The Text AI Agent answers customer questions, recommends products and hands chats to your team when needed. You can have a first version live on your website in about 30 minutes, without code.
This guide follows the setup flow in the Text app, from creating the agent profile to switching it on.
Last updated: October 17, 2026. Menus and button names can change, so if something looks different, look for the closest matching option.
Best for: Stores and support teams that want AI to answer and sell
Starting price: Essential $19/user/month (billed yearly)
Before you start
- A Text account (the 14-day trial needs no credit card)
- Owner or Admin role, because only these roles can edit the AI agent
- Your website URL plus any FAQ, policy or product documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV or MD)
- A short list of the 20 to 30 questions customers ask most often
The process at a glance
- Profile
- Tone
- Instructions
- Languages
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Test
- Go live
Step-by-step: set up your AI agent
Step 1: Open the AI agent profile
In the Text app, go to Team and open the AI agent profile. Give it a name and an avatar. Many brands use a friendly first name plus “AI” so customers know they are talking to a bot.
Step 2: Choose a tone of voice and answer length
Pick one tone: Professional, Concise, Polite, Friendly or Casual. Then choose Short, Standard or Long answers.
For most stores, Friendly tone with Standard length works best. Use Short if most chats come from mobile visitors.
Step 3: Write the custom instructions
Describe the agent’s role, what it should and should not do, and how to behave when it is unsure. The field accepts up to 10,000 characters. See our instruction templates for a ready-made starting point.
Step 4: Set the languages
In Language, choose All languages or only the languages your team can support if a chat is handed over. Text says the agent works in 46 languages.
Step 5: Add knowledge sources
Add your website (full site, nested pages or a single page) and click Agree and scan. Turn on Auto-update so new pages are picked up. Then upload files such as your returns policy or product catalog. Details are in our knowledge sources guide.
Step 6: Turn on the default skills
Enable the skills you need: Send welcome message, Handle tickets, Collect customer details, Transfer to human and Discount code.
Always keep Transfer to human switched on. Customers who cannot reach a person are the main source of bad AI chat reviews.
Step 7: Test in the preview widget
Ask the 20 to 30 common questions from your list in the preview. The preview shows when a skill would trigger, but transfers and tickets do not actually run there. Fix wrong answers by improving the knowledge source, not only the instructions.
Step 8: Switch the agent on
Set the agent to Accept chats. If the chat widget is not on your site yet, follow our widget installation guide.
Launch checklist
- The agent answers your top questions correctly in preview
- Transfer to human is on, with a ticket fallback when no one is available
- Prices, shipping times and policies come from a knowledge source, not from memory
- Someone on the team reviews AI chats in Archives during the first week
More AI customer service guides
- How to Train an AI Agent on Your Website, Files and FAQs
- How to Write AI Agent Instructions (With Prompt Templates)
- How to Add the Text Chat Widget to Your Website or WordPress
- How to Connect the Text AI Agent to Shopify
- How to Create a Custom Skill for the Text AI Agent
- How to Set Up AI-to-Human Handoff in Text
- How to Offer Discount Codes in AI Chat to Save Sales
- How to Run Multiple AI Agents for Different Websites or Languages
- How to Measure and Improve Your AI Agent Resolution Rate
- Best AI Customer Service Agents for Small Businesses (2026)
- Text AI Agent Pricing 2026: Plans, AI Resolutions and Real Costs
- Text vs Tidio (2026): Which AI Chat Platform Is Better?
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to code to set up the Text AI Agent?
No. Setup happens in the Text app. You only paste one snippet (or install the Shopify or WordPress integration) to show the chat widget on your site.
How many AI resolutions do I get?
Essential includes 10 AI resolutions per month and Growth includes 200. Extra packs of 50 resolutions cost $49.50, as listed in October 2026. See our Text pricing guide.
Can the agent go live during the free trial?
Yes. The 14-day trial lets you test it with real visitors before you pay.
Wrap-up
Set the profile and tone, write clear instructions, add your website and documents, enable the skills you need, test in preview and switch the agent on. Then review real chats every few days and keep improving your knowledge sources.
This guide is independent and is not sponsored by Text. Some links may be affiliate links, which never change our recommendations. See our Affiliate Disclosure.