Adding an AI chatbot to your website sounds like a developer job. It isn't. If you can copy and paste, you can have an AI chat assistant answering your customers in about ten minutes — trained on your own website, not on generic internet answers.
This guide walks through the whole setup, with exact steps for WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow.
The short answer: to add an AI chatbot to your website, (1) create an account and point the chatbot at your website so it learns your content, (2) test it with real customer questions and fix anything it gets wrong, (3) copy its one-line install code, (4) paste that code into your site's footer — in WordPress with a header-and-footer plugin, in Shopify in
theme.liquid, in Wix under Custom Code, in Squarespace under Code Injection, in Webflow under Custom code — and (5) switch the chatbot to live.
Before you start
You'll need:
- Your website address, so the chatbot can read your pages.
- Admin access to your website builder, to paste one line of code.
- The right website plan. Some builders only allow custom code on paid plans — noted in each section below.
The steps below use Verdesk, which has a free plan (300 messages a month, no card). Most other website chatbots follow the same pattern.
Step 1: Train the chatbot on your website
- Create a free account and give your chatbot a name and a first message — the greeting visitors see.
- Open Knowledge, paste your website address and click Read my site. It reads your pages, policies and product details.
- Add anything that isn't on your website: upload PDFs, spreadsheets or documents, or write short Notes (for example, holiday opening hours).
Your chatbot only answers from what's in Knowledge, so the more complete this is, the better the answers.
Step 2: Test it like a customer
Open Test & tune and ask the questions your customers really ask: prices, delivery, returns, opening hours, bookings.
- If an answer is right, move on.
- If it's wrong or incomplete, click Fix this answer and write the correct reply. Your correction is used first from then on.
Testing uses a separate test allowance, so it never eats into the messages your customers will use.
Step 3: Copy the install code
Open Chat widget. Here you can set the chatbot's name, colour and logo, then copy the code from Install code with Copy code. It's a single line that looks like this:
<script src="https://verdesk.chat/widget.js" data-bot="your-bot-key"></script>
Under Where the chat can appear, you can list your website's domain so the chat only runs on your own site. Leave it empty and it works on any site where the code is pasted.
Step 4: Paste the code into your website
The code should load on every page, ideally just before the closing </body> tag — often called the "footer" code area.
WordPress
The simplest no-code way is the free WPCode plugin:
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin, search for WPCode, then install and activate it.
- Go to Code Snippets → Header & Footer.
- Paste the code into the Footer box and click Save Changes.
On WordPress.com, installing plugins requires a paid plan (Personal, Premium, Business or Commerce).
Shopify
- In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store.
- Next to your current theme, click the … menu, then Edit code. (Duplicate the theme first if you want a backup.)
- In the layout folder, open
theme.liquid. - Paste the code on a new line just above
</body>and click Save.
Shopify notes that customised code can be lost when you update your theme, so check the chat after theme updates.
Wix
Your site needs to be published and connected to a domain before you can add custom code.
- In your site's dashboard, go to Settings.
- Under Development & integrations, click Custom Code, then + Add Custom Code.
- Paste the code and give it a name, such as "Chat".
- Under Add Code to Pages, choose All pages, and choose to load the code on each page your visitor opens.
- Under Place Code in, choose Body – end, then click Apply.
Squarespace
Code injection is available on Squarespace's Core, Plus and Advanced plans (and some legacy plans).
- Open the Code Injection panel from your site's website tools.
- Paste the code into the Footer field — Squarespace adds it before the closing
</body>tag on every page. - Click Save.
Code doesn't run on Squarespace checkout pages, and it can't be added while your site is still in trial.
Webflow
Custom code needs an active Site plan (or a Core, Growth, Agency or Freelancer Workspace).
- Open Site settings → Custom code.
- Paste the code into Footer code and click Save changes.
- Publish your site — custom code only goes live after publishing.
Any other website
Paste the code into your site's template, just before </body>, so it loads on every page. If someone else manages your website, send them the line of code and this sentence: "Please add this script to the footer of every page."
Step 5: Switch the chatbot to live
In Verdesk, open Settings and set the status to Live — answering on your site. Until then, the chat bubble stays quiet, so you can install first and go live when you're ready.
Check that it's working
- Open your website in a private browser window (so you see it like a visitor).
- Look for the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner and ask a real question.
- Back in Verdesk, the Chat widget page shows when the chat was last seen on your site, and your setup checklist ticks off the install step.
Troubleshooting
- No chat bubble? Make sure the code is saved and your site is published. Clear your browser cache or try a private window.
- Code in the wrong place? It needs to load on every page — use the footer or "body end" option, not a single page's content block.
- The chat says it's unavailable? The chatbot may not be live yet (Step 5), or your site's domain may be missing from Where the chat can appear (with or without
www.both work). - Answers are off? Go back to Test & tune, fix the answers, and add missing details to Knowledge.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know how to code to add a chatbot to my website?
No. You copy one line of code and paste it into your website builder's footer or custom code setting. WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow all have a place for it, and the steps above show exactly where.
Will a chat widget slow down my website?
A well-built widget shouldn't. Verdesk's loader is a small script — under 3 KB when compressed — and the chat window loads in its own separate frame, so your pages stay fast.
Can I add the same chatbot to more than one website?
Each chatbot is set up for one business and website, with its own knowledge and conversations. If you run two brands or two websites, create a chatbot for each — Growth includes 3 chatbots and Business 10.
Is there a free AI chatbot for small business websites?
Yes. Verdesk's free plan includes 300 AI replies a month, with no card required, so you can install it on your real website and see how it answers before you upgrade.
The bottom line
Adding an AI chatbot to your website is four copy-and-paste steps and one switch. The part worth your time is Step 2 — testing it with real questions — because that's what makes the answers trustworthy.
Start free with Verdesk and have it answering on your site tonight. Not sure which chatbot to pick? Read AI chatbot pricing explained first.