# AI receptionist script prompt: free ChatGPT template > A copy-ready prompt that drafts an AI receptionist's instructions: greeting, questions, what it must never say and when to hand off to a person. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/ai-receptionist-script-prompt · Updated 2026-10-12 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [SOPs and operations](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-sops-and-operations) · [Law](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-law) · [Operations](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-operations) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 12, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) Use this when you are about to build an [AI receptionist](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ai-receptionist) or after-hours voice agent and need a first draft of its instructions. It writes the greeting, the short list of questions, the rules for what it must never say, and the hand-off to a person. A script is a draft. Test it with made-up calls, read the transcripts and tighten it, and have the right professional review anything about advice, safety or legal matters before it takes a real call. **Have a professional review it.** This prompt helps you draft, not decide. AI can get the law wrong and doesn’t know your jurisdiction or your facts, so have a licensed attorney review anything legal before you send or sign it. ## The prompt Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every `[BLANK]` with your own details. It uses the four parts from [Prompt Writing 101](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text Role: You are an operations consultant at [BUSINESS], writing instructions for an AI receptionist that answers calls after hours. Context: Our business is [BUSINESS DESCRIPTION]. Callers usually want [COMMON REQUESTS]. The receptionist must say it is an AI at the start. It must never [NEVER DO]. Urgent situations are [URGENT CASES], and a human handles them through [HANDOFF]. Our hours are [HOURS]. Task: Write the system prompt for the receptionist: a one-sentence greeting that says it is an AI, the few questions to ask in order, how to handle each common request, a list of things it must never do or promise, what counts as urgent, and exactly what to say when handing off to a person. Format: Use short labeled sections (Greeting, Questions, Common requests, Never, Urgent, Hand-off). Each rule is one plain sentence. Under [WORD LIMIT] words. Where something is missing from my facts, write "ASK THE OWNER" instead of guessing. ``` ## Fill in the blanks **`[BUSINESS]`** Your business name. **`[BUSINESS DESCRIPTION]`** What you do and who calls you, in one or two sentences. **`[COMMON REQUESTS]`** The three to five things callers most often ask for. **`[NEVER DO]`** What it must never say or do, such as give legal advice, quote a price or promise an outcome. **`[URGENT CASES]`** The situations that need a person right away. Be concrete, not "serious issues". **`[HANDOFF]`** How a person is reached, such as a text to the on-call attorney. **`[HOURS]`** When the office is open, so the agent can tell callers when someone will call back. **`[WORD LIMIT]`** 400 works for a first version. ## Example, filled in **A made-up example** from the free lesson [Build an After-Hours Intake Voice Agent for a Law Firm (ElevenLabs)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/law-firm-after-hours-intake-voice-agent). Lindenwood Injury Law is the made-up personal injury firm in the after-hours intake lesson. The managing attorney wants a first draft of the instructions for Morgan, the AI intake agent, before building it. Copy example ```text Role: You are an operations consultant at Lindenwood Injury Law, writing instructions for an AI receptionist that answers calls after hours. Context: Our business is a small personal injury law firm; callers are usually people who were just in an accident. Callers usually want to tell us about the accident, ask whether they have a case, and ask when someone will call back. The receptionist must say it is an AI at the start. It must never give legal advice, say whether someone has a case, or promise an outcome. Urgent situations are anyone in danger and any call where an insurer is already involved, and a human handles them through a text to the on-call attorney. Our hours are 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday. Task: Write the system prompt for the receptionist: a one-sentence greeting that says it is an AI, the few questions to ask in order, how to handle each common request, a list of things it must never do or promise, what counts as urgent, and exactly what to say when handing off to a person. Format: Use short labeled sections (Greeting, Questions, Common requests, Never, Urgent, Hand-off). Each rule is one plain sentence. Under 400 words. Where something is missing from my facts, write "ASK THE OWNER" instead of guessing. ``` ## What a good answer looks like - The greeting names the firm and says it is an AI assistant and not a lawyer. - The "Never" list includes giving legal advice, judging a case and promising an outcome, in plain sentences. - Gaps show up as "ASK THE OWNER" instead of an invented phone number or policy. ## How to check it before you use it An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the [Reply Faster lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out. - Have an attorney review the greeting and the "Never" list against your jurisdiction's rules before real calls. - Check that anyone in danger is sent to 911 first, and that the urgent list matches your real process. - Test it with made-up calls, including an awkward one, and read the call summaries and transcripts. - Confirm a person actually receives the hand-off text or alert. A script that routes nowhere is a gap. ## Why this prompt works The "ASK THE OWNER" rule matters most. A receptionist script full of confident, invented details is worse than a short one with honest gaps, because callers act on what it says. ## Practice it in the free lesson **[Build an After-Hours Intake Voice Agent for a Law Firm (ElevenLabs)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/law-firm-after-hours-intake-voice-agent)**: Build an after-hours intake agent for a small personal injury firm in ElevenLabs: it says it's AI and not a lawyer, takes the details for a callback and the conflict check, and never gives legal advice. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ElevenLabs Agents, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/law-after-hours-intake) Also useful: [Your First Voice Agent in ElevenLabs: An After-Hours Receptionist](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/elevenlabs-voice-agent-tutorial-after-hours-receptionist) ## Terms used here [AI receptionist](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ai-receptionist) · [Escalation (handing off to a person)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/escalation) · [Call summary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/call-summary) ## Related prompts - [Missed call text back prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/missed-call-text-back-prompt): A ChatGPT prompt for the automatic text you send after a missed call: who you are, an honest callback time, what to send you… - [Legal intake summary prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/legal-intake-summary-prompt): Turn messy intake call notes into a one-page summary for the attorney: names for the conflict check, events in order, and "Not… ## More sops and operations prompts - [ChatGPT settings checklist prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/chatgpt-account-settings-checklist-prompt): A copy-ready prompt that turns your plan and data rules into a one-page checklist of ChatGPT settings for staff, with a column… - [Checklist from SOP prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/checklist-from-sop-prompt): Turn a written SOP into a short check-box list people tick while they work, with every safety step and number kept exactly as… - [Claim intake questions prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/claim-intake-questions-prompt): Build a first-call question list for a new insurance claim from your own requirements, plus a short email telling the client… ## Frequently asked questions **How do I write instructions for an AI receptionist?** List the few questions it asks, the requests it can handle, what it must never say, what is urgent and how a person is reached. Test with made-up calls and tighten the rules from the transcripts. **Can ChatGPT write an AI receptionist script?** It can draft one from your facts. You still need to test it, and have a professional review anything about advice, safety or legal matters. [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)