# AI replies and handoff

> Let the AI answer live chats on its own and hand conversations to your team when it can't help.

Source: https://brandwise.ai/help/live-chat/ai-replies-and-handoff
Last updated: 2026-09-30

The AI can reply to website visitors on its own, using your [knowledge base](https://brandwise.ai/help/ai-knowledge-base/knowledge-base). When it can't help, it hands the chat to your team.

## Turn on AI replies

1. Go to **AI Assistant > Automation** and choose **Live Chat**.
2. Under **AI replies**, switch on **AI automation**.
3. Leave **Human handoff** on if you want the AI to pass chats to your team when it can't help.
4. Under **Smart label triggers**, switch on the labels the AI should answer.

Nothing runs until the widget is on your site. If it isn't yet, you'll see **Widget connection required**. See [Install the chat widget](https://brandwise.ai/help/live-chat/install-the-chat-widget).

AI replies work at any hour, not just when your team is away.

## How smart label triggers work

Each visitor message is checked against your [Smart Labels](https://brandwise.ai/help/ai-knowledge-base/smart-labels) that are turned on for **Live chat**:

- If it matches a label you switched on here, the AI replies.
- If it matches a label you left off, the chat goes to your team.
- If it matches no label, the AI replies.

The list only shows labels enabled for live chat. If it's empty, click **Configure smart labels** to add one.

## Human handoff

With **Human handoff** on, the AI hands a chat to your team whenever it can't help, or when a message matches a label you left off.

To tell the AI when to hand off, for example "Hand off whenever the customer asks about refunds", open **Knowledge Base**, go to **System Prompts > Live chat**, and click **Edit with Obie** under **Handoff instructions**. Without instructions, the AI uses its default handoff behavior.

If you turn **Human handoff** off, the AI answers every chat itself, and the smart label triggers no longer limit which chats it replies to. Chats the AI fails to answer still land in your inbox, so check it regularly.

## What the visitor sees

When a chat is handed off, the visitor sees **Waiting for a human agent** with your usual reply time, or when your team is back if you're away. The widget also offers to email them your reply, so they can close the page. See [Availability and reply time](https://brandwise.ai/help/live-chat/availability-and-reply-time).

## What your team sees

Handed-off chats appear in the **AI Handoff** view of the live chat inbox, marked unread, until someone is assigned. Your team also gets a notification. Reply as you normally would. The AI stops replying in that chat.

While the AI is handling a chat, the reply box says **AI is handling this conversation**. Click **Take over** to assign it to yourself and reply instead of the AI.

## Credits

Each AI reply uses 1 credit, plus 1 more for each image the AI reads. Checking a message against your smart labels also uses 1 credit. See [How AI credits work](https://brandwise.ai/help/account-billing/ai-credits).