Customer interaction has entered a new era with the rise of AI-powered chatbot tools.
These virtual assistants have quickly become a necessity for B2B companies, enabling go-to-market teams of all sizes to enhance customer experience and streamline operations. With their unique ability to deliver instant, personalized interactions at scale, chatbots have become indispensable for industries ranging from e-commerce to healthcare.
Although chatbot tools have been available on most business websites for many years, the addition of AI tools and capabilities has made differentiating the best business website chatbot tools from the not-so-good a more difficult job than ever before.
That's why we've assembled this guide, based on a combination of third-party rankings, real customer reviews, and our own research.
What Is an AI Chatbot?
AI chatbots are software applications that use artificial intelligence to simulate human conversations through text or voice interfaces. These tools leverage natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to understand context, interpret intent, and deliver dynamic responses without following rigid scripts.
For B2B companies, AI chatbots automate tasks like answering FAQs, qualifying leads, and scheduling meetings. They operate 24/7 across websites, apps, and messaging platforms, enabling instant responses to unlimited users simultaneously.
Core capabilities include:
Lead qualification: Identify high-intent prospects based on firmographics, technographics, and conversation signals.
Real-time engagement: Respond instantly to website visitors and route qualified leads to the right sales rep.
Data enrichment: Capture visitor information and sync it with CRM systems for follow-up.
Meeting scheduling: Allow prospects to book time directly within the chat interface.
Why Businesses Need AI Chatbots
Revenue teams face mounting pressure to do more with less. Buyers expect instant answers, sales reps need qualified pipeline, and marketing teams must prove ROI.
AI chatbots address these challenges by automating repetitive tasks while delivering personalized experiences at scale.
Here's how AI chatbots drive value for B2B organizations:
Faster lead qualification: Chatbots identify buying intent and route high-value prospects to sales reps in real time, reducing time-to-contact.
24/7 customer engagement: Provide instant responses outside business hours, ensuring no lead goes cold.
Cost efficiency at scale: Automate repetitive queries and self-service tasks, reducing the burden on support and sales teams.
Data-driven insights: Capture conversation data to inform GTM strategy and identify patterns in buyer behavior.
Pipeline acceleration: Shorten sales cycles by answering questions, scheduling meetings, and moving prospects through the funnel faster.
CRM and workflow integration: Connect with Salesforce, HubSpot, and marketing automation platforms to streamline operations and ensure data flows where it's needed.
Here's how the top AI chatbot platforms compare:
Platform | Primary Focus | Key Strength | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
ZoomInfo Chat | B2B intelligence + chat | Data-driven lead routing | Enterprise sales teams |
Quiq | Conversational commerce | Autonomous AI agents | High-volume enterprises |
Intercom | Customer service | Omnichannel support | Support-first organizations |
Drift | Conversational marketing | Real-time buyer engagement | Marketing and sales alignment |
Qualified | Salesforce optimization | AI SDR agent with Salesforce integration | Salesforce users |
Zendesk Support Suite | Omnichannel service | Workflow automation | Multi-channel support teams |
Birdeye | Reputation management | Review and sentiment analysis | Customer experience teams |
Kore | Conversational AI | No-code and pro-code development | Global deployments |
Tidio | Small business chat | Drag-and-drop builder | SMBs and startups |
SendPulse | Marketing automation | Multi-channel messaging | Marketing-led teams |
Smartsupp | E-commerce chat | Visitor behavior tracking | Online retailers |
11 Best AI Chatbots for Business
There are a wide variety of business chatbots tailored to different business needs. In this guide, we've ranked some of the best available tools, exploring key features, integrations, strengths, and gaps.
Leverage this guide to help your team pick the best business chatbot tool for your GTM programs, and reach your customer service and growth goals in record time.
1. ZoomInfo Chat
ZoomInfo Chat is a data-driven live chat solution designed to enhance website engagement and streamline the sales process. By leveraging ZoomInfo's extensive B2B intelligence platform, it enables businesses to identify and connect with high-quality leads in real time. This ensures that prospects are efficiently routed to the appropriate sales representatives based on factors such as priority, availability, geography, or account ownership.
The platform integrates directly with GTM Workspace, where ZoomInfo Copilot provides AI-powered insights and recommendations to sales teams. Copilot surfaces account intelligence, buying signals, and next-best actions, helping reps prioritize conversations and close deals faster. ZoomInfo Chat syncs with CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, ensuring visitor data flows into existing workflows without manual entry.
