AI Autorespond is Yada's built-in AI teammate that replies to guest messages for you: in your inbox, on your website chat widget, and across your connected messaging channels. Guests know it as your Virtual Concierge: when someone opens your chat widget, it introduces itself along the lines of "Hi! I'm your virtual concierge. Ask me anything about the property, availability, or your stay. I'm happy to help."
Behind the scenes, "Virtual Concierge" and "AI Autorespond" are the same feature. Virtual Concierge is simply the name your guests see, while AI Autopilot (and AI Agents) is how you'll see it referred to in your Yada settings.
What it does
Answers guest questions instantly, grounded in your listing content such as property details, amenities, Wi-Fi, house rules, availability, and general stay questions, pulled from the knowledge base you've set up for each listing.
Greets guests in your website chat widget and can either walk them through a short details form first, or drop straight into free-form conversation, depending on how your widget is configured.
Works around the clock, so guests get an answer even outside business hours or while your team is busy.
Knows when to step back: if a guest asks to speak with a person, or a teammate jumps into the conversation, the AI pauses so it doesn't talk over a human.
Escalates what it shouldn't handle: uncertain questions, high-value opportunities, or anything outside its confidence threshold routes to your team for review instead of guessing.
How much control you have over it
AI Autopilot isn't all-or-nothing. From Settings → AI, you can tune:
AI Small Talk — whether it responds to casual messages like "thank you" or acknowledgements.
Respond in English Only — force English replies regardless of the guest's language.
Custom Signature — append a short signature or disclosure line to AI-sent messages.
Approve All AI Messages — require a teammate to review and approve every AI reply before it sends.
Approve Uncertain AI Messages — only route lower-confidence replies to a human for approval (when off, uncertain replies are held back instead of sent).
AI Response Delay — add a short delay (up to a few minutes) before the AI replies, giving your team a window to jump in first.
AI accuracy thresholds and the pause-after-a-teammate-replies behavior are handled automatically — there's nothing to configure there.
There's also Buy Time, a separate setting that controls how long the AI can hold off before it must respond with something — if Autorespond is turned off entirely, Buy Time sends a simple deflection message instead of generating a full AI reply.
For agent-level control (turning the AI on or off entirely, and choosing between "draft & approve" vs. fully autonomous "autopilot" sending), see Settings → AI Agents.
Where to learn more
FAQ
Will the AI ever make things up? No. It only answers from the content you've set up for your listings. If it doesn't have a grounded answer, it holds back or escalates to your team rather than guessing.
Can I see what it's about to send before it goes out? Yes, if you turn on "Approve All AI Messages" or "Approve Uncertain AI Messages" in Settings → AI, replies wait for a teammate's review before sending.
Does it work on channels besides the website widget? Yes. The same AI Autopilot capability applies across your connected inbox channels, not just the chat widget.
What if a guest wants to talk to a real person? Just ask. The AI recognizes the request and hands the conversation to your team.