InSite agents are configured in Act-On and deployed to your website through the Act-On beacon. This article walks through creating an agent, publishing it, and making it visible to visitors, as well as how to manage multiple agents across your site.
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- Agents are created from the Web Agents listing page.
- All configuration happens in the agent composer after creation.
- Changes are auto-saved but do not affect your live agent until you publish.
- A brand new agent requires two steps to go live: publish your changes, then set the agent to visible.
- The default agent is served on all pages where the beacon is installed. Additional agents require a page-level script to target specific pages.
Creating an agent
- In Act-On, navigate to InSite > Web Agents.
- Click Create agent, give it a name, and optionally add an internal-facing description.
- Click Save. The agent opens in the composer where you can configure it.
The name and description are for internal use only. Visitors do not see them.
Configuring your agent
The agent composer is where you set up everything visitors experience. It is organized into tabs:
- Settings, Design, and Greeting - Control how the agent looks and what it says when a visitor opens it. See InSite Web Agent Appearance and Branding
- Responses - Set the agent's voice and tone, configure response rules, and add forms. See Configuring Your Agent's Voice and Tone and Forms and Lead Capture
- Knowledge Sources - Assign the knowledge sources this agent will use to answer visitor questions. See Setting Up and Managing Knowledge Sources
All changes are auto-saved as drafts while you work. Your live agent is not affected until you publish those changes.
Previewing your changes
Before publishing, use the interactive preview to test your agent as a visitor would experience it. You can ask questions, trigger response rules, and check that the greeting and suggested messages feel right.
The static preview in the Design tab is useful for quick visual checks, but it does not reflect actual agent behavior. Use the interactive preview to test the real experience.
Publishing and going live
When you are ready to make your agent available to visitors, two things need to be true:
- Publish your changes - Click Publish to push your current draft live. Any unpublished changes remain in draft until you do this.
- Set the agent to visible - Click Show agent to allow the agent to appear on your site. A published agent that is "hidden" will not appear to visitors on your website.
For brand new agents, both steps are required before anything appears on your site. For existing agents which are already visible, simply publish your draft changes to make them available to visitors.
Deploying via the beacon
InSite agents are served through the Act-On Beacon, a small script installed on your website. If the beacon is not yet installed on your site, see Guide to Installing the Beacon Code.
Once the beacon is in place, your default agent is automatically served on all pages where it runs — as long as the agent is published and set to visible. No additional configuration is needed.
Managing multiple agents
You can create multiple agents in the same account — each with its own configuration, knowledge sources, and design. The Web Agents listing page shows all your agents and lets you create, edit, or delete them.
Default agent One agent is designated as the default. This is the agent that appears on all pages where the beacon is installed, unless a page-level script specifies a different agent.
You can change the default agent at any time from the Web Agents listing page. Switching the default takes effect the next time a visitor loads a page with the beacon installed.
Non-default agents To serve a specific agent on a particular page instead of the default, add a page-level script to that page. This can be done through Google Tag Manager or by adding the script directly to the page.
Add the following script to each page you want a non-default agent to show up, replacing the [Agent ID] with your agent's ID:
<script>var actOnAgentId = '[Agent ID]';</script>
You can find your agent's ID in the URL when viewing the agent's detail page or composer. To get there, click the agent's name in the Web Agents listing page. The URL will follow this pattern: https://[Act-On domain]/app/agent/[Agent ID]/details
The script can be added directly to the page's HTML or managed through Google Tag Manager.
On any page where the actOnAgentId variable is not set, the default agent loads automatically. If you have set the variable on a previous page in the visitor's session and want the default agent to appear again, explicitly clear the variable on the new page using the following script:
<script>window.actOnAgentId = undefined;</script>