Someone considering hiring a PI for a custody case or a suspected affair wants to know two things: what does a retainer cost, and is this the kind of case you take. A generic chatbot that captures a name and email is dangerous for this trade because the conversation needs care and confidentiality. SleekAI reads your retainer tiers, case-type specialties, and licensure jurisdictions from WordPress and field-screens the inquiry honestly, while routing anything time-sensitive to a confidential consultation.

The example chat shows the tone. A suspected infidelity case in your licensed jurisdiction gets framed with a typical retainer range ($2,500 to $5,000 depending on surveillance hours), the documentation deliverable (timestamped photo/video log, sworn statement of investigator findings), and a confidential consultation slot to discuss specifics. The bot doesn't promise outcomes; it sets up the conversation that protects the case. Prospects feel taken seriously, which is the right tone for someone in distress considering a costly hire.

The intake captures what your investigator needs. Case type, jurisdiction, the subject's general location (without sensitive details in chat), and the prospect's preferred contact channel (encrypted email, signal, phone) save into WordPress against the lead. The investigator who calls Friday at 7 PM walks in with the case type, the right scoping questions, and the retainer expectations already aligned. The conversation closes faster because the bot handled the preliminaries, and the prospect leaves the call feeling like a professional engagement, not a sales pitch.

Private investigation is a trust-first profession. Prospects are typically in distress, dealing with custody, infidelity, theft, or workplace misconduct, and the first conversation sets the tone for the entire engagement. A generic chatbot that asks for a name and an email and dumps the inquiry into a CRM is wrong for this trade on two ends: it mishandles the prospect's emotional state, and it creates discoverable chat logs that can become evidence in cases the firm hasn't even taken yet.

Privacy-aware field-screening matters because it filters the inquiries that actually fit the firm (right jurisdiction, right case type, right retainer expectations) while routing the sensitive details into a confidential consultation that's protected by attorney-investigator privilege or appropriate confidentiality frameworks. Firms running SleekAI find that consultation-to-engagement conversion goes up because prospects arrive at the call already trusting the firm's process. The investigator's day shifts from 30-minute consultations with prospects who weren't the right fit to 30-minute consultations with prospects whose cases the firm can actually take, with retainer expectations aligned in advance.

The intake operates with the discretion the profession requires, and the chat history doesn't become a liability if a case ever goes to court. That's what professional PI work looks like in 2026, and the bot is a tool that supports it, not a marketing gimmick that erodes the trust the trade depends on.