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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

Meta Just Gave You
A Free Employee

Meta’s Business Agent answers your DMs, recommends your products and books appointments in your brand voice. Here’s exactly how to turn it on and train it.

Meta launched the Meta Business Agent worldwide on June 3, 2026. It’s an AI that answers customers who message your business on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. It can answer questions about your business, recommend products from your catalog, book appointments, qualify leads and help close the sale, 24 hours a day. Meta says more than a million businesses already use it on WhatsApp and Messenger. (Meta’s announcement)

Getting started is free. Meta says paid subscriptions are coming and hasn’t published prices yet, so getting in early is the move. Here’s how to turn it on, train it and decide where a real human takes over.

What It Does Today vs. Soon
  1. Live now. It answers questions, recommends catalog products, books appointments, qualifies leads, replies in the customer’s language in your tone, and hands off to your team when you say so.
  2. Rolling out to select businesses. A morning briefing that sums up the chats you missed.
  3. Promised, not here yet. Market research, product insights, calendar connections and competitive intelligence. Build on what works today.

One Honest Note

Free today, paid later. If it becomes your whole front desk, plan for a bill. And Shopify is optional. Your products can come from your website, a catalog you upload or Shopify.

How To Turn It On

The clearest path is the WhatsApp Business app, so I’ll walk that one. Meta rolls it out market by market, so if you don’t see it yet, check back.

01

Get a business account

The agent only shows up for businesses. That means a number in the WhatsApp Business app, or a Facebook Page and Instagram professional account connected in Meta Business Suite.

02

Open Tools, then Meta Business Agent

In the WhatsApp Business app, tap Tools, then Meta Business Agent. Sign in, link your Meta account if it asks, and confirm. For Messenger and Instagram, look for Meta Business Agent in Meta Business Suite.

03

Let it learn, then feed it

It can learn from your past WhatsApp chats, your Facebook Page and your website. Then upload your catalog or price list, FAQs and documents. Selling on Shopify? The Facebook & Instagram app in Shopify syncs your catalog to Meta. Good info in means good answers out. Use the first prompt below to build that FAQ file.

04

Test it privately

Message your own agent before any customer sees it. Ask the questions your customers actually ask, and rewrite any answer you don’t like. Your rewrites shape its future replies. Most people skip this step.

05

Set the handoff and your audience

Flag the topics it should always hand to your team. You can jump into any chat yourself anytime. Then choose who it replies to. It can be everyone, only new customers, or only people who came from your ads. Turn it on, and edit it anytime under Tools.

Train It On Your Business

An agent is only as good as what you teach it. Build its knowledge file first, then give it rules for how to sound, what it can’t promise and when to hand off.

06

Build the knowledge file

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT with your website, prices and a stack of real DMs. Upload what comes back to your agent.

Knowledge File Builder
You are helping me build the knowledge file for my Meta Business Agent, the AI that answers my WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger DMs. It will only be as good as this file, so be thorough and exact. I'M PASTING OR ATTACHING - My website text or link: [paste or link] - My price list or catalog: [paste or attach] - 10 to 20 real customer DMs, names removed: [paste] - My policies (shipping, returns, booking, cancellations): [paste] DO THIS 1. Pull out every question customers actually ask, using their wording. 2. Answer each in 1 to 3 short sentences using only my info. Put the key fact (price, time, yes/no) first. 3. Group the answers under headings: Products and Prices, Booking, Shipping and Returns, Hours and Location, Other. 4. Add a "Not Covered" list of questions my info cannot answer, so I can fill them in or mark them as hand-off topics. 5. Flag anything that contradicts itself (for example two different prices for the same item). FORMAT - A clean document I can save and upload, with "Q:" and "A:" pairs under each heading, then the Not Covered list, then the contradictions. RULES - Never invent a price, policy or product. Write [NEED: ...] where info is missing. - Plain words, no marketing fluff.

07

Give it voice, rules and handoff

Fill in the brackets and add this to your agent’s setup, or save it as a document and upload it with your other info.

Agent Voice + Rules + Handoff
You are the customer assistant for [business name], a [what you do] in [city or "online"]. Your job is to answer questions fast, help people pick the right product or service, and book them in. Edit every [bracket] before you save this. VOICE - Talk like a friendly, no-jargon small business owner. Warm but quick. - Short sentences. Use the customer's first name once. One emoji max. - Reply in the customer's language. - End by asking if they need anything else. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Give prices only from our catalog or price list. Never estimate. - Recommend one or two products that fit what they asked for, with a one-line reason each. - Offer to book: [booking link or "collect their name, day and time, and tell them we will confirm"]. - Our basics: hours [hours], location [address or service area], shipping [policy], returns [policy]. WHAT YOU NEVER DO - Promise discounts, freebies or delivery dates that are not written in our info. - Give medical, legal or financial advice. - Make up an answer. If it is not in our info, say "Let me get the owner to confirm that for you" and hand off. HAND OFF TO A HUMAN RIGHT AWAY IF THE CUSTOMER - Asks for a refund, complains or sounds upset. - Mentions a legal issue, an injury or a safety problem. - Asks about something not in our catalog or FAQ. - Asks the same question twice. - Wants a custom order or a quote over [$ amount]. When you hand off, say: "Thanks for your patience, someone from our team will jump in here shortly."

The Most Underused Trick

Spend the first week rewriting every reply you don’t love. That one habit trains it faster than anything else.

Be Honest About The Limits
  1. It can get things wrong. With thin info, it can quote a wrong price. Your rules are the safety net.
  2. The big features aren’t here yet. Don’t plan around market research or calendar tools.
  3. Developers pay per use. If you run it through the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API, usually via a software partner), Meta bills by tokens. The rate is on Meta’s pricing page.
  4. Don’t set it and forget it. An AI speaking as your brand can say something off. Keep checking, especially early.
  5. You still need a human for anything emotional, custom or high value.

The Real Win

You used to need a paid team to answer every customer fast enough to land the sale. Now a free agent can catch the ones you’d miss at 2am, and you decide exactly where it stops and you begin.