How SUBLAKE works

SUBLAKE is an all-in-one AI front office for local service businesses and small teams. Instead of juggling a separate phone service, chat widget, booking tool, customer list, and payments app, you get one place — run by AI employees that answer your customers, book appointments, follow up, and get you paid, 24/7.

Who it's for

Local service businesses and SMBs — dental and medical practices, law firms, home services (HVAC, plumbing, electrical), auto shops, salons and med spas, veterinary clinics, accounting practices, and similar businesses that live and die by answered calls and booked appointments.

What it does

• Answers every inbound call, text, and message — in your voice, around the clock
• Books appointments straight into your calendar
• Keeps one record of every customer across every channel
• Sends reminders and follows up so fewer customers slip away
• Takes payments from your customers

The idea

You hire AI employees the way you'd hire a person. They share one customer brain, work together, and never clock out — for one simple monthly price.

SUBLAKE gives you AI employees that work as a team on a shared foundation.

One shared customer record

Every call, text, chat, and email about a customer lands in a single record. When your AI Receptionist answers a call, your AI Office Manager already has the context to follow up. Nothing is siloed.

Every channel, one inbox

Every inbound channel — phone, SMS, web chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger — flows into one unified inbox, and the email you send from your own address appears in the thread too. You reply from one place; customers get answered on the channel they used.

Always on

Your AI works nights, weekends, and holidays — so you never lose a customer because you were busy with another one.

You can be live in a few minutes.

1. Add your business details

Open Business Info and add your hours, services, and address. Your AI uses these facts to answer customers accurately.

2. Connect one channel

Start with the channel you get the most customers on — a phone number, the web chat widget, or a messaging app. Add the rest later.

3. Try it

Use the Test Call to hear your AI answer, or send your web chat a test message. When it sounds right, you're live.

Start with one channel and one set of business facts. You'll see the whole loop end-to-end without any noise, then add more.

SUBLAKE includes four AI employees, bundled into one product. They all work 24/7 against the same shared customer record.

AI Receptionist — Aria

Answers inbound calls, texts, web chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and email. Books appointments, answers questions about your business, qualifies new customers, and takes a message when something needs you.

AI Office Manager — Max

Handles the follow-through: following up on conversations that went quiet, recovering no-shows, sending reminders, and routing work to the right place.

AI Reputation Manager

Monitors and replies to your customer reviews, requests reviews after a job, and tracks sentiment — so your online reputation grows automatically.

AI Marketing Manager

Runs your email and social campaigns in your brand voice — content, scheduling, and publishing across channels — to bring customers back.

They share one brain

Because all four read and write to the same customer record, a call answered by Aria can arm a follow-up from Max, a review request from the Reputation Manager, and a campaign from the Marketing Manager. One shared context, working together.

Plans

Pro includes the AI Receptionist and AI Office Manager; Business adds the AI Reputation Manager and AI Marketing Manager.

Aria answers your customers automatically, in your voice.

What Aria does

• Answers inbound calls, texts, web chat, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, Messenger, and email
• Answers questions about your hours, services, pricing, and policies
• Books appointments into your calendar
• Recognizes returning customers and greets them by name
• Takes a message and notifies you when something needs a human

Bilingual

Aria handles English and Spanish at parity, and can switch when a caller does.

You stay in control

Aria only knows what you tell it. Set its tone, knowledge, and rules under your AI's settings — see Training Your AI.

Max owns the follow-through that keeps your day on track.

What Max does

• Follows up on conversations that went quiet
• Recovers no-shows and missed appointments
• Sends appointment reminders
• Routes new customers and tasks to the right place

Outbound, with your rules

Max handles outreach on your behalf according to the cadence and channels you allow, working alongside Aria on the same shared customer record.

Your reputation, growing on autopilot.

What it does

• Monitors new customer reviews across your connected review sources
• Drafts and posts replies in your brand voice
• Requests reviews from happy customers after a job or visit
• Tracks sentiment so you can see how customers feel over time

In your voice

Replies follow the same tone and rules you set for the rest of your AI team, so every response sounds like you.

