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AI Bot
AI Bot (Updated for 1.6.1)
The AI Bot function adds an intelligent search assistant to your Voxel site. Users can ask natural language questions like “find me a hotel near the beach” or “show apartments under $1000” and receive relevant results displayed as Voxel preview cards. Version 1.6.1 adds user location awareness, taxonomy search, comprehensive field searching, and an embeddable chat widget.
What’s New in 1.6.1
- User Location Awareness: AI can use the user’s location for proximity-based searches
- Taxonomy/Category Search: Full support for searching by taxonomy terms and categories
- Comprehensive Search: Field-level searching beyond just filters
- Thinking Text: Customizable “AI is thinking” message
- Chat Window Mode: Choose between sidebar panel or messenger-style chat window
- Response Language: 19 language options for AI responses
- Embed Widget: New Elementor widget to embed the chatbot directly on pages
- Panel Width: Adjustable panel width setting
- Suggested Questions: Enhanced configuration options
New Feature: User Location
The AI Bot can now detect and use the user’s location for location-based searches like “restaurants near me” or “hotels within 5 miles.”
How Location Works
- Browser Geolocation: Prompts user for location permission, provides precise coordinates
- IP Geolocation: Falls back to IP-based location if browser permission is denied
- Location Data: City, state, latitude, and longitude are sent to the AI
Example Queries
- “Find restaurants near me”
- “Hotels within 10 miles of my location”
- “Closest gym to me”
- “Nearby coffee shops”
New Feature: Taxonomy Search
AI Bot now fully supports searching by taxonomy terms and categories. Users can ask for specific categories, tags, or any custom taxonomy.
Example Queries
- “Show Italian restaurants”
- “Find hotels in the luxury category”
- “List all beach properties”
- “Show me vegetarian-friendly places”
New Feature: Comprehensive Search
Beyond filter-based searching, AI Bot can now perform comprehensive field-level searches across all indexed fields in your post types.
This allows the AI to search content within specific fields, not just fields that have filters configured.
New Feature: Thinking Text
Customize the message displayed while the AI processes a query.
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Thinking Text | Message shown while AI is processing | “Thinking…” |
Examples: “Searching…”, “Finding results…”, “Let me check…”
New Feature: Chat Window Mode
Choose how the AI Bot interface appears:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Sidebar | Traditional side panel that slides in from left or right |
| Chat Window | Messenger-style floating chat window that can be positioned anywhere |
The chat window mode provides a more familiar messaging experience similar to live chat widgets.
New Feature: Response Language
Configure the AI to respond in a specific language, regardless of what language the user asks in.
Supported Languages
- English
- Spanish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Portuguese
- Dutch
- Russian
- Chinese (Simplified)
- Japanese
- Korean
- Arabic
- Hindi
- Turkish
- Polish
- Vietnamese
- Thai
- Indonesian
- Greek
New Feature: AI Bot Embed Widget
A new Elementor widget allows you to embed the AI Bot chatbot directly on any page, rather than using the slide-in panel.
Adding the Embed Widget
- Edit a page in Elementor
- Search for AI Bot Embed (VT)
- Drag the widget to your page
- Configure settings and styling
- Save the page
Embed Widget Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Show Header | Display header bar with title | Yes |
| Header Title | Custom title (uses AI Bot panel title if empty) | Empty |
| Show Suggested Queries | Display suggestion chips | Yes |
| Container Height | Height of the chat container (responsive) | 500px |
Embed Widget Styling
- Container: Background, border radius, border, box shadow
- Header: Background color, text color, typography, padding
- Messages: User and AI bubble colors, border radius, typography
- Input: Background, text color, border radius
- Send Button: Background and icon color
- Suggested Queries: Background, text color, hover state, border radius
New Feature: Panel Width
The panel width is now configurable with a slider control, allowing you to set the exact width that works best for your site design.
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Panel Width | Width of the side panel in pixels | 400px |
Enhanced: Suggested Questions
Suggested queries now have enhanced configuration options:
- Add multiple suggestions easily
- Control display in both panel and embed widget
- Style suggestion chips independently
- Show/hide per widget instance
Configuration Settings (Updated)
Panel Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Panel Position | Which side of the screen the panel appears | Right |
| Panel Behavior | Push content aside or overlay on top | Push |
| Display Mode | Sidebar panel or chat window (NEW) | Sidebar |
| Panel Title | Header text shown in the panel | “AI Assistant” |
| Panel Width | Width of the panel in pixels (NEW) | 400px |
| Thinking Text | Message while AI processes (NEW) | “Thinking…” |
| Response Language | Language for AI responses (NEW) | English |
Search Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Post Types | Which Voxel post types the AI can search | None (must select) |
| Card Templates | Preview card template for each post type | Default template |
| Max Results | Maximum results to show per search | 6 |
| Enable Location | Use user location for searches (NEW) | Yes |
| Enable Taxonomy Search | Search by categories/taxonomies (NEW) | Yes |
| Enable Comprehensive Search | Field-level searching (NEW) | Yes |
Use Cases for New Features
Location-Based Directory
User asks “Find gyms near me with a pool” – AI uses their location to find nearby gyms with pool amenities.
Multi-Language Site
Set response language to match your site’s primary language – users can ask in any language and get responses in your configured language.
Embedded Help Center
Use the embed widget on a dedicated help/search page to provide an always-visible search assistant.
Category Navigation
User asks “Show me all Italian restaurants in the downtown category” – AI filters by both cuisine type and location category.
Troubleshooting New Features
Location Not Working
- Ensure site is served over HTTPS (required for geolocation)
- Check that browser location permissions are granted
- IP geolocation may be less accurate than browser
- Some VPNs may affect location detection
Embed Widget Not Showing
- Verify AI Bot function is enabled
- Check AI Settings are properly configured
- Ensure widget is added to a visible section
- Check access control settings
Wrong Response Language
- Check the Response Language setting
- Clear any caching
- AI may occasionally respond in the query language for very short responses
Requirements
- AI Settings configured with valid API key
- OpenAI or Anthropic API account
- HTTPS for browser geolocation (location feature)