Glossary
AI Chatbot Terms Explained Instantly, in Plain Language
The words you'll hear when choosing a website chatbot, without the jargon.
- AI chatbot
- A chat window on a website that answers visitors' questions in plain language. An AI chatbot uses a language model to write each answer, so visitors can ask in their own words instead of picking from a menu.
- Website chatbot
- A chatbot that lives on your website and answers questions about your organization. The best ones answer from your own pages, so visitors get your information instead of general internet answers.
- Retrieval (RAG)
- Short for retrieval-augmented generation. Before answering, the bot finds the passages from your website that best match the question and writes its answer from those. It keeps answers grounded in your content.
- Indexing
- Reading your website so the bot can answer from it. The Wow Bot reads your pages, splits them into short passages and keeps up as pages change. A 650-page site took about 25 minutes.
- Vector search
- A way to find passages by meaning instead of exact words. Each passage is stored with a list of numbers that captures its meaning, so "When are you open?" can match a page that says "Our hours".
- Curated context
- Facts you add for the bot to always know, such as this month's hours or a sign-up link. In The Wow Bot it's also the only place the bot takes links, prices and offers from.
- Approved links
- The only web addresses a chatbot is allowed to share. The Wow Bot checks every link in every answer against your approved list and removes anything else before a visitor sees it.
- Hallucination
- When an AI states something that isn't true, like a made-up price or event. Answering only from your content, and saying so when the answer isn't there, keeps this to a minimum.
- Human handoff
- Passing a visitor from the bot to a real person. In The Wow Bot, "Talk to a person" lets visitors leave their details, and your team gets the request by email.
- Starter questions
- Suggested questions shown when the chat opens, such as "How do I donate?". They show visitors what they can ask and get conversations started.
- Data residency
- Where your data is physically stored. The Wow Bot stores data in Canada. To write each answer, the question and relevant parts of your website are sent to AI providers in the US.
- Conversation privacy
- Who can read what visitors type. In The Wow Bot, your own team can always read your conversations, and our staff can't unless you allow it.
Want to see these in action? See how The Wow Bot works or browse the FAQ.