What Happened

The San Francisco Standard reported on October 29, 2026 that AI agents, including Meta's Muse and Instinct and OpenAI's dots, are phoning local businesses to book dinner reservations, dental appointments and car maintenance, when given the right permissions. One e-bike shop owner said he gets one or two such calls a week, and that the first caller introduced itself as an assistant calling on behalf of a client.

Reactions were mixed. A restaurant group COO said that, as far as she knows, no agent has successfully booked a table at her restaurants: agents got stuck at payment, repeated themselves or misread replies. Voygr, a startup, made 848 test calls to local businesses, and about 1 in 3 people stayed on the line after learning they were speaking to an AI. About 1 in 25 of the businesses already had their own AI agent answering calls.

Three Steps for Small Businesses

  • Decide your policy now. Choose whether staff will take agent calls, and what to say. Settling this before the calls arrive avoids ad hoc decisions at the counter. This is our advice.
  • Put answers where machines can read them. Hours, prices, services and booking rules on a clear website mean fewer phone calls overall, from people and agents alike. This is our view.
  • Offer an online booking path. If a customer or their assistant can book without a call, your staff stay free for people in front of them. Test it yourself before you promote it.
The Bottom Line

Whether agent calls turn out to be a nuisance or a new source of customers is still unsettled. A business with clear, current information online is ready for either outcome.

This Week's Move

Ask your team to log every call from an unknown assistant for two weeks: time, request and outcome. That short list will tell you what your website should answer.