Leno AI Multi-Language Support

April 15, 2026

Leno AI detects each visitor's language and replies natively — no manual switching, no translation delays, no lost customers.

Benefits at a Glance

Multi-language support is included in every Leno AI plan at no extra cost. Once enabled, your AI agent automatically handles conversations in over 90 languages without any per-conversation configuration or translation workflow.

Native language responses — Leno AI detects the visitor's language and replies in it directly, without routing through English first.
Brand consistency across markets — tone, product names, and links are preserved in every supported language.
Automatic detection — no action required from visitors or your team; detection happens on every incoming message.
Controlled language scope — restrict Leno AI to specific regional languages when your team only covers certain markets.
Reduced team overhead — handle international chat volume without expanding headcount or setting up language-specific inboxes.

How It Works

When a visitor sends a message, Leno AI processes it through three sequential stages before generating a reply. The language detection step runs first — before intent classification or knowledge retrieval — so every downstream step operates in the correct language from the start.

Language detection: Leno AI identifies the language of the incoming message. For very short inputs (emojis, single words like 'hi' or 'ok'), it falls back to the conversation's previously detected language or your configured default.
Contextual understanding: Leno AI classifies the visitor's intent and retrieves relevant knowledge base content, operating entirely in the detected language — even if your knowledge base is written in a different language.
Native-language response generation: the final reply is generated directly in the visitor's language, not translated after the fact, producing more natural and accurate output.

Leno AI Multi-Language Support toggle in Leno AI settings

Supported Languages

Leno AI supports over 90 languages. Your knowledge base does not need to be translated — answers are generated in the visitor's language even when all your content is written in a single language. A complete list is available inside the Leno AI Settings panel.

Afrikaans	Albanian	Amharic
Arabic	Armenian	Azerbaijani
Basque	Bengali	Bosnian
Bulgarian	Burmese	Catalan
Croatian	Czech	Danish
Dutch	English	Estonian
Finnish	French	Galician
Georgian	German	Greek
Hausa	Hebrew	Hindi
Hungarian	Icelandic	Indonesian
Italian	Japanese	Kazakh
Khmer	Korean	Lao
Latvian	Lithuanian	Macedonian
Malay	Mongolian	Nepali
Norwegian	Pashto	Persian/Farsi
Polish	Portuguese	Punjabi
Romanian	Russian	Serbian
Simplified Chinese	Sinhala	Slovak
Slovenian	Spanish	Swahili
Swedish	Tagalog	Tamil
Telugu	Thai	Traditional Chinese
Turkish	Ukrainian	Urdu
Uzbek	Vietnamese	Yoruba
Zulu

How to Enable the Feature

Multi-language support is disabled by default and must be turned on once per workspace. The configuration takes under a minute and applies immediately — no redeployment or inbox restart required.

Step 1: Navigate to Leno AI Settings from the dashboard sidebar.
Step 2: Scroll to the Leno AI Multi Language Support section.
Step 3: Toggle Enable Leno AI Multi Language to ON. Once activated, the Default Language and Supported Languages options appear below the toggle.

Default language dropdown in Leno AI Multi-Language settings

Setting a Default Language

The default language is the fallback Leno AI uses when it cannot confidently detect a visitor's language, or when the detected language is not in your allowed list. Most workspaces set this to English, but you can choose any of the 90+ supported languages.

Leno AI switches to the default language when the visitor's language cannot be detected (very short messages, emoji-only inputs) or when the detected language is not in your allowed list.
To set your default language: find the Default Language dropdown in the Multi Language Support section, search or scroll to your preferred language, and select it — the setting saves automatically.
The default language is always included in your allowed list and cannot be removed — it ensures every visitor receives a response even in edge cases.

Tip: Your knowledge base does not need to be translated for multi-language support to work. Leno AI generates answers in the visitor's language even when all your knowledge base articles are written in English — or any other single language. Adding native-language content improves response quality further but is not required to get started.

All Languages vs. Specific Languages

After enabling multi-language support, you choose whether Leno AI responds in all 90+ supported languages or only a restricted list you define. The right choice depends on which markets your support team can cover if a conversation needs to be escalated to a human agent.

All Languages: Leno AI responds in any of the 90+ supported languages. Best for businesses serving global audiences. No additional setup required beyond enabling the feature.
Specific Languages: Leno AI only responds in the languages you select. Best for region-specific operations or when your escalation team only covers certain languages. Visitors writing in an unsupported language are informed and receive a response in your default language.
To select specific languages: under Supported Languages choose Specific Languages, then click inside the language input and type to search. Select a language to add it as a chip. Remove a language by clicking × on its chip. The default language chip cannot be removed. Changes save automatically.

