WhatsApp auto-reply: from keywords to AI

Your customers ask the same questions every day: where are you, when do you open, how much is it? Answering them by hand takes your team's time, and a customer left waiting may go elsewhere. Auto-reply on WhatsApp solves this in two ways: ready replies that go out when a message contains a word you choose, and AI replies that understand the customer's question however it's worded and answer from your business information.

This article explains how each one works in ATMET Chat, which plan it comes with, which number it runs on, and how to choose between them — or use both.

What is a WhatsApp auto-reply, and why does your business need one?

An auto-reply is a message your customer receives without anyone on your team typing it. The customer writes to you, and ATMET Chat answers at once, day or night.

That matters to any business that gets repeated questions: a restaurant asked about its menu, a clinic asked about available appointments, a home-services business asked about prices and the areas it covers. A fast answer keeps the customer in the conversation and leaves your team the questions that really need a person.

How do keyword replies work?

You build keyword replies on the Workflows page of your dashboard. The quickest start is the ready-made starter “Replies to specific keywords”, a two-step flow:

1. “Starts when: a customer messages you” — where you write the “Trigger keywords”, such as “location”, “address” and “where”.
2. “Send a message” — where you write the reply the customer receives.

The flow runs when the customer's message contains one of the trigger keywords anywhere in it, so “where exactly is your location?” matches “location”. Leave the trigger keywords empty and the flow runs on every message.

Matching ignores small differences in writing: diacritics and tatweel, the different forms of alef (أ إ آ ا), ya and alef maqsura (ي ى), ta marbuta and ha (ة ه), and upper or lower case in English. You don't need to write every possible spelling of a word.

Can one flow answer more than one question?

Yes. Add an “If” step after the start and check the customer's message case by case: each case either “contains any of the keywords” you write, or “equals” a set value. Each case has its own reply; the first case that matches runs, and when none matches the flow takes the “otherwise” path.

That way one flow can answer “prices”, “location” and “hours”, with a general reply for any other message.

What can a reply contain?

• Text — the core of the reply, on every number.
• Buttons — the “Ask the customer” step adds up to 3 buttons the customer picks from, each with its own path.
• An image — added by a public image link starting with https, not by uploading a file.
• A conversation tag — puts a label on the conversation that you see in the inbox.

Buttons and the image work on the official connection only; ATMET Chat channels send the text.

What are the limits of keyword replies?

Keyword replies use the basic steps of Workflows, which are enough to answer keywords and branch on them. They come with limits worth knowing:

• A flow has up to 15 steps.
• It doesn't send a Meta-approved template: it answers the customer's message rather than starting the conversation.
• It doesn't hand the conversation to a teammate or to the AI, and it doesn't wait before the next step. Those steps are in the full Workflows builder, from the Ultra (Beta) plan.

Which plan includes keyword replies?

Every business plan, from Plus. The Workflows page shows a “Beta” tag on business accounts, because it's new for them and we're still shaping it.

Which number do keyword replies run on?

They run on both ways you can connect your number in ATMET Chat:

• The official WhatsApp API — replies with text, buttons and an image. On the official connection you reply inside the “customer service window”: 24 hours from the customer's last message, under Meta's rules. An auto-reply always lands with the window open, because it answers a message that has just arrived.
• ATMET Chat channels — replies with text only.

If your number runs on the official connection and on the WhatsApp Business app on your phone at the same time, the flow runs from the official connection.

Neither auto-replies nor the AI run in WhatsApp groups. From the Pro plan, messages from the groups you choose show up in your inbox for your team to answer.

What does AI add on top of keywords?

Keywords answer only what you expected. AI understands the customer's question however it's worded, and answers it even when you didn't see it coming:

• It answers from your business information — the “Master instructions”, “About your business” and “Business policies” you write in AI settings, and from your files, such as menus and price lists, from the Pro plan.
• It doesn't guess — when your information doesn't answer the question, it doesn't make something up or say “we don't offer that”; it hands the conversation to your team.
• It hands over to a person when needed — when the customer asks for a person, a refund or a cancellation, makes a complaint, or has a payment problem. The AI stops replying in that conversation, and you're alerted in the dashboard, by email, and on your WhatsApp alerts number if you have a number connected through ATMET Chat channels.
• It speaks your customers' dialect — the AI's dialect follows the “AI country” in settings, Saudi Arabia to begin with, and it replies in the customer's language when they write in another one.
• It replies around the clock — and if you set “Working hours”, it tells the customer when your team is back when it hands a conversation over.

Its limits are clear too: it can't see your calendar, doesn't book or cancel appointments, and doesn't read your website. It answers only from what you wrote and uploaded — so if you wrote how to book, it gives the customer that.

Which plan includes AI replies?

From the Pro plan. Below it the AI settings stay locked, and keywords cover your repeated questions.

The free trial of the business plans opens every Ultra feature for 14 days with no card, so you can try both ways before choosing a plan.

Do AI and keyword replies work together?

Yes, and that's what we recommend. When a message arrives, ATMET Chat first looks for a Workflows flow the message matches, and then the AI takes its turn.

Mind one thing: a matching flow doesn't silence the AI by itself. When a message matches a flow, the flow sends its reply and the AI replies too — unless you switch on “Don't let AI step in on this message” in the starting step. The starter begins with that switch off.

So:

• For questions a fixed reply covers — your location, menu link, opening hours — switch on “Don't let AI step in on this message”, and the customer gets your ready reply alone.
• For everything else — let the AI answer; it understands the questions you didn't foresee.

Which number does the AI answer on?

• If you have a number on the official connection — the AI answers there, and it starts switched on for Pro accounts and the trial. Its switch in settings is “AI customer service on WhatsApp”.
• If your number is connected through ATMET Chat channels only — the AI answers there once you switch it on, and stops if the number disconnects, until you reconnect it.

If you have both, on two different numbers, the AI answers on the official number only.

Are auto-replies free?

Your ATMET Chat plan includes auto-replies, with no extra charge from ATMET. Meta has its own rules on the official connection:

• Since October 1, 2026, Meta counts every reply sent through the official connection as a service message. The first 1,000 replies each month are free per number; after that Meta charges each reply at the service-message rate for the customer's country. Each country's rates are on the Meta pricing page.
• You pay Meta's fees to Meta directly from the payment method on your WhatsApp Business account, and ATMET adds no markup.
• Messages over ATMET Chat channels carry no Meta charge.

How do you choose between keywords and AI?

Choose keywords if most of the questions you get are few and repeated, with a fixed answer that doesn't change: your location, opening hours, menu link, how to pay. They're on every plan and give you full control over the wording.

Choose AI if your customers' questions vary, need many details such as prices, services and policies, or arrive faster than your team can answer them. It comes from the Pro plan.

For most businesses the best setup is both: ready replies for the fixed questions, with “Don't let AI step in on this message” switched on for them, the AI for everything else, and your team for whatever the AI hands over.

How do you get started?

1. Sign up for ATMET Chat and connect your business number — through the official connection, ATMET Chat channels, or both.
2. Open Workflows and start from “Replies to specific keywords” for your repeated questions.
3. Write “About your business” and “Business policies” in AI settings, and switch on AI replies.
4. Watch the conversations in your inbox for the first week, and add whatever information is missing.

See everything ATMET Chat does for a business without an online store on the business page.