer enquiries after hours (Never miss a lead)
- 👉 Cut no-shows with reminders (Fewer empty slots)
- 👉 Get clients to rebook (More repeat visits)
Questions
What does an AI receptionist do?
It answers common questions from your own information (opening hours, services, areas you cover), takes a proper message with name, contact details and what they need, suggests appointment slots, passes anything urgent straight to you and sends you a tidy summary of every enquiry.
Can it answer phone calls?
Yes, with a voice-AI service. Every receptionist kit includes a phone version with step-by-step setup for ElevenLabs Agents, Vapi and Retell AI, including how to get a UK number through Twilio. You pay the voice service per minute of calls; there is no extra charge from us.
What does a phone AI receptionist cost to run?
The kit is free. The voice service charges per minute of calls, and a UK phone number costs a few pounds a month. Check the service’s pricing page, as prices change often. For most small businesses that is far less than an answering service.
Is the AI receptionist free?
Yes. Grace, our AI receptionist, is free to download with no card needed. The salon front desk and appointment booker cost 1 download ($1) each, and the free download you get when you sign up covers one of them.
Will customers know they are talking to an AI?
Yes, and they should. Grace introduces herself as the AI assistant and never pretends to be human. That is one of her built-in rules, and it keeps you on the right side of customer trust and consumer law.
Will it make up prices or promises?
No. It only answers from the information you give it. If a price or answer isn’t there, it says it will pass the question to you and takes a message instead.
How long does it take to set up?
About five minutes. Download the kit, paste the instructions into a new Project in ChatGPT or Claude (or follow the Gemini guide), add a document with your hours, services and FAQs, and start a new chat to test it.
See more free AI agents or AI agent examples.