For businesses aiming to elevate their website engagement and optimize the sales funnel, ZoomInfo Chat provides a comprehensive solution that combines real-time visitor interaction with deep data insights, facilitating more meaningful connections and expediting the sales process.
Key Features:
Intelligent lead routing directs high-quality leads to the appropriate sales representatives based on predefined criteria.
Comprehensive visitor insights offer detailed information on visitors, including firmographics and buying intent data.
Integrated meeting scheduler allows prospects to schedule meetings during chat interactions.
Real-time notifications provide instant alerts through platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams for prompt engagement.
CRM integration ensures compatibility with existing tools and workflows for efficient operation.
Learn more about ZoomInfo Chat
2. Quiq
Quiq's Agentic AI platform powers conversational commerce and service for large-scale enterprises. The platform enables autonomous AI agents to perform complex tasks like processing transactions and scheduling while ensuring seamless transitions to human representatives when necessary.
Quiq supports continuous conversations across SMS, web chat, and other messaging channels. The platform's autonomous workflows execute multi-step tasks across integrated business systems, reducing manual intervention while maintaining brand consistency.
Quiq provides fluid handoffs between AI and agents to ensure high-stakes issues are handled with care. The platform is designed for enterprises managing thousands of daily conversations, offering the scale and reliability needed for mission-critical customer interactions.
Key Features:
Autonomous workflows that execute multi-step tasks across integrated business systems.
Continuous conversations across SMS, web chat, and popular messaging apps.
Fluid handoffs between AI and agents to ensure high-stakes issues are handled with care.
Omnichannel messaging support for consistent customer experiences.
Enterprise-grade scalability for high-volume interactions.
3. Intercom
Intercom offers AI-driven tools including the AI Agent and AI Copilot. The platform provides omnichannel support across multiple channels, automating repetitive tasks while assisting support teams with real-time insights.
The AI Agent handles routine inquiries 24/7, freeing human agents for complex issues. AI Copilot surfaces relevant knowledge base articles and suggests responses during live conversations. The collaborative shared inbox allows teams to manage all customer conversations from a single interface.
Intercom integrates with CRM systems, help desks, and marketing tools to create a connected support ecosystem. The platform offers automated workflows that trigger based on customer behavior, ensuring timely and relevant engagement.
Key Features:
24/7 AI Agent for instant responses.
Real-time support tools for improved agent efficiency.
Automated workflows and integrations.
Collaborative shared inbox for support teams.
Omnichannel engagement across web, mobile, and messaging platforms.
4. Drift
Drift's Conversation Cloud facilitates personalized buyer engagement across marketing, sales, and service. The platform enables real-time conversations that drive conversions while engaging website visitors with contextually relevant information.
The platform's unified interface allows revenue teams to engage prospects seamlessly. This approach ensures teams can maintain conversation context and deliver consistent experiences across touchpoints.
Drift identifies visitor intent based on behavior and firmographic data. The platform's conversational marketing and sales tools capture and qualify leads automatically, allowing sales teams to focus on accounts most likely to convert.
Key Features:
Real-time chat for instant buyer engagement.
Conversational marketing and sales tools for pipeline growth.
AI-powered insights to prioritize and engage high-value leads.
Automated lead qualification and routing.
Meeting scheduling within chat conversations.
5. Qualified
Qualified is a Salesforce-optimized platform combining AI and automation to drive inbound pipeline growth. The platform features AI-powered chatbots, buyer intent analysis, and instant meeting scheduling.
The platform integrates natively with Salesforce, syncing conversation data and lead information directly into the CRM without manual data entry. Qualified's AI-driven chatbots engage website visitors based on their Salesforce records, personalizing conversations with account context.
The platform provides buyer intent data for targeted outreach and automated scheduling. Qualified is designed specifically for B2B sales teams using Salesforce as their system of record.
Key Features:
AI-driven chatbots and live engagement tools.
Buyer intent data for targeted outreach.
Automated scheduling and pipeline optimization.
Native Salesforce integration with bi-directional sync.
Account-based engagement based on CRM data.
6. Zendesk Support Suite
Zendesk simplifies omnichannel customer service with AI-powered workflows and automation tools. The platform provides a unified solution for managing customer inquiries across email, social media, voice, and mobile support.
