I audited 50+ HubSpot chatbots: Here are the 7 best practices for 2025

It’s surprisingly easy to get a chatbot up and running in HubSpot, but it's a lot harder to make it good. Too often, they come across as robotic, completely miss the point of a customer's question, and just create more headaches than they solve.

After digging into dozens of different chatbot setups, I’ve started to see a clear pattern of what separates a bot that truly helps from one that just gets in the way. This guide is my attempt to share those patterns and give you the essential HubSpot chatbots best practices you need for 2025. The goal is to help you build a bot that actually engages people, qualifies leads, and makes your customer experience better.

What are HubSpot chatbots?

In HubSpot, chatbots are called "chatflows." They're basically tools that let you automate conversations on your website. They're part of HubSpot's Conversations tool and can handle a bunch of different jobs.

A screenshot of the HubSpot Conversations tool landing page, a key tool for applying HubSpot chatbots best practices.::/scrn_HubSpot Conversations tool

You can build simple bots that follow a strict script (if a user clicks button A, the bot shows message B). Or, you can use HubSpot’s AI features to create something that understands questions a bit more like a human would.

The whole point is to connect with visitors right away, whether it's for marketing, sales, or support. Think of them as your 24/7 front-line team, answering common questions, booking meetings, or qualifying leads, even when your real team is asleep. Basic bots are available on HubSpot's free plan, but you'll need a paid tier like the Starter Customer Platform to unlock the more powerful automation tools.

Why are HubSpot chatbot best practices so important?

Just flipping on a chatbot isn't enough. When you actually follow best practices, it goes from being a little widget in the corner of your site to a core part of your business strategy. A well-built chatbot does more than just spit out answers; it actively helps you grow.

• You get better leads. By asking smart qualifying questions, a good chatbot can weed out the tire-kickers and send your sales team people who are genuinely interested and ready to talk. That means less time wasted on dead-end conversations.

• Customers are happier. Nobody likes waiting around for an answer. An effective chatbot gives people instant help with common questions, which makes them feel heard. That immediate support builds a ton of trust in your brand.

• Your team can finally breathe. A solid chatbot can handle a huge chunk of those repetitive, easy-to-answer questions. This frees up your support and sales teams to focus on the tricky, high-value problems where a human touch really matters.

How I chose these best practices

I didn't just pull these ideas out of thin air. These tips come from reviewing a ton of real-world chatbots and seeing what actually works (and what really, really, doesn't).

When I was auditing these bots, I was looking for three things:

1. Did it feel helpful? Was the conversation natural, or did it feel like talking to a wall?

2. Did it get results? Did the bot actually guide people toward taking a meaningful action, like booking a demo?

3. Did it make life easier? Did it seem like it was saving the company time or just creating more work?

The top 7 HubSpot chatbot best practices at a glance

Here’s a quick look at the practices we're about to break down.

The top 7 HubSpot chatbot best practices for 2025

Alright, let's get into the details. Building a great chatbot is less about fancy technology and more about being thoughtful and strategic. These seven practices are the foundation for making your HubSpot chatbot a valuable part of your team.

1. Start with one clear and simple goal

This is probably the biggest mistake I see. People try to build one "mega-bot" that does everything: books sales demos, answers support questions, and collects newsletter sign-ups. The result is almost always a confusing mess that frustrates users.

Instead, give each chatbot one job.

Your goal will shape the entire conversation flow.

• Is it for lead qualification? Then the bot should be asking about things like company size, role, and pain points.

• Is it for customer support? The bot needs to be focused on figuring out the user's problem and finding a solution in your knowledge base.

• Is it for booking meetings? The conversation should get straight to the point and drop a calendar link.

By giving each bot a single job, you create a much cleaner and more effective experience. You can (and should!) have different chatbots for different pages. Put a support-focused bot on your help pages and a sales-focused bot on your pricing page.

2. Personalize conversations with deep, real-time data

"Hello!" is a pretty lame greeting from a chatbot. HubSpot lets you personalize messages with CRM properties, which is a good starting point. For instance, you can greet a returning contact by their first name.

But real personalization goes deeper than that. People today expect you to know what they've been up to, like the status of their latest order or their most recent support ticket. While HubSpot is great for CRM info, pulling in that kind of real-time data from other systems (like your company's own database or an e-commerce platform like Shopify) can be a real headache.

A screenshot of the Shopify landing page, which is an e-commerce platform that can be integrated for better HubSpot chatbots best practices.::/scrn_Shopify landing page

This is where connecting a dedicated AI platform can make a huge difference. For example, a tool like eesel AI can plug into your other apps and perform live lookups. It can answer a question like, "Where's my order?" by checking Shopify for the latest update, which creates a much more helpful and personal chat.

