Short answer: on WhatsApp, it is safest not to. Under UK advertising rules, a genuine reply to one person's own question is probably not an advert. But WhatsApp's own Business Messaging Policy bans promoting or facilitating the sale of prescription drugs, and it makes no exception for one-to-one chats. Breaking it puts your business number at risk. A price on your WhatsApp Status, in a broadcast or next to a discount is riskier still, because under UK rules that is likely to count as an advert. So the careful reply names no product, gives no price and invites the person to a consultation. Rules checked on 28 September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.
Why Botox is different: botulinum toxin, often called Botox, is a prescription-only medicine. The advertising code says it plainly in CAP Code rule 12.12: "Prescription-only medicines or prescription-only medical treatments may not be advertised to the public." The law behind it is the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Regulation 284 says a person may not publish an advertisement that is likely to lead to the use of a prescription-only medicine.
So is answering a WhatsApp an advert? The advice CAP publishes on the ASA website about private correspondence (updated 29 July 2024) says: "Bespoke correspondence sent to only one consumer in response to their specific query is also likely to be considered outside of the scope of the Code." The regulations say something similar: regulation 7(3)(c) leaves out correspondence that answers a specific question about a medicine. Note the word likely. A genuine, factual answer to one person is probably fine under UK advertising rules. It is not a free pass.
Where a message becomes an advert is mostly about where it goes. CAP's advice says standard messages sent to many people that push a purchase are likely to be in scope, and the MHRA's guidance says naming a prescription medicine on social media is likely to be an advert. We read WhatsApp Status posts, broadcast lists and marketing templates the same way. CAP's Botox FAQ adds that a price list is only potentially OK if it is not posted on social media, mailed to prospective customers or placed in paid space. And CAP says a price promotion on toxin, such as money off or a time-limited offer, is likely to break the Code, even on your own website.
Changing the word does not change the rule. CAP's enforcement notice on Botox says "anti-wrinkle injections" next to a price that relates to a prescription-only medicine will be seen as an ad for it. What it says may be acceptable is promoting the consultation itself, for example a consultation for the treatment of lines and wrinkles.
Then there is WhatsApp itself. Its Business Messaging Policy (last updated 23 September 2026) bans using WhatsApp for "buying, selling, promoting, or otherwise facilitating the exchange" of drugs, "whether prescription, recreational, or otherwise", and it also lists medical and healthcare products. It applies whatever licences you hold, it has no exception for one-to-one chats, and Meta decides what counts. That is the rule that matters most for a clinic on WhatsApp, because breaking it puts your business number at risk.
Now add automation. The rules look at what is sent and to whom, not at who typed it. A reply written for one person's question looks like correspondence. The same price sent automatically to everyone who types "price" starts to look like a standard message. We found no ASA ruling on this yet, so treat it as our reading, not settled law.
The careful reply names no product, gives no price, and invites the person in.
Here is a reply you can paste today. It names no product and gives no number: Thank you for asking. Treatments for lines and wrinkles start with a consultation, where our prescriber checks what is suitable for you and talks you through the cost. Shall I find you a consultation time this week? No wording can guarantee how Meta applies its own policy, but this keeps the product and the price out of the chat. It tends to work better for the clinic too. A bare number invites people to shop around. An invitation keeps the conversation going and gets them in front of your prescriber, which is where the decision is made anyway.
Here is how that looks with Luna by Purple Luna on a clinic's WhatsApp. Tap what the client says next.
This is how we set Luna up for aesthetics clinics. She only replies to people who messaged first, and she never posts Status updates or sends broadcasts. We set her up so she names no product and gives no price for prescription-only treatments, and offers a consultation instead. Before she books, she asks whether the person is 18 or over. If someone asks whether a treatment is right for them, she leaves that to the practitioner at the consultation. A worry after a treatment, like a reaction, is passed straight to the clinic.
Everything else is tailored to your clinic: your treatments and the prices you are happy to share, the wording of the consultation invite, your tone, your hours, what she books and what she passes to you. You check how she sounds before she goes live. The one thing we keep the same for every clinic is no price for prescription-only treatments, for the reasons above.
A note on fillers. CAP treats dermal fillers as not prescription-only, so rule 12.12 does not apply to them, though the general advertising rules still do, and WhatsApp's policy bans promoting medical and healthcare products too. And under the Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021, it is an offence in England to give Botox to anyone under 18, or to inject filler into them for a cosmetic reason, even with a parent's consent. The exception is when a doctor gives the treatment, or a nurse, dentist or pharmacist gives it on a doctor's directions.
A business can also commit an offence just by arranging the treatment, and the government's guidance for businesses says that includes confirming an appointment by phone, online or on social media. That is why Luna asks the age question before she books. A yes in a chat is not proof of age, though. The guidance says to check proof of age, like a passport or photo driving licence, before the appointment is booked and again on the day. So her question works alongside your own ID checks, not in place of them.
Five things to check on your own WhatsApp this week: your Status updates, your catalogue, your broadcast lists, your saved quick replies and your business profile text. If any of them names a prescription-only product, or uses a phrase that can only mean one, like "wrinkle relaxing injections", that is the part to change first. It does not need a price to count as an advert.
Want to see it for yourself? Try Luna as your clinic on the aesthetics clinics page and ask her the price of Botox. If it fits, Sam sets it up for you and quotes after a quick call. 14 days free, no contract. For the wider question of AI answering your WhatsApp at all, read is letting AI answer your WhatsApp even legal?