A shopper sends your no-bake cake Reel into your Instagram DMs and writes "what's the cocoa you used?" Your AI has already read that Reel's caption, watched the video, and seen which products are tagged on it — so it answers about the cocoa powder in that Reel instead of asking the shopper which post they mean.
This works automatically on every Instagram and Facebook connection. There is nothing to switch on.
Where this works
Your AI recognizes the post behind a conversation in three situations, on both Instagram and Facebook Messenger:
- A shopper sends one of your posts or Reels into a direct message. Your AI reads that post and answers about it. This works even when the shopper sends the post on its own with nothing written — your AI opens with what the post is actually about.
- A shopper replies to a Click-to-Message ad. Your AI knows which ad they clicked, what it advertised, and which product it was promoting — so its first reply is about that product.
- A shopper mentions your account in their story and writes a message with it. Your AI sees the story they tagged you in.
Direct messages that don't reference a post work exactly as they always have.
What your AI knows about the post
When a shopper references one of your posts, your AI receives:
- The full caption
- The link to the post
- What kind of post it is — image, carousel, Reel, story, or ad
- When it was posted, so it can say "the Reel you posted last week"
- Any products tagged on the post, with their names
- For carousels, how many slides there are and what each slide's caption says
- For ads, the ad's title and the product it promotes
When a shopper's question is about a specific post, your AI prefers that post's tagged products over other matches in your catalog.
Your AI sees and watches your posts
Your AI doesn't only read the caption — it looks at the content itself.
- Image posts. Your AI genuinely looks at the picture and can answer about what's in it.
- Videos and Reels. Your AI watches the video: what's shown on screen, what's said out loud, any text burned into the video, and any offer or call to action it contains. A shopper can ask "what shade is she wearing at the end?" and get a real answer.
- Carousels. Every slide's caption is read, and the first four slides are viewed as still images. If a shopper says "how much is the second one?", your AI knows which slide they mean.
- Ad creative. The image or video in a Click-to-Message ad is read the same way.
Each post is looked at once and remembered for the rest of the day, so only the very first shopper to ask about a new post waits a moment longer — usually a few seconds.
Some videos can't be opened: Instagram withholds the file for Reels that use licensed music or when downloads are turned off for your account, and very large videos are skipped. In those cases your AI works from the caption, the tagged products, and — where one is available — the video's cover frame, and it tells the shopper plainly that it hasn't watched the video rather than guessing at its contents.
Write instructions that reference your posts
Because your AI knows which post a conversation is about, you can write instructions in plain language that point at your content by topic:
If a shopper asks about the no-bake cake Reel, link to blog.example.com and suggest the unsweetened cocoa powder.
If a shopper came from the summer collection ad, mention the SUMMER26 code.
You don't need to pick posts from a list or write one rule per post. One instruction covers every post on that topic — including the ones you publish next month. When more than one instruction could apply, the more specific one wins.
Where to write them: go to Settings → Integrations, open your Instagram or Facebook integration, and turn on Use specific AI instructions for Instagram messages. Add each rule as its own item in the list below the toggle.
You can also write and try out the same instructions under AI Training → Test & Train → Meta, where they appear as Instagram AI instructions. Remember to select Save instructions there — instructions written in Test & Train are not saved automatically.
What your AI will not do
Your AI is held to what it can actually see:
- It never invents a caption phrase, a product, or a link that isn't on the post.
- It never claims to have watched a video it couldn't open, or to have seen a story it couldn't load.
- When a shopper sends a post from someone else's account, your AI acknowledges the share and answers the question without pretending to know what's in it.
- It won't tell a shopper to go back and look at a story, since stories expire.
If a post can't be loaded for any reason, your AI acknowledges the reference in general terms and keeps helping — it doesn't fill the gap with a guess.
What Rep AI keeps
Your posts stay on Instagram and Facebook. Rep AI doesn't store your videos or images — it keeps a short written summary of what a post shows, so the next shopper who asks about it gets an instant answer. That summary is kept for about a day, and about an hour for stories, then it's gone.
Limits worth knowing
| Limit | Detail |
|---|---|
| Channels | Instagram and Facebook Messenger direct messages |
| Not included — WhatsApp has no posts, Reels, or ads to reference | |
| Comments on posts | Not included — post awareness applies to direct messages |
| Story replies | A shopper tapping reply on your story, and emoji reactions to your messages, aren't treated as questions, so your AI doesn't answer them |
| Caption edits | A caption you edit is picked up within about six hours |
| Carousels | All slide captions are read; the first four slides are viewed as stills, and slide videos aren't watched |
| Video size | Videos up to 20 MB, which covers a typical Reel. Larger videos aren't watched, and your AI says so rather than guessing |
| First question about a new post | The first reply takes a few seconds longer while the post is read, and at most about 25 seconds; every reply after that is immediate |
| Posts from other accounts | Acknowledged, not read |
| Tagged products | Requires products tagged on the post and product permissions on your Instagram or Facebook connection |
Common questions
Do I need to turn this on?
No. It's active on every Instagram and Facebook connection, with no setting to configure.
Do I have to tag or register my posts anywhere?
No. Your AI resolves the post from the conversation itself. New posts are covered the moment you publish them.
Does this change how conversations are billed?
No. Post awareness doesn't add a charge and doesn't change how conversations are counted — a conversation is billed when your AI resolves it, exactly as before.
What if a shopper asks about a post I deleted?
Your AI acknowledges the reference and helps with the question, without inventing details about the missing post.
Can my AI answer questions about a competitor's post a shopper sends me?
It will recognize that something was shared and answer the shopper's question, but it won't read or describe content from an account that isn't yours.
I edited a caption and my AI quoted the old wording. Why?
Post details are remembered for about six hours to keep replies fast. An edited caption is picked up on the next refresh.
Does my AI reply to comments on my posts?
Post awareness applies to direct messages. Your AI answers shoppers who message you on Instagram and Facebook.