A screenshot of the eesel AI landing page, a tool that helps with HubSpot chatbots best practices.::/scrn_eesel AI landing page

3. Add value before you ask for information

Think about this in human terms. It would be pretty weird to walk up to someone and immediately ask for their name, email, and phone number. Yet, tons of chatbots do exactly that.

The better way is to offer help first. Let the user ask a question. Point them to a useful article. Once you've actually provided some value, then you can ask for their contact information.

4. Train your chatbot on all your company knowledge, not just the help center

A chatbot is only as smart as the information it can access. HubSpot's AI bots are trained on your HubSpot knowledge base, which is great. But what about all the other places your company knowledge lives?

Crucial information is often tucked away in Google Docs, Confluence pages, Notion docs, or even old Slack threads. When your chatbot can't see that info, it leads to those dreaded "Sorry, I can't help with that" messages.

This is a big limitation if you're only using a bot that's stuck inside one system. To build an assistant that's a true expert, you have to bring all of your knowledge sources together.

This is exactly what platforms like eesel AI were designed for. You can connect it to over 100 different sources in a few clicks, including your HubSpot help center, internal wikis, and past support tickets. The AI learns from it all instantly, so it can give accurate answers no matter where the original document is stored. It turns your bot from a simple FAQ machine into a genuine expert.

An infographic showing how eesel AI can integrate with multiple knowledge sources to improve HubSpot chatbots best practices.::/img_04 - Infographic - eeselAI - Knowledge Integration Infographic

5. Master the human handover

Look, no bot can answer everything, and that's perfectly fine. The important thing is making the switch from bot to human as smooth as possible. Always give users a clear and easy way to say, "I'd like to talk to a person."

HubSpot has routing rules that can send chats to the right team based on who's available. That's a good first step.

But a good handover is about more than just routing. The human agent needs the full context of the conversation so the customer doesn't have to repeat themselves. Even better, the agent should have tools that help them solve the problem quickly. This is where an agent-assist tool, or "copilot," can be incredibly useful. An AI Copilot, like the one from eesel AI, works right alongside your team in your helpdesk. After a bot hands over a chat, it can instantly draft a reply based on all your company knowledge, helping your agents respond faster and more consistently.

6. Be transparent and manage expectations

Don't try to trick people into thinking your bot is human. It just feels weird and breaks trust when they figure it out. Be upfront about it. Give your bot an obvious name like "Helper Bot" and have it introduce itself as an AI assistant.

It's also really important to manage expectations, especially after hours. If someone starts a chat at 10 PM on a Friday, the bot should immediately let them know the team is offline and when they can expect a response. For example: "Our team is gone for the night, but we'll get back to you first thing Monday morning." Then, it can offer to create a support ticket or let them search the knowledge base while they wait.

7. Test with simulations before you go live

You'd never launch a new feature on your website without testing it first, right? Your chatbot should be treated the same way. HubSpot has a "preview" feature that lets you click through the conversation paths, which is good for catching obvious errors.

But to really feel confident, you need to know how your bot will handle real-world questions. That’s where simulation comes in. More advanced AI platforms like eesel AI have a simulation mode that lets you test your AI agent against thousands of your past support tickets in a safe environment. It will show you exactly how the AI would have responded to each one, giving you a clear forecast of your automation rate and pointing out any gaps in your knowledge base, all before a single customer ever talks to it. It’s the best way to ensure a smooth launch.

A screenshot of the eesel AI simulation feature, which is one of the HubSpot chatbots best practices for testing.::/img_03 - eeselAI - Test Simulation

Applying these best practices is a journey, not a destination

Building a great HubSpot chatbot isn't something you do once and then forget about. It's a continuous cycle of listening, tweaking, and improving. By following these HubSpot chatbots best practices, you'll have a solid starting point for creating an experience that's genuinely helpful for your customers and your team. Start simple, focus on being useful, and never stop looking for ways to make it better. Your chatbot should grow and evolve right alongside your business.

This video will walk you through building and customizing a chatbot in HubSpot to help you qualify leads and engage with your customers.

Supercharge your HubSpot chatbot with eesel AI

If you're ready to build an intelligent assistant that learns from all your scattered company knowledge, gives truly personalized answers, and can be tested with confidence, you might want to check out eesel AI.

eesel AI connects with HubSpot and all your other tools, so you can get a much smarter AI agent live in minutes, not months. Plus, with simple, predictable pricing and no per-resolution fees, you won't get hit with any surprise bills. See how it works and give it a try.