Live chat puts a person on your website. An AI chatbot puts an assistant there. For a small business the real question is who answers at 9 pm, and who answers the tenth person asking about parking today.
What live chat does well
A person can deal with a complaint, bend a rule, read between the lines, and close a sale that needs persuasion. Customers with a complicated or emotional problem want a human.
The cost is that someone has to be there. Unanswered live chat is worse than none: the visitor waits, then leaves.
What an AI chatbot does well
It answers in seconds at any hour, in the customer's language, and gives the same correct answer the hundredth time. It handles many conversations at once.
It is at its best with factual questions: prices, hours, policies, availability, how to book.
Where an AI chatbot falls short
It only knows what you told it. It should not make judgement calls, give medical or legal advice, or handle an upset customer on its own.
A good one recognises these moments and passes the conversation to a person.
Using both together
The practical setup is an assistant that answers first and a team that steps in when needed. Routine questions never reach your staff; difficult ones reach them with the conversation so far.
This is how Selo Assist works: the assistant flags chats it cannot answer and customers who ask for a person, and any team member can take over with one click. The assistant stays silent until the chat is handed back.
How to decide
If most of your enquiries are repeated factual questions, start with an AI assistant. If your sales depend on long, consultative conversations, keep people in the chat and let the assistant cover the hours and the questions they should not have to.