When chatbot lead emails stop arriving, the cause is almost always one of four things: the lead was never captured, the alert is going to a different address than you think, a spam filter or quarantine caught it, or an inbox rule or group address is holding it. Check them in that order, because the first two take seconds and rule out most cases. Then add a second delivery route so one missed email can't cost you a customer.
If you're still setting up lead capture, start with how to set up lead capture in your chatbot. This guide assumes capture is on and the emails are what's missing.
Check 1: was a lead actually captured?
In SpideyChat, a lead is a conversation in which the visitor left an email address or phone number. Open Leads in the dashboard. If the conversation you expected is listed, capture worked and the problem is delivery: go to check 2. If it isn't listed, no email was ever sent, because there was nothing to send.
Common reasons a conversation isn't a lead: the visitor typed their details into your site's contact form rather than the chat, they declined when asked, or they left a name only. The chatbot asks for contact details once, when it can't answer or when the visitor asks for a quote, a callback or a person, and it doesn't push if they decline.
Check 2: where is the alert being sent?
Open your chatbot's page and scroll to Settings. The field "Email new leads to (optional)" holds the address. Look for typos, an old staff member's address, or a shared inbox that nobody watches.
Two behaviours to know:
- No address set: if both the lead email and the lead webhook are empty, the alert goes to the email you log in with. People who changed their login email or use a personal address for the account often miss these.
- Once per conversation: the alert is sent the first time contact details appear in a chat. If the same visitor later adds a phone number, there's no second email. The full transcript is on the Leads page either way.
Check 3: search for the right subject line
Lead alerts arrive with a subject that starts "New lead from" followed by your chatbot's name, and they show "SpideyChat" as the sender name. The reply-to address is set to the visitor's email, so pressing Reply writes to them directly.
Search your mailbox for "New lead from" across all folders, including spam, junk and archive. In Gmail, search "All Mail" as well, since a filter may have archived it without a label you'd notice.
Check 4: spam folders and quarantine
If you find alerts in spam, teach the mailbox they're wanted.
Gmail and Google Workspace. Open the message and choose "Report not spam". Google's Gmail Help also describes a filter that keeps a sender out of spam for good: open the search options, put the sender's address in the From field, click Create filter, tick "Never send it to Spam" and save. Filters have to be created from Gmail on a computer.
Microsoft 365. Some messages never reach the junk folder because they're held in quarantine. Microsoft's Defender for Office 365 documentation explains that users can review quarantined mail in the Microsoft Defender portal under Email & collaboration, then Review, then Quarantine. Depending on your organisation's quarantine policy, you can release a message yourself or request release, in which case an admin approves it. If you see lead alerts there, ask your admin to release them and allow the sender.
Other providers. Look for a "safe senders" or "allowed senders" list and add the sending address from any SpideyChat email you've received.
A point that saves a lot of wasted effort: lead alerts are sent from SpideyChat's own mailbox, not from your domain. Your domain's SPF and DKIM records play no part in whether they arrive, so editing your DNS won't help. The fix is always on the receiving mailbox.
Check 5: inbox rules, forwards and group addresses
Mail can be delivered and still disappear from view.
- Inbox rules. Look for rules that move messages containing "lead", "new" or automated senders into another folder. Outlook rules and Gmail filters can both be listed, edited and deleted from the mailbox settings.
- Forwarding chains. If sales@ forwards to a personal inbox, the forward itself can be filtered. Test by sending the lead email to the final address directly.
- Google Groups addresses. If your lead address is a Google Group, Google's Groups Help explains that groups can be set to moderate messages from non-members. Held messages wait under "Pending" for a moderator, and messages that aren't approved are deleted after 14 days. Approve the alert and choose to always allow that author.
- Team mailing lists in other systems. Some lists only accept mail from members or from inside the company. Check the list's settings, or use a regular mailbox for leads.
Add a second route: the lead webhook
Email is a fine alert, but it shouldn't be the only one. Next to the email field in Settings is Lead webhook (optional). Paste a web address that accepts a JSON POST, and every new lead is sent there too: the event name lead.captured, the chatbot's name, the visitor's name, email, phone and company, their first message and the time it was captured.
The two routes run independently. A webhook that's down doesn't stop the email, and a lost email doesn't stop the webhook. Point the webhook at a tool your team already watches, such as a form-handling service or a sheet your developer connects. Two more backstops cost nothing: the Leads page always lists every captured lead with its transcript, and the weekly summary email includes new leads unless you've switched it off in account settings.
A two-minute test
- Open your website in a private window and start a chat.
- Ask something the bot can't answer, or ask for a quote, and leave a test email address.
- Within a minute, open Leads and confirm the conversation is there.
- Search your inbox, spam and quarantine for "New lead from".
- If you set a webhook, check that it received the test.
If the lead shows in the dashboard but no email arrives after these checks, email support@spideychat.com with your chatbot's name and the time of the test.
Our documentation covers setup, installation and training step by step, and the lead capture chatbot page explains how capture fits into the conversation.