Plan

The AI Reputation Manager is included on the Business plan.

Bring customers back — without running campaigns yourself.

What it does

• Writes email and social content in your brand voice
• Schedules and publishes across your connected channels
• Runs sequences and reusable templates to re-engage past customers

Shared brain

Because it works from the same customer record as the rest of your AI team, campaigns can target the right customers based on their real history with you.

Plan

The AI Marketing Manager is included on the Business plan.

Your AI is only as good as what it knows — and you control that.

Business Info: your facts

Business Info is the one place for your business details — name, hours, services, address, and logo. Every AI employee reads from it, so you update a fact once and it's used everywhere.

Brain: tone, knowledge, and rules

Each AI employee has a Brain where you set:

• Tone — how it sounds (professional, friendly, direct)
• Knowledge — answers to the questions your customers actually ask
• Rules — specific do's and don'ts for how it should behave

Grounded in your business

Your AI answers from your business facts and your rules — not from guesswork. When it isn't sure, it takes a message instead of making something up.

You're always informed — your AI never disappears with a customer.

How you're notified

• A notification the moment a call, message, or booking comes in
• One unified inbox that collects every interaction
• Full context attached — the summary and the customer's history in one place

What your AI never decides alone

Some situations your AI never tries to resolve on its own — it takes a message and notifies you so you can step in:

• Refunds or disputed charges
• Legal threats
• Abusive or hostile callers

On a phone call

Your AI never transfers a live call to you. It takes a message and promises a callback, then notifies you right away with the full context — so your day isn't interrupted by your own phone ringing.

Hear your AI before your customers do.

Test Call

From your voice settings, use the Test Call to have your AI call your own phone. You'll hear it answer in your chosen voice, using your business facts.

Test your web chat

Open your own website after adding the chat widget and send it a question — you'll see exactly what a visitor sees.

Test a few real-sounding questions before you go live, and adjust the Brain until it answers the way you'd want.

Get a business number, or bring your own.

Buy a new number

Under Integrations → Phone, pick an area code, choose from available numbers, and activate. Your AI starts answering right away.

Port your existing number

Keep the number your customers already know. Start a port under Integrations → Phone; while it transfers (typically a few business days) we provide a temporary number so nothing goes dark.

Freedom to leave

You can port your number out to another provider at any time. No lock-in.

Configure how your AI sounds and behaves on the phone.

What you can set

• Identity — your AI's name and voice
• Languages — English, Spanish, or both
• Business hours — how it answers during and after hours
• Recording disclosure — the notice played if you choose to record calls
• Greeting and instructions — what it says and how it handles calls

Everything is editable in plain language — no scripts to code.

Natural conversation

Your AI is built to handle real conversations — interruptions, pauses, and follow-up questions — so it feels like a real front desk, not a phone menu.

SUBLAKE handles the rules of texting so you don't have to.

Opt-out is automatic

• A customer who replies STOP (or UNSUBSCRIBE, END, CANCEL, QUIT) is opted out immediately, with a confirmation
• Replying START opts them back in
• Replying HELP returns help information
• Keywords are case-insensitive and work in English and Spanish

Transactional texts

Reminders and confirmations are sent in response to a booking or a message the customer sent first, and your business name appears in the text so customers always know who it's from.

See the Messaging (SMS) Terms for full details.

Add a chat widget to your website in about a minute.

Install

Under Integrations → Web Chat, copy the embed snippet and paste it into your site. It works on common site builders and plain HTML.

Make it yours

Choose a style and position, set your brand color (with a built-in contrast check), and preview it live as you edit.

Lock it to your site

Pin the widget to your own domains so your snippet can't be reused on someone else's site.

It answers like your Receptionist

Every web chat runs on the same AI and business facts as the rest of SUBLAKE — one consistent voice everywhere.

Connect your WhatsApp Business account so your AI can answer there too.

How it works

Under Integrations → WhatsApp, connect your WhatsApp Business account. Incoming messages flow into your unified inbox, and your AI replies in your voice.

