South Queensferry: answering visitors' questions at night

South Queensferry sits under the three Forth bridges, and on a clear day the view from the waterfront is one of the best in Scotland. The High Street, with its raised terrace of shops above the road, is full of cafes, pubs, gift shops, guest houses and the small businesses that look after the people who come to see the bridges, take a boat trip from Hawes Pier, or walk the coast path.

Many of those visitors are planning their trip at night, from a hotel room or from home, and they all have questions. The questions are almost always the same ones.

The same questions, over and over

Ask anybody who runs a guest house, a cafe or a boat trip in Queensferry and they will list them without thinking.

Is there parking nearby? Can I bring the dog? Do you take walk-ins? What time does the kitchen close? Is there step-free access? Can you store a bike? How do I get to you from the station at Dalmeny?

Each one takes a minute to answer. Twenty a day takes most of an afternoon, and the ones that arrive at eleven at night either wait until morning or get answered from bed. Meanwhile the person asking has often moved on to the next place on the list that answered them.

What an AI assistant actually is

AI, in this sense, is software that can read, write and answer questions like a quick assistant. An AI assistant on your website is a small chat box that answers a visitor's question in plain words, at any hour, using information you have given it about your own business: your hours, your menu, your rooms, your rules about dogs.

The important part is the last bit. A properly set up assistant answers from your information, not from the internet at large. If somebody asks something it does not know, it should say so and pass the question to you, rather than making up an answer. That is the difference between a useful one and a liability.

Where it genuinely helps a Queensferry business

The businesses that gain most are the ones with lots of repeat questions and not enough hands.

• Guest houses and B&Bs. Check-in times, parking, breakfast hours, how far it is to the station. The assistant answers, and a booking request still lands with you.
• Cafes and restaurants. Opening hours on a given day, whether there is a vegetarian option, whether a group of ten can turn up without booking.
• Boat trips and tours. Whether the trip runs in poor weather, how early to arrive, whether children go free. A cancellation for weather still needs a person, but the basic questions do not.
• Gift and craft shops. Whether you post, whether a thing is in stock, whether you are open on a bank holiday.

In each case the owner gets fewer interruptions, and the visitor gets an answer at the moment they are deciding. I also set things up so each new enquiry arrives on your phone as a WhatsApp message with the details ready, so nothing sits unread in an inbox.

What it should never do

There are limits, and I am strict about them. An assistant should never take a payment, promise a refund, confirm a booking it cannot see in your diary, or give advice about medical or allergy questions beyond what you have written down. It should not pretend to be a person. And it should never be the only way to reach you: a phone number and an email address should always be there too.

I wrote a longer post on what an AI assistant on your website should never do, which goes through the ways these things go wrong and how to stop them.

Fix the basics first

Before an assistant, check the dull things, because an assistant cannot rescue a business whose basic information is wrong.

Your Google Business Profile, the free listing that shows your opening hours, reviews and map pin, needs the right hours, including winter hours and bank holidays. Your website needs the same hours, written the same way. Directions should be written out, including the steep bit and where to park. If those three disagree with each other, a visitor will believe whichever is wrong.

Then write down the twenty questions you are asked most, and the answers. That list is the most useful thing you can produce for your business this month, with or without an assistant. Put it on a page of your website and a lot of the questions stop on their own.

When you do not need an assistant

The unwelcome part. If you get a handful of questions a week, you do not need an AI assistant, and you should not pay for one. Answer them yourself. Customers like hearing from the owner, and a personal reply at a small business is part of why people choose it.

You also do not need one if your questions are mostly about availability that changes by the hour, such as a table tonight or a room this weekend. For that you need a proper booking system that shows real availability, and an assistant guessing at it would do more harm than good.

And if your page of common questions already answers most of what people ask, try that for a month first. It costs nothing, and it may be all you need.

Talk it through with me first

If you run a business in South Queensferry, Dalmeny or Kirkliston and the questions are eating your evenings, I will look at what you are asked and tell you honestly whether an assistant, a page of answers or a booking system would help most. You can read more about AI for your business and what it can and cannot do. The first conversation is free: book a free consultation (opens in a new tab).