Specific language chip selection in Leno AI Multi-Language settings

Tip: Template-based messages — including greetings, handover messages, and CSAT prompts you have configured in Leno AI — are automatically translated into the visitor's language when multi-language mode is enabled. You do not need to create separate templates per language.

Common Issues & Solutions

A visitor writes in a language not in my allowed list

Leno AI will inform the visitor that the language is not supported in this conversation and will reply in your configured default language. To allow the language, go to Leno AI Settings → Multi Language Support → Supported Languages, switch to Specific Languages, and add the language.

The widget language and the AI response language do not match

Widget language and AI language are configured independently. Widget language controls UI elements visible to visitors (button labels, input placeholders). AI language controls Leno AI response language. Update widget language in Settings → Inboxes → [Inbox] → Customisation, and AI language in Leno AI Settings → Multi Language Support.

Leno AI is not detecting the correct language for short messages

Words like 'hi', 'ok', or 'yes' exist in many languages, making confident detection difficult. Leno AI falls back to the default language for these inputs and improves detection as the conversation continues with more text. If this is frequent, set your primary customer language as the default language to minimise fallback responses.

A response is delivered in the wrong language despite correct configuration

If translation cannot complete, Leno AI falls back to the original message in your default language so the conversation continues uninterrupted. This is a rare edge case typically caused by a temporary service interruption. If it occurs consistently, contact LenoChat support and include the conversation ID.

Shopify product content is translated except prices — unless Shopify Markets is enabled

This is expected behaviour. When multi-language support is enabled and a visitor writes in their preferred language, Leno AI translates the Shopify product content — including product names and descriptions — into the visitor's language so they receive a fully localised response. However, prices are intentionally excluded from translation and are displayed exactly as they are stored in your Shopify store, in their original currency, without conversion or reformatting. For example, if your store content is in English and a visitor asks in Japanese — such as「この商品について教えてください」("Tell me about this product") — Leno AI will respond in Japanese with the translated product name and description, while the price remains unchanged from what is in your Shopify store. If you would like prices displayed in the visitor's currency, you need to enable Shopify Markets.

How Leno AI handles pricing when Shopify Markets multi-currency is enabled

When your Shopify store has Shopify Markets enabled with market-specific pricing, Leno AI resolves product prices contextually based on the visitor's language. For example, if a Japanese-speaking visitor asks about a product, Leno AI first translates its conversational response into Japanese, then looks up whether a Japanese Yen (JPY) price is defined for that product in your Shopify Markets configuration. If a JPY price exists, Leno AI presents the price in Japanese Yen. If no market-specific price is available for that currency, Leno AI falls back to the product's original base currency price. This ensures pricing accuracy is maintained while still delivering a localised experience to the visitor.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a visitor writes in a language that is not allowed?

Leno AI informs the visitor that the language is not supported in this conversation and responds in your configured default language. The visitor can continue chatting and you can expand your allowed language list at any time in Leno AI Settings → Multi Language Support.

Is the widget language the same as the AI response language?

No — they are configured independently. Widget language controls chat UI elements visible to visitors (button labels, input placeholders, timestamps). AI language controls the language of responses generated by Leno AI. You can set the widget to one language and allow the AI to respond in 90+ languages simultaneously.

What happens with very short messages like 'hi' or 'ok'?

These words exist in many languages, so language detection may be uncertain. Leno AI falls back to the default language for these inputs. As the conversation continues and more text is available, detection improves and subsequent responses will switch to the correctly identified language.

Does my knowledge base need to be translated for this to work?

No. Leno AI generates answers in the visitor's language even if your entire knowledge base is written in a single language such as English. The system handles cross-lingual retrieval and response generation automatically. Adding native-language content improves quality further but is not a requirement.

Are greeting and handover messages translated automatically?

Yes. Template-based messages you have configured in Leno AI — including greetings, handover messages, and CSAT prompts — are automatically translated into the visitor's language when multi-language mode is enabled. You do not need to create separate templates for each language.

What happens if translation fails?

If translation cannot occur, Leno AI falls back to the original message in your default language so the conversation continues uninterrupted. This is a rare edge case typically caused by a temporary service interruption. If it happens consistently, contact LenoChat support and include the conversation ID.