Interactive replies

Your AI can offer quick-reply buttons and option lists — for example, when proposing appointment times — so customers can respond with a tap.

Answer Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger from the same inbox.

Connect

Under Integrations, connect your Instagram or Facebook page. The same AI handles both.

What's supported

• Incoming DMs and story replies route to your unified inbox
• Your AI replies in your voice
• Photos and videos are handled

You're notified on every new message so nothing slips.

Send email from your own address.

Outbound only

Connect Gmail or Outlook to send from your business address. SUBLAKE requests send-only access — it does not read your inbox.

For inbound customer messages

Use Phone, Web Chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger — those are your always-on inbound channels.

Connect the tools you already use — most in one click.

What you can connect

• Google — Business Profile, Calendar, and Maps
• Email — Gmail and Outlook (send-only)
• Messaging — WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger
• Reviews — Google Business Profile and Yelp
• Payments — Stripe, for accepting payments and payouts
• Phone & text — your SUBLAKE number for calls and SMS

One-click connect

Go to Integrations, choose a service, and authorize it. You can reconnect or disconnect any integration from the same place at any time.

Every channel in one place, with one record per customer.

What you see

• A list of conversations you can filter by channel, unread, drafts, or archived
• The conversation itself in the middle
• The customer's full history alongside it

Channels

SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat, and phone calls (as summaries) all land here, along with the email you send from your own address. (Email is send-only — for inbound customer messages, use phone, web chat, or a messaging channel.)

One customer, one thread

The same customer across email today and WhatsApp tomorrow is the same record — you always have the full picture.

The reply box does more than send text.

AI rewrite

Type a draft and let the AI polish it — make it more formal, friendlier, shorter, or translated — using what it knows about the customer.

Send from the right address

If you have more than one connected inbox, choose which one to send from.

Undo send

Every send has a short undo window, so a message you sent by mistake never actually leaves.

When a customer calls, your AI knows who they are before it says hello.

Greeting by name

If the caller is already in your records, your AI opens with their name and their context — for example, an upcoming appointment — instead of treating them like a stranger.

Why it matters

It makes your AI feel like a real front desk that remembers your customers.

Your AI books appointments straight from a conversation.

How it works

1. A customer asks for a time
2. Your AI checks your real availability
3. It offers open slots
4. The customer picks one and it's booked
5. A confirmation goes out with the time and a calendar link

Two customers can't grab the same slot — the final check happens at the moment of booking, so you never get a double-booking.

SUBLAKE has its own calendar, and syncs with Google.

Built-in calendar

Every workspace has a calendar. Appointments your AI books land here and respect your business hours and blocked times.

Google Calendar

Connect Google under Integrations → Calendar. SUBLAKE pushes bookings to your Google Calendar and reads your busy times before offering slots — so it never books over something you already have.

Outlook

Connect Outlook to sync your calendar too.

Control when your AI can book.

Hours

Set your weekly hours in Business Info. Your AI only offers times you're actually open.

Buffers and blocks

Add buffer time between appointments so nothing is booked back-to-back, and block off time you want kept free. Your AI honors both when it suggests slots.

Let customers book themselves, any time.

Your booking page

Every workspace gets a public booking page at your own link. Share it in a text, an email, your Instagram bio, or a Book Now button on your website. Customers see your real availability and pick a slot — it books straight into your calendar.

Booking forms

Collect the details you need at booking time (service, name, contact, notes) so you're ready before the appointment.

Always in sync

Self-service bookings respect the same hours, buffers, and blocks as everything else, so the page never offers a time you can't take.

Accept payments from your customers, built in — no separate terminal or merchant account.

How it works

Set up payments once under Payments. Then you can charge a card in person with Tap to Pay, or send a secure payment link by text or email. Money settles to your own bank account.

You're the merchant

Payments go directly to you. SUBLAKE helps you collect them through our payment provider; you remain responsible for your own goods, services, refunds, and disputes.

Secure by design

Card details are handled and tokenized by our payment provider. SUBLAKE never stores full card or bank-account numbers.

