In this article, you will learn how to use Genius Answering to automatically respond to incoming texts and emails — helping you book more jobs without lifting a finger.

Genius Answering is an AI-powered messaging tool capable of responding to all of your incoming texts and emails. It can talk to your customers about the services they need, ask all the right questions, and add new jobs to your schedule. 

Enabling AI text and email replies

1. From the sidebar menu, select Genius AI
2. From the Genius Answering tab, select Settings
3. Select Messaging
4. Turn the toggle switch on for Allow Genius Answering to respond to incoming messages
   

Customizing how Genius Answering replies

In this section, we will cover when and how Genius Answering responds to your customers. You’ll learn how to adjust the message types, audience, response timing, and follow-ups. 

To learn more about customizing other settings — such as pricing, answers to common questions, or the services you provide — please see this article.

Message types

Genius Answering can create a text-based reply to both texts and emails. When your business receives a text message, your AI agent will reply via text message. When you receive an email, Genius Answering will look for a phone number and send a text to that number.

1. Under Reply messages sent via, check the boxes for Text and/or Email
   

Messaging audience

Workiz also lets you control who Genius Answering can reply to. You can choose between existing and/or new clients.

1. Under Reply to messages from, select Existing clients and/or New clients
   

Reply timing

You control how quickly Genius Answering responds — anywhere from a few seconds to a several hours. This gives your human team the first chance to reply, while ensuring that your AI agent is always ready to step in if no one does.

1. Under Reply after, set the time that AI should wait before responding (e.g., 10 minutes, 3 hours, etc.)
   

Automatic follow-ups

Message follow-ups help make sure no customer splits through the cracks. If a client is busy or forgets to reply, follow-ups help keep the conversation going. 

1. Under Message follow-ups, select Add follow-up
2. Customize when the follow-up should be sent (e.g., sent if no answer for 10 minutes, 2 hours, etc.)
   

You can set up multiple follow-ups in sequence. Each follow-up will only be sent if the contact has not replied to the previous message, ensuring that reminders go out in a logical order without overwhelming the customer.

After you’re done customizing your messaging settings for Genius Answering, make sure to save your changes.

How to spot AI replies in your Message Center

Moving forward, message threads that involve your AI agent will be clearly distinguished in your Message Center. Normal message threads display a dark-gray icon, while threads with AI activity appear in purple — making it simple to spot and monitor how AI is engaging with your clients.

Within those threads, individual AI-written messages also have a distinct design, helping you quickly tell them apart from messages written by team members or sent through automations.