Should I remove my contact form?

No. Keep it for people who prefer it and for long or detailed enquiries. The change worth making is that it stops being the only option for a question your site already answers.

Do assistants capture fewer leads than forms?

In our experience they capture different ones — more, and better qualified, because the capture happens at a moment of demonstrated intent with the question attached. Measure both rather than assuming.

Comparison

AI assistant vs a contact form

A contact form's answer to every question is 'wait'. That is a poor answer to 'do you ship to Ireland'.

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A form converts the patient and loses everyone else

It asks the visitor to write out their question, hand over their details, and wait an unspecified time. Most people with a quick question will not, so the form captures a small subset and the rest leave with no record.

Form submissions far below the traffic on the page
Enquiries arriving with a name and almost no context
Questions asked by form that the site already answers
No record of visitors who considered contacting you and did not

Answer now, capture only when necessary

Most questions arriving at a contact form are already answered somewhere on the site. An assistant resolves those immediately and reserves the ask for a contact detail for the genuine gaps — which is a far better moment to ask.

The capture is better too

A form gives you a name and a paragraph the visitor had the patience to write. A chat capture gives you the specific question they asked, the conversation around it, and the page they were on. Sales starts from the need rather than from discovery.

The real question

In their words, at the moment they had it.

The full context

What they already tried and what was ruled out.

Keep the form

Some people prefer writing an email, and detailed enquiries with attachments belong in a form. The point is not to remove it but to stop it being the only route for a question with a published answer.

Common questions

Should I remove my contact form?: No. Keep it for people who prefer it and for long or detailed enquiries. The change worth making is that it stops being the only option for a question your site already answers.
Do assistants capture fewer leads than forms?: In our experience they capture different ones — more, and better qualified, because the capture happens at a moment of demonstrated intent with the question attached. Measure both rather than assuming.