Chatbot glossary: terms explained for business owners

Written by the Allinaa team · Updated October 16, 2026

Chatbot vendors use a lot of terms that sound more complicated than they are. Here they are in plain English, grouped by topic. Each definition links to the guide where the idea is explained in practice.

Setup terms

Embed code: A short line of code that puts the chat window on your website. You paste it once into your site or website builder. See setup time.
Widget: The chat window itself, usually a button in the corner of the page that opens a conversation.
Knowledge base: The text about your business that the assistant answers from: services, prices, hours, policies and limits. See how to write it.
Website scan: A setup wizard step that reads up to 10 public pages of your own website and drafts knowledge from facts found there. See training a chatbot on your website.
Setup wizard: The guided steps in the Allinaa cabinet: details, knowledge, languages, look, install, test and go live. See the free trial.
Cabinet: Your private Allinaa dashboard, where you manage settings, knowledge, conversations and inquiries.

AI terms

Language model: The AI engine that understands questions and writes answers. It knows language, not your business. See what an AI chatbot is.
Hallucination: An answer that sounds right but isn't supported by the facts, such as an invented price or link. See keeping answers accurate.
Approved knowledge: The version of your knowledge you or the Allinaa team approved. The assistant answers only from it, and each change creates a new version.
AI agent: Software that takes actions as well as talking. The useful question is which actions run without a person. See AI agent vs. chatbot.
Rule-based chatbot: An older kind of chatbot that follows a fixed script of buttons and keywords. See AI vs. rule-based chatbots.

Conversation terms

Handoff: Passing a conversation from the AI to a person, either as a request for follow-up or as a live chat.
Takeover: On Premium, a team member takes a live chat from the AI; the assistant pauses for that chat and can be handed the chat back later. See what stays human.
Page awareness: The assistant uses the page the visitor is viewing to understand questions like "How much is this?". Pages whose address has a private segment, such as /checkout/ or /account/, are skipped.
Continuity: A conversation continues when the visitor moves to another page or returns later, instead of starting over.
Clarifying questions: A few short questions the assistant asks to understand a request before offering the inquiry form.

Business terms

Inquiry: A request a visitor confirmed and sent through the chat, with their contact details. It lands in your inquiry inbox with a status and private notes.
Consent: The visitor's agreement to be contacted, given before an inquiry is saved. See privacy basics.
Reply allowance: The number of AI replies included in a plan or trial: 200 in the trial, 2,000 a month on Standard. See reply limits.
Service period: The monthly period your allowance and maintenance time are counted in. It starts when Allinaa activates your service.
Fallback: What the chat does when the AI can't answer, for example after the allowance is used up: it offers the inquiry form.
Correction request: A request to fix a wrong answer. The Allinaa team reviews it and applies it as a new knowledge version, never automatically.

Channel terms

Channel: A place where customers can talk to your assistant, such as the website chat or Telegram.
Unified inbox: On Premium, one place where your team sees conversations from the website chat and Telegram today, and from e-mail and other channels as they are connected.
Official API: The approved way a messaging platform lets business software send and receive messages. Allinaa connects only through official APIs.
Platform approval: Some messaging and social platforms review business software before it may use their API. Channels that need it become available once the platform approves Allinaa.
Provider fees: Charges some messaging platforms make to the business for messages, separate from Allinaa's prices.

Where to go next

If you are new to the topic, start with what an AI chatbot is, then whether one is worth it for your business. Prices are on the pricing section, and you can see every term above in action in the 14-day free trial.