Write the call script and rules for an AI receptionist or answering service: greeting, intake questions, what it may answer, and when it must hand off to a person: AI agent prompt

Before you switch on any AI receptionist or after-hours answering service, you need a script it follows: how it greets callers, which details it collects, which questions it may answer from your facts, and the situations where it must stop and get a person. This prompt writes that script for your business type, with versions for HVAC and trades, law offices and medical or dental offices.

Curated by AgentPlaybook Real Estate · How we make and check prompts

Customer SupportPhone & receptionbeginner

The prompt

Write the call script and rules for an AI receptionist for my business. Business: [name, type: e.g. HVAC / plumbing / law office / dental or medical office / salon / other], service area: [area], hours: [hours]. Facts it may use (and nothing else): [services, prices or price ranges you're happy to quote, booking rules, payment options, parking, languages]. Calendar/booking tool: [name or 'take a message']. Write: 1) a greeting under 15 words that says it's an automated assistant and gives the business name; 2) the intake questions in order (name, callback number, reason for calling, address or matter type, urgency), asked one at a time; 3) answers to the 10 questions callers ask most for this type of business, using only my facts; 4) hand-off rules: when to transfer or promise a call back, with an exact sentence for each. Always hand off for: emergencies (gas smell, flooding, no heat in freezing weather; for medical offices chest pain, trouble breathing or any emergency: tell them to call 911 or local emergency services), anyone upset, cancellations, prices not listed, and for law offices anything that asks for legal advice; 5) things it must never do: give legal or medical advice, promise arrival times or outcomes, take card numbers by voice, or ask for more personal or health details than needed to book; 6) the closing line and the summary it should text or email me after each call. Add a short version of the script for after-hours calls.
Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Perplexity Download as agent skill (SKILL.md)

How to use it

  1. Copy the prompt above.
  2. Replace every [bracket] with your own details (or fill in the blanks on AgentPlaybook Real Estate, which remembers your answers for the next prompt).
  3. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and review the answer before you use it.

Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, your AI receptionist or answering-service app

Featured in: Free AI agent prompts for small business (beginner-friendly) · AI receptionist and missed-call text-back: free scripts for small businesses

Before you use it: what to check

Check yourself

Using an AI agent? Download this prompt as a SKILL.md agent skill with these checks built in, or get the .zip for Claude.ai. How to install skills.

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