Why Customers Don’t Use Your Chatbot, and How to Design One They Will

TL;DR

Customers skip chatbots mostly because the answers don’t fit or the bot is hard to use. In a 2025 Rakus survey, about 7 in 10 people who tried self-service moved to a human agent. Fix three things to get more use: the entry point, the answer quality, and the handoff to a person.

You added a chatbot to your website, but few people use it. This is common, and the cause is often the design, not the technology. This post explains why people skip chatbots and how to fix it.

Why don’t customers use chatbots?

The two main reasons are that the answer doesn’t help and the bot is hard to use.

In a 2025 survey by Rakus (1,008 people), about 7 in 10 people who had tried chatbots or FAQ pages said they had moved to a human agent because they could not solve the problem. The main reasons were:

• They could not find the information they needed

• The answer did not fit their case

• The answer was off topic

• The tool was hard to use

The same survey asked what matters most in self-service. Speed was first (35.8%), then accurate information (26.1%), then an answer that fits the person (22.7%).

Customers want answers that are fast, correct, and relevant to them.

The top three priorities in self-service. Speed comes first, ahead of accuracy.

How do you improve a chatbot’s accuracy?

First, decide what the bot should answer. Starting with your most common questions works better than trying to cover everything.

Next, improve the source content. A chatbot’s answers depend on the FAQs and documents behind it.

• Write the most common questions first

• Fix outdated information

• Add what customers ask most, such as prices, opening hours, and how to book

• Give one short answer for each question

If the answers don’t feel quite right, the first thing to check is the source text.

How do you get more people to use your chatbot?

In a 2025 survey by Altius Link (3,714 people), 45% named the FAQ page as a way they often use to solve problems, the most common choice. Phone and web forms were each under 30% in every age group.

People try to solve problems on their own first. So the chatbot needs to be where they are already looking.

• Use the first message to say what people can ask (for example, “Ask about hours, prices, or bookings”)

• Show your most common questions as buttons or suggestions

• Keep replies short

• Place the chatbot where people will see it, including near your contact options

A 2025 J.D. Power Japan study found that, when looking at the entire process of resolving an issue, about 3 in 10 people had used a chatbot at least once, across finance and e-commerce. Many people are still new to chatbots, so a clear entry point matters.

A sample chatbot window. The first message says what people can ask, and common questions appear as buttons.

What should a chatbot do when it can’t answer?

Every chatbot meets questions it cannot answer. If the chat ends there, customers typically leave. Always give a way to reach a person.

• Show a phone number, contact form, or booking link

• Say clearly that the bot can’t answer

• Give a reply time when you are closed

The same J.D. Power Japan study found that older customers, in their 60s and 70s, still rely mainly on call centers. Keeping a human option open better supports older demographics.

The smartest chatbot isn’t necessarily the one that gets used the most. It’s the one that is easiest to find and gives answers that fit.

What is an easy way for a small business to start?

For most businesses, an AI chatbot will provide the best output for the least amount of upfront work. One example of a no-code AI chatbot is Kotae, a chatbot that anyone can build from their own documents and website URL. It also has safeguards so it does not answer questions it is unsure about or that are unrelated.

If you’d like to give Kotae out, you can check out the homepage at Kotae.ai.