Step-by-step setup

Guided first steps

When you create a business, the dashboard greets you with Get started: a short list with the minimum needed to activate the AI, plus a progress indicator that fills in on its own as you complete each item.

1. Review the business template — complete the sections left pending.
2. Review the AI template — go over how your agent speaks and acts.
3. Add your first sales link.
4. Connect Instagram or WhatsApp — either one is enough to go live.
5. Turn on follow-ups.
6. Upload your first piece of content.

Templates arrive half filled in

Your business information and AI instructions are created from a template. The gaps still to be completed appear in brackets ([...]). Replace them with your real data: the AI reads those sections literally, so an unfilled gap ends up shown to the lead or filled with whatever the AI assumes. If you miss one, the dashboard warns you — see Common issues.

Connecting an account requires an active subscription

Instagram and WhatsApp can only be linked with an active subscription. Until then the account stays inactive and, when you try to connect, the dashboard takes you to the plans page.

Full checklist

When you set up a new business, follow this order. The first tasks are critical — without them the AI has no context. Items marked optional depend on your case.

1. Business configuration — Fill in the business profile: description, industry and key data. This is the context the AI will use in every conversation.

2. AI agent — Write the prompt: personality, goal, topics to avoid and objection handling. Also define the response language.

3. Sales links — Add conversion links (bookings, payments, landing pages) with a clear name and sales instructions so the AI knows when to send them.

4. Content — Upload images, audio and links the AI can share. Each piece of content needs a detailed description — the AI decides when to send it based on that text.

5. Follow-ups — Configure one or more waiting hours (between 1 and 23h) to re-engage silent leads before Meta’s 24h window closes.

6. State Transition Conditions — Write in natural language when a lead moves to Qualifying, Paid, Booked, Unqualified or Postponed.

7. Keywords (optional) — Configure them if you want to filter which messages the AI should reply to or route leads to a specific agent.

8. Schedule a call (optional) — Connect Calendly or GoHighLevel and define the booking condition the AI should detect.

9. Comments (optional) — Enable automatic replies to Instagram comments and configure keywords per post.

10. Tags (optional) — Create tags with clear descriptions so the AI classifies conversations automatically.

11. Time zone — Required before office hours: it’s used for statistics and to compute schedules correctly.

12. Office hours — Define when the AI can send messages. If disabled, it replies 24/7.

13. Closer notifications (optional) — Add the sales team’s emails and choose which state changes trigger the report.

14. Delegation (optional) — If you use multiple AI agents, configure when one should hand off the conversation to another.

15. Connect Instagram / WhatsApp — Last step: link the account via Meta’s official integration. Your credentials never pass through ZeroChats.

Before going live with real leads

Test the flow in the simulator and review the first 20–30 automated conversations. It’s the best way to spot nuances in the prompt or transitions worth adjusting.

Remember the 24h window

WhatsApp and Instagram only allow outbound messages within 24 hours after the lead’s last message. Design the follow-up sequence within that window — anything scheduled after it won’t be delivered. That’s why follow-up hours go up to 23 h: it leaves one hour of margin for the last message to be written and delivered before the cutoff.