The search engine by Microsoft starts using its Bot Framework to integrate chatbots directly into search results, making search experience more interactive and transactional. Simply put, Microsoft with Business Bots are making chatbots (and its AI) accessible to business owners.
It started back in April 2017 when a chat functionality appeared for some selected users in Seattle-area restaurants. In May, Bing is rolling the feature out to Bing Places and also to its Business Bot program. Microsoft is automatically creating bots from the data it gathers from Bing Places.
To use this feature, businesses aren't required to do anything much. They only need to answer some structured questions and accepts the bot agreement terms.
After that, Bing will do the rest. So when users search for the business, a screen like the the image below will appear:
Users that search for the business can chat with the chatbot, their representative in Bing. They can get some basic answers about businesses (limited to only restaurants). And if the chatbot can't answer the question, it will refer them to the phone number.
The bot can also ask business owners additional question it thinks necessary, depending on the information that users are actually seeking. The information that are given, will then be added to the data set the bot can use to respond for future questions.
Microsoft is planning to roll out the bots to more local businesses, and not just restaurants.
Initially, Business Bots are available for Bing, Skype and SMS, with more to be added.