Putting ChatGPT behind your WhatsApp Business number lets customers message you the way they already message everyone else, and get an answer at 2am. Connect WhatsApp Business to Social Intents, point it at a chat widget, choose an OpenAI model, and train it on your business content.
Unlike the Claude and Gemini guides, this one has no API key step. GPT-5 mini, GPT-5 nano and GPT-4o are included in your plan, so you can have a working WhatsApp assistant without opening an OpenAI account.
What This Integration Does
Customers message your business number in WhatsApp. ChatGPT answers from the knowledge you have trained it on, and your team picks up the conversation in the Social Intents Inbox or in Microsoft Teams, Slack or Google Chat when a human is needed.
The chat widget is where the pieces come together: your AI agent, your knowledge, and your routing rules. WhatsApp is the customer's entry point, but you still configure the widget, which is why the setup below starts there.
Before You Start
- A Social Intents plan that includes WhatsApp. WhatsApp is available on the Basic plan and above.
- A chat widget for the team you want to connect. See Set Up Your First Chat Widget.
- Access to the Meta Business account and WhatsApp Business Account you intend to authorize.
- A business phone number you can verify through Meta's setup flow. It cannot be active on the consumer WhatsApp app unless you use coexistence mode.
- Current FAQs, product documentation and policies for the assistant to learn from.
- A destination for human replies: the Social Intents web Inbox or a connected team platform.
No OpenAI API key is required if you use GPT-5 mini, GPT-5 nano or GPT-4o. If you want GPT-5.6, have your own OpenAI API key ready. See Choosing Your AI Engine.
Connecting WhatsApp to ChatGPT
1. Connect Your WhatsApp Business Number
Go to Integrations, choose WhatsApp, and start the connection. You will be handed to Meta's hosted signup to select your Business account, choose or create a WhatsApp Business Account, and verify the phone number. Meta owns this step, so complete it exactly as prompted and return to Social Intents when it finishes.
2. Route the Number to a Chat Widget
Under Settings, then Channels, map the connected number to the chat widget that serves the team who should own these conversations. Everything downstream, including the AI agent and escalation rules, is inherited from that widget. If you run several numbers, see Multiple WhatsApp Numbers.
3. Select an OpenAI Model
Open the widget, go to the AI Agent tab, and enable the AI chatbot. Choose your model:
- GPT-5 nano for high volume, short factual answers, and the fastest responses.
- GPT-5 mini as the general purpose default for support conversations.
- GPT-4o when you want stronger reasoning on longer, multi-part questions.
- GPT-5.6 for the most demanding cases. This one requires your own OpenAI API key, entered on the same tab, and OpenAI bills you directly for that usage.
Start with GPT-5 mini. It is included, it is fast enough for messaging, and you can change model later without redoing any of the WhatsApp setup.
4. Train It on Your Business
Add your website, help centre, PDFs and spreadsheets under the widget's knowledge settings. WhatsApp answers are read on a phone, so keep source material tight and current. See Training Your Chatbot on Content.
Then write your system instructions. Ask for short paragraphs, no markdown tables, and a clear next step in every reply. WhatsApp renders plain text, so formatting that looks fine in a web widget reads badly in a phone thread. See Writing System Instructions.
5. Set Up Human Handoff
Decide when ChatGPT should stop and a person should take over: low confidence, an explicit request for a human, billing and cancellation topics, or anything touching a complaint. Configure this under escalation, and confirm the receiving channel is one your team actually watches. See Escalation to Human Agents.
6. Test the Whole Path
Message the business number from a real phone. Confirm the answer is accurate, confirm the escalation trigger fires, and confirm the handoff lands in the right Inbox or channel. Test the failure case too, by asking something the assistant has no source for, and check that it escalates instead of guessing.
WhatsApp Session Rules and Costs
WhatsApp is not a web chat widget, and two of Meta's rules shape how this works.
First, the customer service window. When a customer messages you, you have a 24 hour window to reply with normal messages. Outside that window you can only send an approved template. Your AI agent answers inside the window, so this rarely affects it, but it does affect follow-ups. See WhatsApp Templates, Media and Sessions.
Second, cost. Budget for two things: your Social Intents plan, and Meta's messaging charges. Meta prices the WhatsApp Business Platform per delivered message with category and region based rates, billed to your Meta account, not to Social Intents. If you select GPT-5.6, add OpenAI usage as a third line.
Troubleshooting
The number connected but no messages arrive. Check that the number is mapped to a widget under Settings, then Channels. An authorized number with no widget mapping has nowhere to deliver conversations.
Messages arrive but the AI never answers. Confirm the AI chatbot is enabled on that specific widget. Widget settings are per widget, so enabling it on one does not enable it on another.
The AI answers, but badly. This is almost always knowledge rather than model. Check what sources are trained, look at the transcript to see what it drew from, and tighten your system instructions before reaching for a larger model.
GPT-5.6 returns an authentication error. Re-enter your OpenAI API key on the AI Agent tab and confirm the key is active and funded in your OpenAI account. The included models do not have this failure mode.
Handoffs go nowhere. Verify the escalation destination and that someone is actually monitoring it. See Troubleshooting Missed Chats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an OpenAI API key to connect WhatsApp to ChatGPT?
Not for GPT-5 mini, GPT-5 nano or GPT-4o. Those are included in your plan and draw on your plan's AI allowance. You only need your own OpenAI API key if you select GPT-5.6, in which case OpenAI bills you directly for that usage.
Which plan do I need for WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is available on the Basic plan and above. Basic includes one WhatsApp number, with more available on higher plans. See Plans, Billing and Upgrades.
Can I keep using WhatsApp on my phone with the same number?
Not with a standard connection, where the number moves to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Coexistence mode is the exception. See WhatsApp Coexistence Mode.
Can a human take over mid conversation?
Yes. When escalation fires, or an agent opens the conversation, the AI steps back and your team replies from the Inbox or your connected team platform. The customer stays in the same WhatsApp thread throughout.
Can I use ChatGPT on WhatsApp and a different model on my website?
Yes. Model choice is per widget. Route WhatsApp to one widget with ChatGPT and keep another widget on a different model for your website.
Does this work with Microsoft Teams, Slack or Google Chat?
Yes. WhatsApp is the customer's channel and your team platform is where staff reply. See WhatsApp with Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp with Slack or WhatsApp with Google Chat.