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Webchat

CarBuddy Webchat is an AI-powered chat widget for your dealership website. It engages visitors 24/7, answers questions about your live inventory, and captures leads — even when your team is offline.

How it works​

  1. Widget embedded — A small JavaScript snippet is added to your dealership website (one line of code)
  2. Visitor engages — When a visitor opens the chat, the AI greets them and asks how it can help
  3. Inventory-aware responses — The AI has access to your live stock and can answer questions like "Do you have any blue Golf GTIs in stock?" or "What's the cheapest EV you have?"
  4. Lead capture — When a visitor is ready to enquire, the AI collects their name, email, and interest and delivers a hot lead to your team

What the AI knows​

The Webchat AI is trained on:

  • Your live vehicle inventory (updated regularly)
  • General product knowledge (finance, part-exchange, warranty)
  • Your dealership's opening hours and contact details

Example conversation​

Visitor: Do you have any Ford Puma in stock?

CarBuddy: Yes! We currently have 3 Ford Pumas available — a 2022 ST-Line X in Magnetic Grey (£23,495), a 2023 ST-Line in Frozen White (£21,995), and a 2021 Titanium in Blue Lightning (£19,995). Would you like more details on any of these, or would you like to arrange a test drive?

Setup​

Your account manager handles the initial setup. Once configured, you receive:

  • A widget snippet to add to your website (see below)
  • A portal login to view chat transcripts and lead alerts

No technical knowledge is needed beyond pasting one line of code.

Getting your embed snippet​

Log into the portal, open Webchat in the sidebar, then choose the Embed tab. The snippet shown there is customised for your dealership and always up to date. Copy it and give it to whoever looks after your website.

Where it goes​

Paste the snippet into your site's HTML just before the closing </body> tag on every page where you want the chat widget to appear. Most dealers do this via:

  • WordPress: Appearance → Theme Editor → footer.php, before </body>. Or use a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers.
  • Shopify: Online Store → Themes → Edit Code → theme.liquid, before </body>.
  • Custom HTML / CMS: Before the closing </body> tag site-wide.

If you already have the widget installed​

The embed snippet was updated in April 2026 to include a crossorigin="anonymous" attribute on the <script> tag. This change is invisible to your visitors — the widget looks and behaves exactly the same — but it improves our ability to diagnose problems when you report them. If your website's snippet doesn't include crossorigin="anonymous", copy the latest version from the portal's Webchat → Embed tab and replace what's on your site. Safe to do at any time.

Lead notifications​

When a visitor submits an enquiry, your team receives an email with:

  • The visitor's name and contact details
  • A full transcript of the conversation
  • A summary of what they're interested in