The Ask AI Tab Is Missing From My Widget
Ask AI appears only when the assistant is connected to that widget, published, and has indexed content. A draft or paused assistant shows visitors no tab and no message, so check its Connection status.
The Ask AI tab is shown only when everything behind it is live. When something is missing, the widget does not show an error or a paused notice. It leaves Ask AI out, and any Contact channels on the widget carry on as before. Reaching your monthly AI message limit is different. It does not remove the tab: the tab stays and questions get “This feature is temporarily unavailable.” Work through the checks below in order.
Check The Connection Status
In the dashboard, open AI Chatbots, choose your assistant and open the Preview tab. Under the test chat is a section called Connection, with a status chip beside its heading. The Preview tab and its Connection section are open to the workspace Owner and Admins.
| Connection Status | What Visitors Get | What To Do |
|---|---|---|
| Not connected | No Ask AI on any widget. | Connect the assistant, then publish it. |
| Ready to publish | Nothing yet. Ask AI is attached to the widget as a draft. | Select Publish Ask AI. |
| Paused | No Ask AI tab. Contact options on the widget are unaffected. | Select Resume Ask AI. |
| Published | Ask AI is live on the connected widget. | Go to the checks further down. |
Connect And Publish Ask AI
- In the Connection section, select Connect to Widget.
- Choose a published Website Widget, select Continue, then confirm with Connect Now. A widget that is still a draft cannot be chosen, and one widget holds one AI Chatbot.
- Ask AI is now attached as a draft and stays private. Select Publish Ask AI to make it visible to visitors.
- Reload your website and open the widget. With Contact channels live on the same widget, it shows two tabs, Contact and Ask AI.
Connecting and publishing are separate steps, so connecting alone never puts Ask AI in front of visitors. If you want Ask AI without Contact features, an assistant that is not connected is also offered Install as Ask AI-only in the same section. It needs your website added in the dashboard and an assistant with indexed content, and it is published with the same Publish Ask AI button. An Ask AI-only install has its own install code: select Get install code in the Connection section and add that code to your website. Choose Contact, Ask AI, Or Both compares the two placements.
If You Cannot Connect Or Publish
When a step is not offered, the dashboard says why. You may see these messages in the Connection section or in the dialog where you choose a widget.
| Message In The Dashboard | What It Means |
|---|---|
| “You don’t have a published Website Widget to connect yet.” | Publish a Website Widget first, or use Install as Ask AI-only. |
| “This assistant is still getting ready. Ask AI appears once indexing finishes.” | Indexing has not started or has not finished. If the chip beside the assistant’s name reads Draft, open the Data Sources tab and select Start indexing on a source. If it reads Preparing, wait for Ready. |
| “Add a website and index it before publishing Ask AI.” | The assistant has no indexed content it can answer from. On the Data Sources tab, add a source and select Start indexing, or select Include again on a page you ignored. |
| “Publish this Website Widget to connect Ask AI.” | That widget is still a draft. Publish the Website Widget, then connect. |
| “Already has an AI Chatbot connected.” | One widget holds one AI Chatbot. Choose another widget, or disconnect the other assistant from that one first. |
| “You’ve reached your monthly AI message limit.” | Publishing or resuming needs AI messages left this month. See I Reached My Monthly AI Message Limit. |
Published But Still No Tab
- Reload the page. The widget reads its settings when a page loads. A page that was already open does not update itself.
- Check which widget the page carries. An assistant is connected to one widget, and the Connection section names it. If your website has more than one widget, Ask AI appears only in that one, and only on pages that carry its install snippet.
- Check that the widget itself is showing. If no launcher appears at all, the Website Widget may be a draft or its website may be switched off. See My Widget Is Not Showing On My Website.
- Check that the assistant still has content. Ask AI needs at least one indexed page, file or entry it can answer from. If every page was ignored or the sources were removed, the tab goes. Open the Data Sources tab and look at Indexed Content. See Review Indexed Pages.
- Check that the assistant is not archived. An archived assistant shows “This AI Chatbot is archived.” at the top of its page. Select Restore AI Chatbot, then connect and publish it again.
When There Are No Tabs At All
Tabs appear only when both sides are live. An Ask AI-only install, or a widget with no Contact channel showing on that page, opens straight into Ask AI with no tab row. That is Ask AI working, not missing. In a widget that offers both, the panel opens on Contact and Ask AI is the second tab. How The Shared Widget Shell Works describes each layout.
What A Correct Result Looks Like
- The Connection status reads Published.
- Under Visitors see, the section reads Contact + Ask AI, or Ask AI only for an Ask AI-only install.
- After a reload, your widget shows Ask AI with your greeting and any live suggested questions.