Before you can take a payment, you activate your payments account.

Activation

Go to Payments and start setup. Our payment provider (Stripe) collects the details required by law to verify your business — this is a standard identity and business check (sometimes called KYC). You'll confirm your legal business name, address, and the bank account you want payouts sent to.

Why it's required

These checks are required for anyone accepting card payments and help keep your account and your customers safe. Once you're verified, you can take payments and receive payouts.

What SUBLAKE stores

SUBLAKE never stores your full bank-account or card numbers — that information is held securely by our payment provider.

Get paid without the customer being in front of you.

Send a link

Create a payment request for any amount and send it by text or email. Your customer taps the link and pays by card from their phone or computer.

Where they work

Payment links work everywhere — web and mobile. They're the easiest way to collect a deposit before a job, a balance after, or a no-show fee.

Receipts

Your customer gets a receipt automatically once the payment goes through.

Take a card in person, right on your phone — no extra hardware.

In-person payments

Tap to Pay lets a customer tap their card or phone to pay you in person. Enter the amount, hand them the phone, they tap, done.

Where to hold the card

Present your phone to the customer and ask them to hold their card horizontally on the tap area for a few seconds, until the screen says it is done. On iPhone the tap area is at the top of the device; on Android it is on the back, usually the upper half, where the NFC antenna sits.

Keep it still until the screen confirms the read. A thick case, or a card left in a wallet with several other contactless cards, can stop it reading — take the card out of the wallet if the first try does nothing.

What customers can pay with

• Contactless debit and credit cards — the ones showing the contactless indicator (the little wave symbol)
• Apple Pay on iPhone, and Apple Pay on Apple Watch
• Other digital wallets and wearables that support contactless payments, such as Google Pay and Samsung Wallet

If a card has no contactless symbol it can't be tapped. Send a payment link instead and the customer can pay by typing the card in.

If the customer is asked for a PIN

Some cards ask for a PIN. When that happens the screen switches to a PIN pad — hand the phone to the customer and let them enter it themselves, the same way you would with a card terminal. You never see the digits, and neither do we.

If the customer needs visual or other assistance, they can choose Accessibility Options on the PIN screen. Audible instructions then guide them to draw the PIN on the screen, or to tap the screen once for 1, twice for 2, and so on for each digit.

If a card can't complete the payment with its PIN, ask for a different contactless card or a digital wallet.

If a card is declined

A decline comes from the customer's bank, not from SUBLAKE, and we show you the reason the bank gave. Nothing has been charged.

Ask them to try the same card again — a single decline is often a one-off — and if it declines a second time, ask for a different card, or send a payment link so they can pay from their own phone later. You can send the customer a record of the declined attempt from the decline screen if they want one; it is clearly marked as an attempt, not a receipt.

If nothing happens when they tap

Check the card is flat against the right part of the phone and held still, that the card is out of the wallet, and that you have a signal — Tap to Pay needs an internet connection. If the phone has been asleep in your pocket, the first tap of the day can take a couple of seconds longer while the reader wakes up.

Availability

Tap to Pay runs in the SUBLAKE mobile app on a supported phone. When you're not in person, payment links work everywhere, including on the web.

Refund a customer in a few taps.

How to refund

Open the payment under Payments and choose Refund. You can refund the full amount or part of it. The refund goes back to the card your customer used.

Timing

Refunds are processed right away on our side; how quickly they appear on your customer's statement depends on their bank, usually a few business days.

You're in control

Because you're the merchant, refund decisions are yours. SUBLAKE simply carries out the refund you choose.

When a customer disputes a charge with their bank, it becomes a chargeback.

What happens

If a cardholder disputes a payment, you'll be notified under Payments. The disputed amount is held while the bank reviews it.

Responding

You can submit evidence (receipts, messages, proof the service was provided) to contest the dispute, or accept it. The customer's bank — not SUBLAKE — makes the final decision.

Your responsibility

As the merchant, chargebacks and disputes are yours to handle. Good records and clear communication with your customers are your best protection.

