How the assistant chooses a language
The assistant answers in Hebrew or English. This page explains how it detects the customer’s language, what the Assistant reply language setting overrides, what happens on a mixed message, and how to fix replies that come back in the wrong language.
- Who
- Owners and admins
- Plan
- All plans
- Role
- Owner or Admin to change the setting
Before you start
- A connected WhatsApp number
The assistant writes replies in Hebrew or in English. Which one it uses for a given message is decided per message, from two inputs: the language OMAI detects in what the customer just wrote, and the Assistant reply language setting on the Assistant Settings screen.
The setting
Assistant reply language sits in the Identity & tone section. New accounts ship with Automatic — match the customer. Changing it takes effect on the next message, with no publish step.
| Option | What the customer gets |
|---|---|
| Automatic — match the customer | A Hebrew message gets a Hebrew reply, an English message gets an English reply. Anything OMAI cannot place falls back — see the order below. |
| Hebrew | Every reply is written in Hebrew, whatever the customer wrote. An English message still gets a Hebrew answer. |
| English | Every reply is written in English, whatever the customer wrote. A Hebrew message still gets an English answer. |
How the customer’s language is detected
Detection is a script count, not a guess by the AI. OMAI counts the Hebrew letters and the Latin letters in the message and decides from the proportion. It runs on the text of the message only.
- Hebrew letters only →
Hebrew. - Latin letters only →
English. - Both, and more than 70% of the letters are Hebrew →
Hebrew. - Both, and less than 30% of the letters are Hebrew →
English. - Both, anywhere in between →
Mixed. - Neither — an Arabic or Russian message, a photo with no caption, a message of only digits or emoji →
Other.
Because the test is the script and not the words, a message written in Spanish, French or German is counted as Latin letters and is therefore detected as English — and answered in English. Hebrew and English are the only two languages the assistant writes in.
The decision, in order
For every inbound message, the reply language is resolved by working down this list and stopping at the first line that applies.
- A fixed Assistant reply language — Hebrew or English — wins outright. Nothing below is consulted.
- On Automatic — match the customer, a detected
HebreworEnglishis used. - On a
MixedorOthermessage, your Business content language is used — the setting on the Settings screen that also decides the language your business knowledge is written in. - If that is not usable either, the reply is in English.
Mixed messages and other languages
A Mixed message — Hebrew with a few English words in it, which is how most Israeli customers write — is answered in your business content language, and the assistant is told to keep the reply in that language and to borrow the other one only where the customer did. In practice a Hebrew business gets Hebrew replies with the English product names left as the customer typed them.
A customer writing in Arabic, Russian or any other non-Latin script lands in Other, so the reply comes back in your business content language. The assistant will not answer in the customer’s own language, because it writes only Hebrew and English.
What else follows the reply language
- The handover acknowledgement the customer receives when the conversation goes to your team.
- The short message the assistant sends when the information available does not support an answer.
- The Hebrew style setting, which only reaches a reply that is written in Hebrew.
- The Language: chip shown next to each answer in the test simulator, so you can see what was detected.
Two languages are deliberately *not* part of this decision. Your Interface language controls your own dashboard only. Your Business content language controls the language your services, hours, FAQs and policies are compiled in, and acts as the fallback above — changing it rebuilds your business knowledge.
When replies come back in the wrong language
Fix it in this order
Step 1 Open Assistant Settings and read Assistant reply language.
- Set it back to Automatic — match the customer and press Save settings.
You should see: If it says Hebrew or English, that is the whole explanation: a fixed language ignores what the customer wrote.
Step 2 Send the same sentence the customer sent through the Test simulator.
You should see: The reply carries a Language: chip showing what was detected —
Hebrew,English,MixedorOther.Step 3 If the chip says
MixedorOther, open Settings and check Business content language.- Changing it rebuilds your business knowledge, so make the change once and let the rebuild finish.
You should see: That value is what a mixed or unrecognised message falls back to.
Step 4 If a customer keeps getting the wrong language on a genuinely Hebrew or English message, take over the conversation and answer by hand.
You should see: Pressing Take over stops the assistant replying in that conversation, so you can answer in the right language immediately.
More symptoms, causes and fixes are collected in replies come back in the wrong language.
Can the assistant answer in a third language?
No. It writes Hebrew and English. A message in another language is answered in Hebrew or English depending on the rules above, and there is no setting that adds a language.
Does the reply language change per conversation?
It is decided per message, so the same conversation can switch languages if the customer does — as long as the setting is on Automatic — match the customer.
A customer wrote one English word in a Hebrew sentence. Will the reply flip to English?
No. One English word in a Hebrew sentence leaves the Hebrew letters well above the 70% mark, so the message is detected as Hebrew and the reply is Hebrew.
Should I write my services and FAQs twice, once per language?
You do not have to. The knowledge search ignores language and the assistant writes the answer in the reply language. Duplicating content mainly risks two versions of a price drifting apart.