AI
How to Create a Telegram AI Bot for Your Business, Step by Step
A Telegram bot takes two minutes to create with BotFather. Making it useful for customers is the real work. Here is how to create the bot, keep its token safe, add AI that answers from your own content, and when n8n or Python is the better route.
MonoChat Team Updated: 4 min read
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Creating a Telegram bot takes about two minutes: you message @BotFather, choose a name and a username, and get a token. What makes the bot useful for a business is what happens next: who answers, from which information, and what happens when a customer needs a person.
This guide shows how to create the bot, look after its token, add an AI assistant that answers from your own content, and how the no-code route compares with building it yourself in n8n or Python.
Step 1: Create the bot with BotFather
- Open Telegram and search for @BotFather, Telegram’s official bot for creating bots. Check for the blue verification mark.
- Send
/newbot. - Choose a name, for example “Lumen Dental”. People see it in chats, and you can change it later with
/setname. - Choose a username: 5 to 32 characters, Latin letters, numbers and underscores, ending in “bot”, for example
lumendental_bot. It cannot be changed later. - BotFather replies with the bot’s token, a long string of numbers and letters. You will paste it into your software in step 3.
Step 2: Make the bot look like your business
Still in BotFather:
/setuserpicadds your logo as the profile picture./setdescriptionsets the text new users see under “What can this bot do?”, up to 512 characters. Say what people can ask and when a person answers./setabouttextsets the short line on the profile and in share links, up to 120 characters./setcommandsadds the suggestions people see when they type ”/”, such as/pricesor/book.
Keep the token safe. Anyone who has it can control your bot. Do not paste it into chats or public code; if it leaks, send /token in BotFather to generate a new one.
Step 3: Add AI that answers from your content
A bot on its own only does what software tells it. To answer customers, connect the token to a platform that runs an AI assistant:
- Connect the token. Paste it into your platform; messages to your bot now arrive there.
- Give it your knowledge. Add your website, price lists, policies and FAQs. The assistant should answer only from this content, so it does not make things up. Our guide to an AI agent knowledge base explains how.
- Write short instructions. What it helps with, the tone, and what it must never promise.
- Add actions. Buttons and tools let it book an appointment, check an order or collect a lead.
- Set the handover. Decide when a chat moves to your team, and in which hours.
Then share your bot’s t.me/<username> link or a QR code on your website, receipts and social profiles.
No-code platform, n8n or Python?
| Route | Good for | What you take on |
|---|---|---|
| No-code platform | Businesses that want an AI assistant, a team inbox and broadcasts without building them | A subscription; less control over every detail |
| n8n workflow | Teams that like visual workflows and want to wire Telegram, AI and their own systems step by step | Hosting or an n8n plan, building the knowledge base, handover and inbox yourself, and maintenance |
| Python (Bot API) | Developers who want full control | Writing, hosting and maintaining all the code |
n8n has a Telegram Trigger node that starts a workflow when your bot receives a message, and AI nodes to generate a reply, so a working prototype is quick. What takes longer is everything around it: a knowledge base that stays up to date, a way for your team to see and take over chats, opt-out handling and reports.
One technical rule applies to every route: a bot delivers its updates to one webhook URL or by polling, not both, so connect each bot to one tool at a time.
Rules to know before you go live
- People start the conversation. A person needs to start your bot before it can message them. Share your link widely; everyone who starts the bot can then get replies and updates.
- Message limits. Telegram asks bots to send no more than about one message per second in a chat and 20 messages per minute in a group. Bulk sends are limited to about 30 messages per second; paid broadcasts, billed in Telegram Stars, raise this to 1,000.
- Group privacy. In groups, bots only see messages addressed to them by default (privacy mode), unless they are admins. Change it with
/setprivacy.
Our article on Telegram for business covers business accounts, channels and broadcasts in more detail.
Running your Telegram AI bot with MonoChat
MonoChat connects your bot with its BotFather token, with no code.
- Start from an app. MonoChat Start reads your website and builds your assistant’s knowledge base in about two minutes, then answers on Telegram as well as WhatsApp, Instagram and your website chat. Industry assistants from the MonoChat Store, such as Salon, Clinic or Shop Assistant, come with their bookings, orders and reminders ready.
- Your model. Use MonoChat’s AI or bring your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, DeepSeek or Ollama. See the Telegram AI chatbot page.
- Broadcasts and a team inbox. Send Telegram broadcasts to everyone who started your bot, and answer every chat with your team in one inbox, next to WhatsApp and your other channels.
You can start free at app.monochat.ai.
Sources
Put this into practice with MonoChat