No. SBA loans require full underwriting, SBA eligibility review, and (for 504) CDC involvement. The system prompt forbids pre-approval language, rate quotes, and specific funding promises. The bot frames eligibility expectations honestly using your published criteria and routes every credit decision to a human. Pre-approving an SBA loan from a chatbot is exactly the failure mode the SBA's lender oversight program flags.

Yes. This is the most common framing question on SBA broker sites. The bot explains 7(a) (flexible use, working capital eligible, owner-occupied CRE eligible) vs 504 (owner-occupied CRE and major equipment, three-party structure with bank first, CDC second, and owner contribution). It does not pick a winner for the specific deal; that judgement routes to the partner LO once the use of proceeds and timeline are captured.

It explains that SBA eligibility includes size standards that vary by NAICS code and are published by the SBA. It does not confirm eligibility for a specific business because that requires checking the standard against the business's actual revenue or employee count. The bot captures the basics and routes the eligibility check to the partner. For most small businesses, size standards are not a binding constraint, but the bot frames the question rather than assuming.

The bot explains SBA Express (smaller, faster, often $500k max, SBA Express turnaround typically much shorter than standard 7(a)) and microloans (community-based lenders, smaller amounts, often serving newer businesses or specific demographics). It frames each program's typical use case and routes to the partner. If your firm does not actively broker microloans, the bot says so directly and points to SBA's microlender directory rather than improvising.

Honestly. 504 closings commonly run 60-90 days from a complete file, sometimes faster, sometimes longer. Standard 7(a) is similar; Express is faster. The bot frames those ranges from your published timeline pages and never promises a thirty-day standard 7(a) closing because the program rarely supports it. Realistic timeline framing builds trust; over-promising creates downstream problems when the file inevitably takes the usual time.

Yes. 7(a) is the dominant program for small business acquisitions, and the bot frames acquisition-specific topics: seller financing acceptance, business valuation expectations, owner contribution, and goodwill financing. It captures the deal basics (target revenue, asking price, seller note intent) and routes to your acquisition-experienced partner LO. The bot does not opine on whether the deal is a good one; that is the partner's conversation.

Yes. Every conversation stores in WordPress with timestamp, page URL, model name, and token count. CSV export is available for SBA lender oversight inquiries. The data never leaves your hosting except to call your own API key. Most SBA brokers archive transcripts on a recurring webhook into their compliance system so the conversation log lives in the same evidence trail as advertising and email.

Claude Sonnet and GPT-4o both follow strict 'no pre-approval, no rate quotes' system prompts reliably and handle program distinctions (7(a), 504, Express, microloan) without collapsing them. Smaller models occasionally confuse 7(a) and 504 structure, which is a credibility problem on an SBA broker site. Bring your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or OpenRouter and pick based on your firm's risk tolerance and budget.