AI onboarding experience
The AI onboarding experience gives newly invited SMBs an immediate sense of value. Instead of logging in to an empty dashboard, they receive an onboarding email showing the work your AI has already done for their business, and they land on a Business App Home page that reinforces it with dynamic cards, recommended next steps, and one-click upgrade options.
The goal is faster activation and more recurring product purchases: the SMB sees results before they lift a finger, understands what to do next, and can add products without leaving Home.
This experience is available to Early Access partners. To turn it on, join the Early Access program in Partner Center → Administration → Customize → General Product Settings → Other, select Join Early Access Program, and click Save. Broader availability will follow.
Watch the overview
What's included
The experience has two connected halves:
- The onboarding email — replaces the standard welcome email when you create a user, and shows the work AI has already completed for the business.
- The Business App Home cards — new sections on the Home dashboard: a "work your AI has done" card, recommended next steps, and product upgrade cards.
Both are controlled by you, the partner, and both can be dismissed by the SMB. Details below.
The onboarding email
When you create a new Business App user, you can send an onboarding email in place of the classic welcome email. Sending it is optional and entirely your choice — it's selected by default in the create-user flow, but you decide per user whether to send it, and you can always send the classic welcome email instead. Rather than a simple "set your password" note, the onboarding email walks the SMB through what your AI has already accomplished for their business, then invites them in.
What the email contains
- A subject line of "We've started working for you – Welcome to [your Business App name]".
- A short intro, then a "We already got to work" summary — the same checklist of completed work that appears on the SMB's Home page (see What the work summary shows). The content is generated from the business's own information — business name, website, number of pages read, reviews found, active products, and so on.
- If a Vibe website has been built, a preview image of that landing page near the top, linked to the live site.
- A single call to action — See what's ready for you — that takes the SMB to their Business App Home page. The link works whether the user still needs to set a password or can log in directly.
The email adapts to the products that are currently active on the account, so no two businesses necessarily receive the same checklist. The next section lays out every line it can contain.
What the work summary shows
This is the heart of the experience, and the part partners ask about most: what exactly will my client see? The "We already got to work" summary — shown both in the onboarding email and on the Home page — is fully dynamic. Every line is driven by the business's real data and the products active on the account, so the SMB only ever sees work that was genuinely done.
A few rules govern the whole summary:
- Lines are product-gated. A product's line only appears when that product is active on the account. The website-read and business-profile lines are the exceptions — they always appear (the website line needs a website on file).
- Wording adapts to the product edition (for example, Reputation Standard vs. Pro vs. Premium, or Local SEO Standard vs. Pro).
- Brand-new accounts show a "scanning" state. In the first 24 hours after the account is created, review and visibility work reads as "scanning… results in about 24 hours," then switches to the completed wording once results are in.
- The card only shows recent work. A line drops off roughly 30 days after the work was done, so the card stays relevant to genuinely new accounts.
- No access, no link. If the SMB doesn't have access to a product, the work is still shown, but the associated link is hidden (the Vibe "see it live" link is the one exception — a published site is always linkable).
The table below lists every line the summary can contain, the exact condition for it to appear, and the wording the SMB sees.
| What the SMB sees | Appears when | Link offered |
|---|---|---|
| Built you a free website so you can see what we can do! | Vibe is active and a Vibe site exists for the account | see it live (when the site is published), edit here (when the SMB has Vibe access) |
| …- Ready to connect your domain (appended to the line above) | The Vibe edition is Standard | — |
| …- With unlimited projects and potential available (appended) | The Vibe edition is Pro | — |
| Scanning your online reviews - results in about 24 hours | Reputation is active and the account is less than 24 hours old | connect your accounts to pull in reviews |
| Scanned the web for reviews | Reputation is active, past the first 24 hours, and no reviews were found yet | connect your accounts to pull in reviews |
| Gathered and analyzed your reviews | Reputation Standard is active and reviews were found | check for insights |
| Read your {count} reviews and ready to draft responses. | Reputation Pro is active and reviews were found | ready to draft responses |
| Analyzed your business reputation | Reputation Premium is active and reviews were found (shown in addition to the "Read your reviews" line) | ask your AI specialist for a report |
| Started your online visibility scan - results in about 24 hours | Local SEO is active and the account is less than 24 hours old | view the dashboard as results come in |
| Scanned 40+ directories and found where you're missing | Local SEO is active, past the first 24 hours | view your results |
| Calculated your local visibility and Google search rankings | Local SEO Pro/Premium is active (shown in addition to the directory line) | ask your local search specialist for a report |
| Read your website ({count} pages from {domain}) and taught your AI everything about your business | The business has a website on file | the website domain |
| Prefilled your business profile | Always | ready for you to review |
The onboarding email shows this same checklist. It keeps the fewest inline links — typically just the Vibe see it live link and the website domain — because the richer in-app links (drafting responses, opening a specialist chat, and so on) live behind login.