The platform offers AI-driven issue resolution and workflow automation that routes tickets based on priority and expertise. Zendesk's automation reduces response times and ensures consistent support regardless of channel. The platform integrates with over 1,800 apps.
Zendesk is designed for support teams managing high volumes of inquiries across multiple touchpoints.
Key Features:
AI-driven issue resolution and workflow automation.
Integration with 1,800+ apps.
Omnichannel support for consistent customer experiences.
Automated ticket routing and prioritization.
Self-service knowledge base and help center.
Learn more about Zendesk Support Suite
7. Birdeye
Birdeye is an Agentic Marketing Platform designed for multi-location brands and enterprises, focused on reputation management, customer engagement, and social media publishing. The platform helps companies collect and respond to customer reviews, manage social media accounts, and analyze customer sentiment using AI-powered insights.
Birdeye provides review management and response tools that monitor and respond to customer feedback across multiple review sites. The platform's sentiment analysis tools identify trends in customer feedback. Birdeye supports multi-channel communication via live chat, SMS, and email.
Birdeye offers multi-channel customer communication through live chat, SMS, and email. The platform integrates with CRM and marketing platforms to ensure customer data flows into existing systems.
Key Features:
AI-powered review management and response tools
Social media publishing and monitoring
Multi-channel customer communication
Customer sentiment analysis tools
Integration with CRM and marketing platforms
8. Kore
Kore provides a conversational AI platform designed to optimize customer and employee experiences across voice and digital channels. The platform's no-code and pro-code interface allows businesses to design and deploy sophisticated chatbots with flexibility for both technical and non-technical users.
The platform offers multi-language support for global deployment. Kore includes pre-built connectors for enterprise applications, reducing implementation time and complexity. The platform's advanced NLU capabilities enable accurate intent recognition, even with complex or ambiguous queries.
Kore provides analytics tools to optimize bot performance over time. The platform tracks conversation metrics, identifies common failure points, and suggests improvements to bot responses.
Key Features:
Multi-language support for global deployment
No-code and pro-code chatbot development tools
Pre-built connectors for enterprise applications
Advanced NLU for accurate intent recognition
Analytics tools to optimize bot performance
9. Tidio
Tidio is a customer service and sales platform offering AI-powered chatbots and live chat capabilities. Designed for small businesses, the platform helps teams improve customer engagement with a drag-and-drop chatbot builder and pre-designed templates.
Tidio provides automated responses for frequently asked questions, reducing the burden on support teams. The platform includes real-time visitor tracking and engagement tools. Tidio supports multi-channel communication through chat, messenger, email, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The platform offers multi-language support for global audiences. Tidio is designed for small businesses and startups seeking an affordable, easy-to-implement chat solution.
Key Features:
Drag-and-drop chatbot builder with templates
Multi-channel support for chat, messenger, email, Instagram, and WhatsApp
Automated responses for frequently asked questions
Real-time visitor tracking and engagement tools
Multi-language support for global audiences
10. SendPulse
SendPulse is a marketing automation platform that includes chatbot functionality. The chatbot builder creates conversational experiences on platforms like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, and TikTok, supporting lead generation, transactional messaging, and automated customer service.
SendPulse integrates with email and SMS marketing tools, creating a unified marketing automation system. The platform provides lead capture and transactional messaging capabilities for e-commerce and service businesses.
SendPulse features a user-friendly interface with no coding required. The platform offers a free plan for businesses starting out.
Key Features:
Multi-channel chatbot builder for popular messaging apps
Integration with email and SMS marketing tools
Lead capture and transactional messaging capabilities
User-friendly interface with no coding required
Free plan for businesses starting out
11. Smartsupp
Smartsupp is a live chat and chatbot solution designed for e-commerce businesses. The platform's AI-powered chatbots handle common customer queries while live chat allows agents to step in for more complex issues.
Smartsupp provides visitor behavior tracking for personalized engagement, showing what pages visitors view and how they navigate the site. The platform includes multi-language support for global markets.
Smartsupp features easy setup and an intuitive interface designed for e-commerce teams. The platform includes lead generation and conversion optimization tools tailored to online retail.
