How to set up an email triage bot
Sort incoming email automatically so the important stuff floats to the top and the rest waits its turn.
Step by step
- List the 5-6 kinds of email you get most: enquiries, invoices, suppliers, newsletters, internal, junk.
- Create a label or folder for each one.
- Build simple rules first: sender addresses for suppliers, words like 'invoice' for accounts, 'unsubscribe' for newsletters.
- For trickier sorting, add an AI step in Zapier or Make: send the subject and first paragraph to an AI model and ask it to choose one label from your list.
- Have the bot apply the label and, for new enquiries, star the email or ping your phone.
- Run it for two weeks, check what got mis-sorted, and adjust the rules.
Watch-outs
- Start with plain rules before adding AI. They're free and predictable.
- Never let a bot auto-delete email.
- Check what data your automation tool stores and where.
Questions
Do I need to pay for this?
Gmail and Outlook rules are free. Zapier and Make have free tiers with limits; check current pricing before you rely on them.
Will it read my private emails?
Rules don't send anything anywhere. If you add an AI step, the email content goes to that AI provider, so only send what you're comfortable with.
Related guides
- How to set up a Google review reply bot
- How to set up a lead follow-up bot
- How to set up an FAQ chatbot on your website
Need prompts for the AI steps? See 40 AI use cases with copyable prompts. Want a hand? Get in touch.