How a Vibe website is kicked off
When Vibe is active, sending the onboarding email can automatically build the business a free Vibe demo website before the email goes out — so the SMB's very first touch points to a live, AI-built landing page. Partner Center states this directly on the email preview:
When Vibe is active, sending this email creates a demo website (one per account).
Here is exactly what triggers it. A Vibe site is generated only when all of the following are true:
- You send the onboarding email. Vibe generation is the first step of the onboarding-email process — it never happens on its own. Sending the email is the only thing that can start it.
- The AI onboarding experience is enabled for you (you're in the Early Access program).
- Vibe is active on the account.
- The account has no live Vibe site yet. One demo site per account:
- No Vibe project exists → a new site is generated.
- A site is already being built (for example, a teammate just triggered one) → the platform waits for that build instead of starting a second.
- A published Vibe site already exists → nothing is generated; the email simply links to it.
The email waits for the site to finish building (allow 5–15 minutes for it to arrive). If the build is slow or fails, the email is still sent — it just won't include the website line or preview image. Site generation never blocks the rest of the onboarding email beyond that window.
You stay in control: because a site is only ever created by sending the onboarding email with Vibe active, you can prevent one for any client — simply don't send them the onboarding email, or don't activate Vibe before inviting them. See the FAQ for the full details.
Turning the email on
The onboarding email is default-on in the single-user creation flow, so it's selected automatically when you add a user to an account:
- From an account: Accounts → Manage Accounts → select the account → Add users → Create User.
- Or from Accounts → Manage Users.
When the onboarding email is enabled, it replaces the classic welcome email for that user — the two aren't sent together.
Sending it to an existing user
You don't have to create a brand-new user to use the onboarding email. You can send it to any existing user on an account:
- Go to the account's users (Accounts → Manage Accounts → select the account → Users, or Accounts → Manage Users). If the person isn't a user yet, add them to the account first.
- Open the options menu (⋮) next to the user.
- Choose Send Onboarding Email, then confirm.
This is handy for re-triggering the experience for someone already set up — and it's also the easiest way to see the real email yourself: add yourself as a user on the account and send it to your own inbox.
The classic welcome email is always available too. To send it after a user has been created, open the options menu (⋮) next to the user's name — either on the account or in Accounts → Manage Users — and click Resend Welcome Email.
Previewing before you send
When the Send Onboarding Email checkbox is selected, a Preview button appears beside it so you can review the email in Partner Center before it goes out.
The preview is a static example — it shows the email's branding, layout, and subject line so you can confirm it's on-brand. The email your client actually receives is generated dynamically from the real work the AI has done for their business, so the specific checklist items reflect that business's website, listings, reviews, active products, and Vibe site. Partner Center notes this on the preview itself:
Sample content – the real email is personalized with the business's branding, products, and completed AI work (allow 5-15 minutes for the email to arrive).
Want to see the exact email your new client will see? Add yourself as a user on the account and send yourself the onboarding email.
If you rely on custom onboarding content today, you can still layer a Marketing Campaign on top for messaging you fully control.
The Business App Home cards
When an SMB lands on their Business App Home page, new sections greet them. All are controlled by you and dismissible by the SMB.
"We already got to work" card
This card sits at the top of the Home page and shows the same checklist of completed work described in What the work summary shows. It opens with "We already got to work" and the line "While you signed up, your AI got started on [business name]. All of this is done."
On Home, each line can carry its in-app links — for example edit here on the Vibe site, ready to draft responses on reviews, or view your results on the directory scan — so the SMB can act on the work immediately. If a line's underlying product isn't accessible to that SMB, the work still shows but the link is hidden. The card only appears when there's at least one recent line to show.
Recommended next steps
The familiar Getting Started cards are restyled into recommended next steps that appear on the dashboard until the SMB clears them. Each card points the SMB to a meaningful setup action. Completing a task removes its card, and the SMB can dismiss a card they don't need. This keeps the dashboard focused on what's still worth doing.
Product upgrade cards
Below the work-done card, a Recommended for [business name] section surfaces your core AI products so SMBs can add them without leaving Home. Each card leads with a benefit headline:
- Local SEO — "Get found first when customers search nearby"
- Conversations AI — "Never miss another customer call"
- Reputation AI — "Win more 5-star reviews, reply to every one"
- Social AI — "Stay active on social without the work"
Each card's button adapts to the account's state:
| Situation | What the card shows |
|---|---|
| Product available with a self-serve upgrade path | Get started — opens the upgrade / checkout flow for that product |
| Product available, but you route upgrades to your sales team | Contact us — opens the contact card in Business App |
| Product already active (Pro tier or above) | Open [product] — a link into the product's app |
| Product currently provisioning | Activating. This will only take a few moments. (no button) |
| Product not in your catalog, or the account is suspended | The card is not shown |
When an SMB completes an upgrade, payment is collected through Vendasta Payments if you have it enabled — the SMB enters their card and checks out right from Home. If you don't use Vendasta Payments, the upgrade is sent to you as an order to process through your normal flow.