Your money, to your bank.

How payouts work

When a customer pays you, the funds are added to your balance and paid out to the bank account you connected during setup. You can see your balance and payout history under Payments.

Standard vs. instant

Standard payouts arrive on a regular schedule at no extra cost. If you need money sooner, an instant payout option may be available to an eligible debit card for a small fee, which is always shown to you before you confirm.

Schedule

You can set how often standard payouts happen (for example daily or weekly) in your payout settings.

Manage where your money lands.

Add or change an account

Under Payments, add the bank account you want payouts sent to, or update it if your banking changes. For instant payouts, you can add an eligible debit card.

Keep details current

Make sure your payout details are always accurate — payouts sent to an old or incorrect account can be delayed or returned.

Clear, no-surprises pricing on payments.

Processing fees

Each card payment has a standard processing fee, shown to you before you take the payment. There's no hidden markup.

Instant payout fee

Standard payouts are free. Instant payouts (to an eligible debit card) carry a small fee, shown before you confirm.

No surprises

Any fee that applies is disclosed in the product before the charge or payout happens.

Collect tax the way your business needs to.

Tax settings

You control whether and how sales tax is added to a payment in your payment settings.

Your responsibility

Whether you need to collect sales tax, register with your state, and remit what you collect is your responsibility as the business owner. SUBLAKE provides the tools to add tax to a charge; it does not file or remit taxes for you. If you're unsure, check with a tax professional.

Records for you and your customers.

Receipts

Customers automatically receive a receipt when a payment succeeds. You can see every payment under Payments.

Year-end tax forms

Because you accept payments as the merchant, you may receive a tax form (such as a Form 1099-K) that reports the payments processed for you. These are issued through our payment provider based on your account and the applicable thresholds.

Keep your info current

Make sure your legal and tax details in payment settings are correct so any required forms are accurate.

Business Info is the single home for your business facts.

What lives here

• Business name, address, and hours
• Services and pricing
• Public contact details
• Your logo

Why it matters

Every AI employee, your booking page, and your web chat all read from Business Info. Update a fact once, and it's correct everywhere.

Every customer is one record, unified across channels.

One record per customer

When someone contacts you — by call, text, chat, or email — SUBLAKE matches them to an existing record or creates one. The same person across different channels stays a single record, so you never have duplicates or half the story.

Built automatically

Records are built from real interactions — you don't have to type anything in. Each one holds the customer's history and the context your AI (and you) need to help them.

See how your front office is doing at a glance.

What you can track

• Calls answered, texts and chats handled, and bookings made
• Reviews collected and replied to
• Payments and revenue collected

Why it helps

Your dashboard turns everyday activity into a simple picture of what's working — which channels bring customers in, how many bookings your AI captured, and how much you collected — so you can make decisions with real numbers.

Bring your team into SUBLAKE.

Invite members

From Settings → Team, invite people by email. They get their own login to your workspace.

Roles

Members can have different roles that control what they can see and change — for example, who can manage billing or settings versus who just handles the inbox.

Remove access

Remove a member at any time and their access ends immediately.

Run your front office from your phone.

What you can do

• See calls, texts, chats, and bookings as they happen
• Reply from the shared inbox on the go
• Take payments in person with Tap to Pay
• Get push notifications the moment something needs you

Get the app

Download SUBLAKE from the App Store or Google Play, or open the app link from your dashboard.

Your data is protected in transit and at rest.

How we protect it

• Encrypted in transit and at rest
• Each business's data is isolated from every other business's
• Access is limited to what's needed to run the service
• Regular backups

Card details are never stored on SUBLAKE's servers — they're handled by our PCI-DSS Level 1 payment provider. For the full picture, see our Security page.

SUBLAKE is built to keep your outbound calls and texts compliant.

Consent first

Before a text or call goes out to a customer, SUBLAKE checks that consent exists — for example, from a booking, a form, or a message they sent you first.

Opt-out always works

STOP opts a customer out immediately and START opts them back in — case-insensitive, in English and Spanish. Every opt-in and opt-out is recorded.

