AI Auto-Reply is a ClientHub feature that answers incoming customer text messages for you. When a customer texts your dedicated business number and you can't respond — because you're on a ladder, under a sink, or driving between jobs — the AI sends the first reply, keeps the conversation moving, and hands it to you the moment a human is needed.
Available on: Pro, Elite, and Max plans — AI Auto-Reply is part of ClientHub, so it requires a ClientHub business number. Not available on Essentials or Beginner.
💳 How AI Auto-Reply Uses Credits
There's no separate monthly fee for AI Auto-Reply — it's included with ClientHub. Usage runs on IQ Credits: every reply the AI sends is a standard text message (4 IQC per SMS), and AI text costs scale with message length. Everything draws from the monthly IQ Credit allowance already in your plan — 3,000 on Pro, 5,000 on Elite, 8,000 on Max.
What AI Auto-Reply Does
Most home service businesses lose leads in the gap between "customer texts" and "someone replies." AI Auto-Reply closes that gap. Once enabled, it works inside your existing ClientHub message threads:
Answers the first message — When a customer texts in and you're unavailable, the AI responds instead of leaving them on read.
Keeps the conversation useful — The AI responds based on your settings, your tone preferences, and any custom instructions you've given it about your business.
Knows when to stop — Escalation classifiers and topic blocklists hand the conversation to a human when it needs one, and you get a push notification so nothing slips.
Shows its work — AI replies appear in the customer's thread alongside your own messages, with an auto-reply card in the redesigned SMS chat so you always know what the AI said.
The Settings That Control It
AI Auto-Reply is configured inside ClientHub's AI Auto Reply settings. The controls fall into three groups:
1. Behavior — how the AI responds
Enable toggle — Turns AI Auto-Reply on or off for your account.
Smart Level — Adjusts how much the AI takes on in a conversation.
Reply Timing — Controls when the AI jumps in with its response.
Reply Tone — Sets how the AI sounds: match it to the way you actually talk to customers.
Custom Instructions — Your business rules, in plain English. Service area, scheduling constraints, how to handle pricing questions — anything the AI should know before it speaks for you.
2. AI Permissions — what the AI is allowed to do
You decide what actions the AI can take on your behalf. Each permission is a separate toggle:
Book Appointments
Draft Estimates
Draft Invoices
Create Deals
Set Reminders
Leave a permission off, and the AI won't touch that part of your business. Turn one on, and the AI can move a conversation forward without waiting on you — booking the appointment or drafting the estimate right from the text thread.
3. Guardrails — where the AI stops
Smart Escalation — The AI detects conversations that need a human — urgent situations, frustrated customers, anything outside its lane — and hands off instead of pushing forward.
Excluded Topics — A blocklist of subjects the AI will never handle. Common additions: refunds, complaints, and warranty claims — conversations where a wrong AI answer costs you money or a customer.
Reply Cap — Limits how many replies the AI sends in a conversation, so it never gets stuck in a long back-and-forth that should have gone to you.
⚠️ Configure before you enable
The AI is only as good as its instructions. Before turning it on, spend a few minutes on Custom Instructions and Excluded Topics. Two failure modes to configure against: the AI quoting a price you can't honor (route pricing questions to your estimate workflow via Custom Instructions), and the AI trying to handle an upset customer (make sure Smart Escalation is on and complaints are in Excluded Topics).
When a Human Takes Over
AI Auto-Reply is built around a simple principle: the AI handles the first response, not the whole relationship. A conversation routes to you when:
Smart Escalation triggers — The escalation classifiers flag urgency, frustration, or anything the AI shouldn't handle.
An excluded topic comes up — The AI steps aside instead of answering.
The Reply Cap is reached — The conversation has gone on long enough that it needs you.
When any of these happen, you get a push notification that the conversation needs a human. Open the thread in ClientHub, see everything the AI already said, and pick up right where it left off. Because it's all one thread, the customer never has to repeat themselves.
AI Auto-Reply vs. Other QuoteIQ AI Features
AI Auto-Reply vs. AI Text Generator — AI Text Generator helps you write a message faster: you tap the AI icon, it drafts, you edit and send. AI Auto-Reply responds for you, automatically, when you're not there. Same thread, different jobs.
AI Auto-Reply vs. AI Virtual Call Team — Virtual Call Team is the AI receptionist that answers your phone calls 24/7. AI Auto-Reply covers your texts. Together they cover both channels a customer might use to reach you.
FAQs
Which plans include AI Auto-Reply?
AI Auto-Reply is included on Pro ($149.99/mo), Elite ($299/mo), and Max ($699/mo) — the same three plans that include ClientHub, since it works through your ClientHub business number. It is not available on Essentials ($29.99/mo) or Beginner ($74.99/mo).
Does AI Auto-Reply cost extra?
There's no separate monthly fee — it's included with ClientHub on Pro, Elite, and Max. Usage runs on IQ Credits: each reply the AI sends is a standard SMS (4 IQC), and AI text costs scale with message length. All of it draws from the monthly allowance in your plan (3,000 IQC on Pro, 5,000 on Elite, 8,000 on Max). If you need more, buy additional credits anytime starting at 2,500 IQC for $25.
How do I turn AI Auto-Reply on or off?
Use the enable toggle in ClientHub's AI Auto Reply settings. You can switch it off anytime — your ClientHub number and message threads keep working exactly as before, you're just back to answering every text yourself.
Can I control what the AI is allowed to do?
Yes. AI Permissions are individual toggles for Book Appointments, Draft Estimates, Draft Invoices, Create Deals, and Set Reminders. The AI can only take an action you've explicitly allowed. With everything off, it simply converses and escalates.
How do I stop the AI from talking about certain topics?
Add them to Excluded Topics. Anything on that list gets handed to a human instead of answered by the AI. Refunds, complaints, and warranty claims are the most common exclusions — conversations where you want a person, not a model, making the call.
What happens when a customer is upset or it's an emergency?
Smart Escalation detects conversations that need a human — including frustrated customers and urgent situations — and routes them to you with a push notification instead of letting the AI keep going. You can reinforce this with Custom Instructions and Excluded Topics tuned to your trade (for example, treating "leak," "no heat," or "flooding" as human-only conversations).
Can the AI book appointments or send estimates?
It can book appointments and draft estimates, invoices, deals, and reminders — but only if you've turned on the matching AI Permission. Drafts are created for you inside QuoteIQ; nothing goes out behind your back that you haven't permitted.
Will the AI reply to every single message forever?
No. The Reply Cap limits how many responses the AI sends in a conversation, and Smart Escalation or an excluded topic can end its involvement even sooner. The AI's job is the first response and the routine back-and-forth — not replacing you.
Can I see what the AI said to my customers?
Yes. Every AI reply lives in the customer's ClientHub message thread, right alongside your own messages, with an auto-reply card in the chat view. When you take over a conversation, the full history is right there.
Do customers need the QuoteIQ app for this to work?
No. Customers text your ClientHub business number like any regular phone number and receive AI replies as normal SMS messages. Nothing to download, no account to create on their end.
What's the difference between AI Auto-Reply and the AI Text Generator?
AI Text Generator is a writing assist — you're at your phone, you tap the AI icon, and it drafts a message you edit and send yourself. AI Auto-Reply is automatic — it responds when you're not at your phone. Most ClientHub users end up using both: Auto-Reply for coverage, Text Generator for speed.
When was AI Auto-Reply released?
AI Auto-Reply shipped in the June 2026 Update as part of the ClientHub overhaul, alongside the redesigned SMS chat, in-app voice calls from the customer screen, and reliable picture messaging (MMS).