How SMBs dismiss the cards
SMBs stay in control of their own dashboard. Both the work-done card and the product upgrade cards can be dismissed:
- Each dismissible section has a small ✕ (labeled Dismiss) in line with its header.
- The work-done card dismisses as a whole.
- The upgrade cards dismiss one at a time — the section only disappears once the SMB has dismissed (or is ineligible for) every card in it.
- Dismissals are stored per browser (in the browser's local storage), so they don't follow the SMB to another device. To bring dismissed cards back, the SMB can clear their browser's site data for the Business App.
- Recommended next-steps cards are removed when the SMB dismisses them or completes the underlying task.
This lets returning users clean up and streamline their Business App experience once they no longer need the onboarding content.
How partners control what SMBs see
You have full control over whether the Home cards appear for your SMBs, from Customize Business App.
Go to Partner Center → Administration → Customize Business App → Pages → Home. Under Page Features:
- "AI has done the work" card — "A dynamic list of tasks that AI has completed on account setup based on products active and work done." Toggles the "We already got to work" summary card.
- "Recommended for your business" cards — "Allows users to access and upgrade some of Business App's top products. Follows your marketplace rules for sales and upgrades." Toggles the recommended product upgrade cards.
Both are on by default. Turning a checkbox off hides that section for all of your SMBs. Remember to click Save.
These toggles control display only. They hide the cards for all your SMBs, and individual SMBs can still dismiss cards for themselves even when you leave them on.
Benefits and how to get the most out of it
- Faster time to first value. The SMB sees concrete work — research done, a website built, listings scanned — before they've configured anything, which builds trust in the platform and in you.
- Higher activation. Recommended next steps turn a blank dashboard into a guided path, nudging SMBs to complete setup.
- More recurring revenue. Upgrade cards put your core AI products one click from checkout, right where the SMB is already engaged.
To take full advantage:
- Make sure the right products are active or have upgrade paths enabled so the work-done summary is rich and the upgrade cards show Get started rather than Contact us. Configure product upgrade paths under Marketplace → Manage Products.
- Activate Vibe on the account before inviting the SMB so the onboarding email can lead with a live, AI-built website.
- Preview the onboarding email to confirm the branding, and add yourself as a user to see the exact dynamic email a client will receive.
- Leave the Home cards on for new SMBs during their first weeks, then let them dismiss what they no longer need.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly will my client see in the email and on Home?
Only work that was genuinely done for their business. The summary is fully dynamic — see What the work summary shows for the complete list of possible lines and the exact condition for each. Lines are driven by the products active on the account and the business's real data, and the wording adapts to the product edition.
Can I control whether a Vibe site is created?
Yes. A Vibe site is only ever created as a step of sending the onboarding email, and only when Vibe is active on the account and it has no live site yet. So you have a few ways to prevent one:
- Don't send the onboarding email to that user — clear the Send Onboarding Email checkbox when creating them (or send the classic welcome email instead). No onboarding email means no Vibe site.
- Don't activate Vibe on the account before inviting them. With Vibe inactive, the email sends normally but no site is built.
- If the account already has a published Vibe site, re-sending the onboarding email is safe — it never creates a second one.
Note that turning off the "AI has done the work" card in Customize Business App does not stop generation — that toggle only controls whether the card is displayed.
Do I have to use the onboarding email instead of the welcome email?
No. In the create-user flow the onboarding email is selected by default and replaces the classic welcome email for that user, because it shows value up front — but it's your choice. If you'd rather send the classic welcome email, clear the Send Onboarding Email checkbox. For fully custom messaging, you can also use a Marketing Campaign.
Can I still send the classic welcome email after a user is created?
Yes. The classic welcome email is always available. Open the options menu (⋮) next to the user's name — either on the account or in Accounts → Manage Users — and click Resend Welcome Email. This is useful for password resets or any time you'd prefer the standard welcome email over the onboarding email.
What if the business doesn't have a website or Vibe isn't active?
The summary adapts to what's actually true for the account. Lines that depend on a specific product (the Vibe website, review analysis, local visibility) only appear when that product is active. The website-read line appears whenever a website is on file, and the business-profile line always appears.
Can an SMB bring a dismissed card back?
Yes. Dismissals are stored in the browser's local storage, so an SMB can restore dismissed cards by clearing the Business App's site data in that browser — or by opening Business App in a different browser or device. If you want to control visibility for everyone, use the partner-level toggles in Customize Business App → Home.
Why don't I see these features?
The AI onboarding experience is available to Early Access partners first. To turn it on, go to Partner Center → Administration → Customize → General Product Settings → Other, select Join Early Access Program, and click Save. Broader availability will follow as the rollout expands.
Related
- Home Overview — the Business App Home dashboard your clients see
- Customizing the welcome email — the classic welcome email and Marketing Campaign workaround
- Manage Users — creating and managing Business App users