Services
AI Service Generator
AI Service Generator
Skip the blank-page problem when setting up your venue — OpenChair generates a tailored service menu based on your industry and location so you can start with a ready-made list instead of building from scratch.
Where to find it: The AI service generator runs automatically during onboarding at the Services step. After setup, you can also use the Write with AI button in the service form to generate or rewrite individual service descriptions.
Overview
The AI service generator:
- Creates 5–8 starter services tailored to your industry category and location
- Sets realistic local pricing based on your city and country
- Includes durations, processing times, and requirement flags (deposits, consultations, rooms) appropriate for your service type
- Sanitises medical terminology automatically for injectables and aesthetics venues
- Falls back to curated industry templates if the AI is unavailable
- Works in British English for AU, NZ, and UK venues
The service generator is available on all plans — it runs during onboarding, before any subscription is required.
How it works during onboarding
Two paths to your service menu
During onboarding, you reach the Services step. How you get there depends on what you did in the previous Import step:
| Path | What happens at the Services step |
|---|---|
| Imported from another platform | Your imported services appear as a checklist. Heading: "Review your imported menu". No AI generation runs. |
| Skipped the import step | AI generates a service menu for your industry and location. Heading: "Start building your menu". |
The AI generation flow
If you did not import services:
The loading screen appears with three animated progress steps:
- "Scanning local competition"
- "Calculating market rates"
- "Building your menu"
The AI generates services using your industry category (selected during profile setup) and your city/location.
A grid of service cards appears. Each card shows the service name, duration, and price.
Tick the services you want to keep. Use Select all or Deselect all to toggle the entire list.
Click Next to save your selections and continue the wizard.
Tip
You don't need to get your service menu perfect during onboarding. You can add, edit, remove, and reprice services at any time from the Services page after setup.
If the AI takes too long
The AI generation has a 25-second timeout. If it does not finish in time, OpenChair loads a curated starter menu for your industry instead. A note appears above the service cards:
- Timeout: "We could not finish the AI review in time, so we loaded a strong starting menu for you instead."
- Empty result: "We could not tailor this menu automatically, so we loaded common services for your category."
- Error: "We hit a problem while tailoring your menu, so we loaded common services you can edit straight away."
The fallback menus are hand-curated for each industry and include realistic AU pricing.
Industry categories
The AI tailors its suggestions based on your selected industry. The fallback menus also use these categories:
| Category | Example services | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hair & Grooming | Ladies Cut & Style, Balayage, Full Head Foils, Keratin Smoothing | Colour services include processing time |
| Barbering | Standard Cut, Skin Fade, Hot Towel Shave, The Works | — |
| Face, Skin & Brows | Brow Sculpt, Lash Lift & Tint, Signature Facial, Advanced Facial | Advanced facials flag room + machine required |
| Injectables | Anti-Wrinkle (1 Area), Lip Filler (0.5ml) | All services require consultation. Brand names sanitised. |
| Body, Wellness & Recovery | Float Tank, Infrared Sauna, Relaxation Massage, Japanese Head Spa | Self-service options (no staff needed) for sauna/float |
| Nails | Gel Manicure, BIAB Manicure, Acrylic Full Set, Spa Pedicure | Includes add-on services (Removal, Nail Art) |
| Tattoo & Piercing | Piercing Service, Tattoo (Small/Half Day/Full Day) | Tattoos require deposits |
| Other | General Consultation, Standard Service | Minimal fallback for unmatched industries |
Medical safety (Injectables)
For venues in the Injectables category, the AI applies additional safety rules:
Brand name sanitisation — restricted terms (Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, Restylane, Azzalure, etc.) are automatically replaced with compliant generic terms like "Anti-Wrinkle" or "Volumising Product". This applies to both service names and descriptions.
Forced consultation requirement — all generated injectable services have the Requires consultation flag set to
true, blocking booking without a prior consultation on record.
These rules apply to both AI-generated and fallback template services.
Pricing and localisation
The AI receives your venue's country and city to generate locally relevant pricing:
| Country | Currency | Spelling |
|---|---|---|
| AU (Australia) | AUD ($) | British English (colour, specialise) |
| NZ (New Zealand) | NZD ($) | British English |
| GB (United Kingdom) | GBP (£) | British English |
| US (United States) | USD ($) | US English (color, specialize) |
Prices are displayed as whole numbers (e.g. "$110") and stored internally in cents. Range pricing shows as "$110–$140" when both a minimum and maximum price are set.
The AI adjusts pricing based on location context — CBD venues may see higher suggested prices than suburban ones. The fallback templates use standard AU pricing.
Writing service descriptions with AI
After onboarding, you can generate or rewrite individual service descriptions from the service form.
Generating a new description
- Go to Services and open a service for editing (or create a new one).
- Enter a Name for the service.
- Click Write with AI (Sparkles icon) next to the description field.
- A description is generated (targeting ~140 characters) in your venue's brand voice persona.
Rewriting an existing description
- Open a service that already has a description.
- Click Rewrite (RefreshCw icon) next to the description field.
- The existing description is rewritten to improve clarity and appeal while preserving the original meaning.
Both actions use your venue's brand voice persona to match the tone of your other messaging. Descriptions target around 140 characters and are capped at 200.
The description writer uses AI Sparks (classified as a light generation action). If your Spark balance is insufficient, you'll see "Insufficient Spark balance — top up to use AI writing."
What the AI generates for each service
Each AI-generated service includes:
| Field | What the AI sets |
|---|---|
| Name | Service name appropriate for the industry |
| Description | Short customer-facing description in your brand voice |
| Duration | Time in minutes |
| Price | Local market pricing (in cents) |
| Price max | Upper range for variable-priced services (optional) |
| Category | Matches your industry |
| Processing time | Gap time for colour processing, etc. (minutes) |
| Buffer time | Cleanup time between clients (minutes) |
| Requires deposit | Whether to collect payment upfront |
| Requires consultation | Whether a prior consultation is needed |
| Requires room | Whether a private room is needed |
| Requires machine | Whether specialist equipment is needed |
| Requires ventilation | Whether chemical ventilation is needed |
| Requires staff | Whether a team member is needed (false for self-service like saunas) |
| Is add-on | Whether the service is an upsell only |
Platform differences
| Feature | Web | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding service generation | Full wizard with AI generation + import | Onboarding is web-only |
| Service description writer | Write with AI / Rewrite in service form | Write with AI / Rewrite in service form |
| Editing generated services | After onboarding, on the Services page | After onboarding, in the service edit screen |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| AI generation showed a fallback menu instead of tailored suggestions | The AI has a 25-second timeout. If your connection is slow or the AI service is busy, OpenChair loads curated industry templates instead. The fallback services are a strong starting point — edit them from the Services page after onboarding. |
| Generated prices seem too high or too low | The AI suggests prices based on your city and country, but local market knowledge varies. Edit any price from the Services page — open the service and change the price field. |
| I don't see my specific service in the generated list | The AI generates 5–8 common services for your industry. Add custom services from the Services page after completing the wizard by clicking Add Service. |
| Injectable service names contain brand names | The sanitiser should replace restricted terms automatically. If a brand name slipped through, edit the service name manually from the Services page. |
| "Write with AI" button is not working | The description writer uses AI Sparks. Check your Spark balance. If your session has expired, refresh the page and try again. |
| Generated descriptions don't match my brand tone | The AI uses your venue's brand voice persona. Go to Brand Voice and select a persona that matches your style, then use Rewrite to regenerate the description. |
Related Articles
- Managing Your Services
- Notification Templates
- Importing From Another Platform
- Understanding Spark (AI Credits)
Last updated: March 2026