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Comment replies

What the AI can safely do under a Facebook or Instagram post​

Comment auto-replies are deliberately narrower than a direct conversation with the bot. They can answer or move the customer toward the right next step, but they cannot run the transactional actions available in chat.

Set up reply mode, targeting, context and limits in Post Management.

What a comment reply can use​

Depending on the post's settings, the AI can use:

  • the customer's comment
  • the post text and the Post Context you wrote
  • your business information when Include Business Context is on
  • relevant facts found in your Knowledge Base

Keep Post Context factual and specific to the campaign. If a price, date or promotion changes, update it rather than asking the AI to work around an outdated fact.

What it can do​

A comment reply can:

  • answer a grounded question about the post or business
  • acknowledge interest and invite the customer to the appropriate next step
  • reply publicly under the post
  • on Facebook or Instagram, also send the configured reply as a private message when a post's reply mode includes Direct Message

Turning on Direct Message doesn't make replies private by itself — every comment that qualifies for a DM reply also gets the public reply under the post. There's no way to set a post to reply by DM only.

Public replies must remain suitable for everyone who can see the post. They should never expose saved customer information or ask the customer to post private contact details publicly.

When a DM reply leads to a chat conversation​

If a customer's comment gets a private-message reply and they keep talking with your business in Direct or Messenger, the AI's chat sees that DM as part of the same conversation history, so it can stay consistent — for example, continuing in the same language it used in the comment reply. This already works on Instagram. The same behavior for Facebook Messenger is newer and may still be rolling out on your account.

What it cannot do from a comment​

The comment flow cannot:

  • check live appointment availability or confirm a booking
  • create, edit or cancel an order
  • check out a customer or reuse saved checkout data
  • send product photos or Knowledge Base files on demand
  • process a payment, refund or custom quote

If the customer wants one of those actions, the reply should invite them into a direct conversation or direct them to a human or booking page. The public comment itself does not confirm a human handoff, order or appointment. A promise such as “your appointment is confirmed” is not a valid booking.

When the answer is not known​

The AI should not invent a price, policy, availability or promotion that is missing from the supplied context. Add the fact to the Knowledge Base or Post Context, or move the conversation to a person.

If the customer continues in a direct conversation and asks for a human, ReadyChatAI can mark that conversation and notify your team. That mark does not make the bot go silent. The bot pauses only after a human replies in the conversation, and each human message renews the pause.

Verify what was sent​

Use the post's Comments > Replied and Filtered tabs to see what the AI sent or why it skipped a comment. The Test Comment box is useful before launch, but always review a few real replies after enabling the feature.

The AI can recognize a serious complaint, a competitor mention, or a bulk or wholesale inquiry, but today that recognition doesn't create a notification or a visible flag anywhere in the dashboard. Check these tabs yourself if you want to catch a comment like that quickly — don't wait for an alert.