Key Features:
Live chat with AI-powered chatbot capabilities
Visitor behavior tracking for personalized engagement
Multi-language support for global markets
Easy setup and intuitive interface
Lead generation and conversion optimization tools
How to Choose an AI Chatbot
Selecting the right AI chatbot requires evaluating your specific business needs against platform capabilities. The best choice depends on your team size, technical resources, existing tech stack, and primary use case. Focus on platforms that solve your most pressing problem, whether that's lead qualification, customer support, or pipeline acceleration.
Data Quality and Integration Capabilities
The value of an AI chatbot depends on the quality of data it accesses and how well it integrates with your existing systems. Chatbots that connect to accurate, up-to-date contact and company data deliver more personalized conversations and better lead qualification.
Look for platforms that sync bi-directionally with your CRM, ensuring conversation data flows into Salesforce, HubSpot, or other systems without manual entry.
Key considerations:
Does the platform access fresh, verified contact and company data?
Can it integrate with your CRM, marketing automation, and sales engagement tools?
Does it support bi-directional data sync to keep records current across systems?
AI and Conversation Quality
Not all AI chatbots are created equal. Modern generative AI chatbots using large language models deliver more natural, context-aware conversations than older rule-based systems.
Evaluate how well the platform understands intent, maintains context across multiple exchanges, and handles complex or ambiguous queries. The best platforms know when to hand off to a human agent rather than frustrating customers with inadequate responses.
Key considerations:
Does the platform use advanced NLP and machine learning for natural conversations?
Can it maintain context across multiple messages and remember previous interactions?
Does it provide smooth handoffs to human agents when needed?
Scalability and Enterprise Readiness
If you're a mid-market or enterprise organization, your chatbot needs to handle high conversation volumes while maintaining security and compliance standards. Look for platforms that can scale with your business, support multiple teams and use cases, and meet regulatory requirements like GDPR and CCPA.
Enterprise-grade platforms offer role-based access controls, audit logs, and SOC 2 compliance.
Key considerations:
Can the platform handle your expected conversation volume without performance degradation?
Does it meet compliance requirements for your industry and regions?
What security certifications and standards does the vendor maintain?
Analytics and ROI Measurement
You can't improve what you don't measure. The best AI chatbot platforms provide detailed analytics on conversation performance, lead quality, and business impact. Look for platforms that track metrics like conversation-to-meeting rates, lead attribution, and revenue influence. This data helps you optimize bot performance and prove ROI to stakeholders.
Key considerations:
What conversation metrics and analytics does the platform provide?
Can you attribute leads and revenue back to chatbot interactions?
Does it offer reporting on bot performance and areas for improvement?
Talk to sales to learn how ZoomInfo Chat combines B2B intelligence with AI-powered conversation tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AI Chatbots Integrate With CRM and Sales Tools?
Yes, most enterprise AI chatbots integrate with major CRM platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics. These integrations sync conversation data, contact information, and lead status bi-directionally without manual data entry.
What Is the Smartest AI Chatbot?
The "smartest" chatbot depends on your use case. For B2B sales teams, the smartest chatbots combine conversational AI with accurate business data, buyer intent signals, and CRM context to deliver personalized, revenue-focused interactions rather than just natural-sounding responses.
How Do AI Chatbots Qualify Leads?
AI chatbots qualify leads by asking targeted questions, analyzing firmographic data, detecting buying intent signals, and scoring responses against your ideal customer profile. The best platforms automatically route qualified leads to the right sales rep based on territory, account ownership, or availability.
Should Your Company Pay for Premium AI Chatbot Plans?
Premium plans make sense when you need advanced features like sophisticated lead routing, deep CRM integrations, compliance certifications, or high conversation volumes. Small teams with basic needs may find free or lower-tier plans sufficient, but enterprise organizations typically require premium capabilities to support their GTM motion at scale.
Choose the Right AI Chatbot for Your Team
The right AI chatbot transforms how your revenue team engages prospects and customers. The platforms in this guide offer different strengths, from ZoomInfo's data-driven lead routing to Quiq's autonomous commerce agents to Intercom's support-first approach.
Key decision factors:
Data quality and CRM integration depth
AI sophistication and conversation quality
Scalability and compliance for enterprise needs
Analytics and ROI measurement capabilities
ZoomInfo Chat stands out by combining AI-powered conversation tools with the most accurate B2B intelligence platform. This integration ensures every conversation is informed by verified contact data, buying intent signals, and account intelligence, enabling revenue teams to engage the right prospects at the right time.
Request a demo to see how ZoomInfo Chat can transform your website into a revenue-generating asset.