You remain responsible for your relationships with your customers; SUBLAKE gives you the tooling to stay compliant.

Recording is optional and disclosed.

Disclosure

If you enable recording, a disclosure is played at the start of the call. You can set the wording.

Your responsibility

You're responsible for any recording notice or consent required where your callers are located — including places that require all parties to consent. See the Terms of Service.

Access, export, and delete your data on your terms.

Export your data

From Billing, you can export your workspace data as a single spreadsheet — one tab per type — and get a secure download link by email. Open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.

Delete a customer's data

You can delete a customer and all of their linked data from their record.

Portability, no lock-in

Your export is yours — taking your data elsewhere is fully supported.

For privacy rights under GDPR and CCPA, see our Privacy Policy, GDPR, and Do Not Sell pages.

SUBLAKE runs on a small set of trusted providers.

Sub-processors

We use vetted providers for hosting, telephony and texting, AI, payments, and email. Each is bound by a data-processing agreement and may only use your data to provide services to us.

The current list — what each one does and where — is on our Sub-processors page.

Closing your account is reversible for 30 days.

30-day grace

When you delete your workspace, access stops right away, but your data is kept for 30 days in case you change your mind. After 30 days it's permanently removed.

See the Account Deletion page for the full process.

Simple plans that bundle your AI employees and tools.

Two plans

• Pro — $99/month
• Business — $299/month

Both include your AI employees and the built-in tools (calls, texting, web chat, email, scheduling, and your customer records). See the Pricing page for the current limits on each.

14-day free trial

Start free, no credit card. Try your AI end-to-end. Add a card when you're ready to keep going.

More than one location?

Contact us about multi-location pricing.

Each plan includes a set amount of calls, texts, email, and customer records.

No overage, no surprises

When you reach a plan limit, outbound calls and texts pause — but inbound calls and messages always come through. There are no overage charges and no surprise bills.

Need more?

Upgrade to Business for higher limits, anytime, from Billing. Your usage is always visible with month-to-date and projected totals.

Change or cancel anytime.

Upgrade or change plan

From Billing, pick a plan and confirm — changes take effect right away or at your next renewal, as shown.

Cancel

Cancel from Billing. You keep access through the end of the period you've paid for.

Payment issues

If a payment fails, you get a grace period and reminders before anything changes, and you can update your card from Billing to resolve it immediately.

Everything you need for your records.

Invoices

Download any invoice as a PDF from Billing, with your business details and line items.

Payment methods

Add or replace a card in Billing. Card details are handled entirely by our payment provider — SUBLAKE never stores your card number.

Tax

Applicable sales tax or VAT is added where required. Add your VAT ID in Business Info if you need it on your invoices.

Earn by referring other businesses to SUBLAKE.

How it works

Join the SUBLAKE Partner Program and share your referral link. When a business you refer signs up and becomes a paying customer, you earn a flat cash bounty.

Tiers

Your rate rises as you refer more paying customers — the more you bring in, the higher your bounty per referral.

Getting paid

A referral is confirmed after it stays a paying customer through a short qualifying window, then your earnings clear and are paid out by bank transfer. Full details, tiers, and rules are in the Partner Program Terms.

Join

Sign up from the Partner Program page and agree to the Partner Program Terms to get your link.

Quick fixes for the most common questions.

"My AI answered something wrong"

Open the conversation to see what happened, then add the missing fact or rule to your AI's Brain. Test it again to confirm.

"My web chat isn't showing"

• Make sure the snippet is on the page
• Make sure the page's domain is in your allowed domains
• Refresh the page

"I'm not getting notifications"

• Check that notifications are turned on in Settings → Notifications
• Allow notifications for the site in your browser
• On mobile, install SUBLAKE to your home screen to receive push notifications

When you need a person.

Contact support

Reach us from Settings → Support, or email support@sublake.com. We reply within one business day.

What to include

• What you tried
• What you expected
• What actually happened
• A screenshot if it's visual

The more detail you give, the faster we can help.