Why Mediumchat keeps AI behind the scenes and people in customer care
Amy Bos, Co-Founder & COO of Mediumchat Group, describes how the online spiritual guidance platform connects clients with mediums, astrologers, tarot readers and other specialists. The conversation looks at where AI has helped with internal work, why customer service returned to a fully human approach, and how digital PR is shaping discovery.
Use AI to remove administrative work, but keep client interactions human when trust depends on personal connection. For discovery, invest consistently in digital PR and brand mentions that can surface in AI assistants.
What’s the quick origin story of your business, and what makes what you do genuinely different from the other options your customers are looking at?
We started Mediumchat in 2014 from my home, with the aim of making spiritual guidance more accessible through a simple online platform. Since then, we have grown into a global platform connecting people with mediums, astrologers, tarot readers, and other spiritual specialists.
What sets us apart is our focus on creating a reliable, private, and user-friendly experience in an industry where trust matters enormously. Every member of our team goes through extensive vetting and training, so our clients can expect the same high level of service, regardless of when they reach out or which specialist they speak with.
Where does most of your new business come from today, and where do you wish it came from?
We work hard to retain our clients, and as a result, the majority of our new business comes from referrals, followed closely by paid advertising. We’d like to generate more business through our traditional marketing and PR efforts.
In our industry, building relationships and maintaining an in-person presence go a long way towards building brand awareness and ultimately trust. We’re active in online groups, while our team regularly attends industry conferences and meet-ups. Although the impact isn’t yet clearly reflected in the numbers, I believe these efforts are supporting our continued growth. This is an area we’re actively developing, and we see it becoming our third major source of new clients.
What’s one thing you’ve actually handed over to AI in the last year, and one thing you tried it on and went back to doing the human way?
Over the past year, we have successfully introduced AI into our operations, particularly for staff planning, onboarding, and general administrative processes. AI’s taken a lot of time-consuming tasks off our desks. We’re significantly more productive now, and our team has more capacity to focus on areas where they add greater value and are able to grow and develop personally.
We also tested AI in customer service, but the overall feedback was negative. Our clients value personal interaction throughout their journey. After listening to their feedback, we quickly pivoted and returned to a fully human approach. We’ve now made sure there’s a human available at every stage, not just in the loop. There’s always an quick and easy way for clients to speak directly to a member of our team whenever they need to.
Have you noticed a change in how customers find you or what they already know before they reach out? Is anyone arriving through AI assistants like ChatGPT yet?
Yes, we’re increasingly seeing clients come to us through AI assistants. We’ve built a strong foundation through our team’s digital PR efforts, and we’re definitely seeing the benefits. We’ve always favored PR over traditional link building, and that approach has paid off. It’s not necessarily about how much clients already know, but the level of trust that exists before we’ve even spoken with them.
If you were advising someone in your industry on all of this for the next 12 months, what would you tell them to actually do, and what would you tell them to ignore?
Every business is different, even within a niche industry like ours, but I’d advise companies to use AI smartly to free up capacity behind the scenes. Our industry is built on human connection, so I would avoid using AI to interact directly with clients at any stage of their journey. Automating those personal interactions can have a significant impact on trust and ultimately your client base.
I’d also focus marketing spend on building visibility within AI assistants through digital PR and consistent brand mentions. That’s where the long-term benefit will come from. We’re ahead in this area as we’ve been building brand mentions almost from the start. Don’t succumb to the pressure to automate everything. Instead, invest in the areas where AI can strengthen the business without replacing the human connection.
Thank you to Amy Bos and the team at Mediumchat Group for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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