AI Checkout Upgrades Make GHL Payments More Flexible

AI checkout now gives you more control over the information buyers enter before they pay. Instead of using the same fixed checkout setup for every offer, you can decide which fields are visible, which are required, and which can stay hidden.

You can now control the phone number field along with each billing address field. That includes street, city, state, ZIP code, and country. Name and email are still required, so every checkout keeps the basic contact information needed to identify the buyer.

This makes it easier to build a checkout that matches the offer. If you’re selling something simple and don’t need a full billing address, you can remove those extra fields. If phone follow-up is important, you can make the phone number required.

You can make these changes through AI Studio using a simple prompt. For example, you could ask, “Make phone required and hide the billing address.” AI Studio can then adjust the checkout based on that request.

The update also works well with the new two-step checkout option. You can collect the lead information first, then move the buyer to payment. This gives you more flexibility without forcing every checkout to follow the same structure.

For agencies, this means you can create cleaner AI checkout experiences for different clients, offers, and campaigns without rebuilding the payment flow from scratch.

AI checkout becomes a lot more useful when it can capture a lead before asking for payment. That’s exactly what the new two-step checkout does.

In Step 1, the buyer enters their contact details. GHL saves that person as a CRM contact right away. In Step 2, the buyer moves on to complete the payment.

That matters because not every buyer finishes checkout. People get distracted, change their mind, or leave before entering payment details. Before this kind of setup, that traffic could disappear without giving you much to work with.

Now, if someone starts the process and drops off before paying, you can still have their contact information inside GHL. That opens the door for follow-up, lead nurturing, reminder campaigns, and abandoned checkout recovery.

For agencies, this can be a big improvement. You’re not just optimizing the payment step. You’re creating another lead capture point inside the sales process.

The two-step AI checkout also works in a way that feels familiar if you’ve used the Two Step Order form in Funnels. The difference is that AI Studio can now build this type of flow directly into the checkout experience.

One important detail: new leads created at Step 1 fire the Contact Created trigger. They do not fire the Order Form Submission trigger at that point. That means your workflows need to listen for the right event, or your follow-up could miss those new leads.

You can add the new AI checkout options to an existing AI Studio project by telling AI Studio exactly how you want the checkout to work. You can control the checkout fields, split lead capture and payment into two steps, and choose what buyers see after they complete their purchase.

This walkthrough uses an existing AI Studio project that already has Payments connected. You will first open the project, then use individual prompts to update the checkout. After that, you will test the checkout and check the workflow trigger used for leads captured before payment.

Here are the steps you will follow:

• Access the AI Studio page in GoHighLevel
• Open your existing AI Studio Payment project
• Customize the AI checkout fields
• Create the two-step AI checkout
• Set the post-payment experience
• Test the updated AI checkout
• Check the Contact Created workflow trigger

AI Studio is currently a Labs feature. If you do not see AI Studio in your sub-account’s Main Menu, make sure AI Studio is enabled for that sub-account before continuing.

To start make sure you are logged in to your GoHighLevel sub-account.

The Main Menu on the left side of your screen has all the main areas that you work in when using GHL.

1.1 Click AI Studio in the Main Menu.

• This opens the AI Studio page.
• From here you can create a new project or access projects you have already created.
• You may also see areas such as Recently Viewed, My Projects, Starred and Templates.

The AI Studio page displays the projects available in your sub-account. For this update, use a project that is already using Payments.

2.1 Locate the AI Studio project with the checkout you want to update.

• Use your existing project rather than creating a new one for this walkthrough.

2.2 Click the project to open it.

• The AI Studio Builder opens.
• You will see your project preview along with the prompt area used to make changes to the project.

You can now tell AI Studio exactly which customer details you want collected during checkout.

3.1 Click inside the prompt area.

• This is where you tell AI Studio what you want changed in your project.

3.2 Enter a prompt describing the checkout fields you want to show, hide or require.

• For example: “Make phone required and hide the billing address.”
• You can show, hide or require the phone number.
• You can also control the street, city, state, ZIP code and country billing address fields.
• Name and email remain required.

3.3 Submit the prompt.

• AI Studio updates the checkout based on your instructions.
• Review the updated checkout in the project preview before moving on.

The two-step checkout collects the buyer’s contact information before asking them to complete payment. This means a buyer can still become a CRM contact even if they leave before paying.

4.1 Click inside the prompt area.

4.2 Enter:

“Make it a two-step checkout”

4.3 Submit the prompt.

• AI Studio changes the checkout into a two-step process.
• Step 1 collects the buyer’s contact information and saves a new buyer as a CRM contact.
• Step 2 collects the payment.

4.4 Review both steps in the project preview.

• Make sure the contact information appears before the payment step.
• Check that the checkout flow makes sense before testing it with a buyer.

You can use the updated confirmation screen after payment or send the buyer to your own thank-you page.

5.1 Review how you want buyers to finish the checkout.

• The standard confirmation can show the order ID, purchased items, taxes and total paid.
• Subscription purchases can also show the next charge.

5.2 To send buyers to your own thank-you page, click inside the prompt area and enter:

“Send buyers to my own thank-you page after payment”

5.3 Submit the prompt.

• AI Studio updates the post-payment experience based on your request.

Before you send real traffic to the checkout, go through the complete process yourself.

6.1 Open the updated checkout in the available project preview.

6.2 Complete Step 1 using a new test contact.

• Use contact details that are not already stored in the sub-account so you can properly test new contact creation.

6.3 Continue to Step 2 and review the payment portion of the checkout.

6.4 Complete a suitable test purchase if your setup allows it.

• Check that the correct products, taxes and total appear.
• For a subscription, check that the next charge information appears correctly.

6.5 Review the confirmation or custom thank-you page.

• Make sure the buyer reaches the correct destination after payment.

The two-step checkout changes an important part of lead follow-up. When Step 1 creates a new CRM contact, the trigger is Contact Created, not Order Form Submission.

7.1 Click Automation in the Main Menu.

• This opens the Automation area where you can access your workflows.

7.2 Click Workflows if the Workflow List page is not already showing.

• The Workflow List page contains the workflows in your sub-account.

8.1 Locate the workflow you use to follow up with new checkout leads.

8.2 Click the workflow to open it.

• The Workflow Builder opens so you can review its trigger and actions.

9.1 Review the workflow trigger at the top of the Workflow Builder.

9.2 Make sure Contact Created is being used where you want to follow up with new contacts captured during Step 1 of the two-step checkout.

• Do not rely only on Order Form Submission to identify these new leads.
• A buyer can complete the contact step and leave before completing payment.

9.3 Save or publish your workflow if you make any changes.

• Run another test with a new contact to make sure the workflow starts as expected.

AI checkout works best when you keep the buying process simple and make every field earn its place. Just because you can collect more information doesn’t mean you should.

Only require the phone number if you actually plan to use it. If your follow-up strategy includes SMS, calls, or appointment reminders, collecting it can make sense. If not, leaving it optional may create a smoother checkout.

The same applies to billing address fields. If your offer doesn’t need a full address, hide the fields you don’t need. Fewer boxes usually means less friction for the buyer.

The two-step checkout is where this update gets really useful. Because the buyer becomes a CRM contact before payment, you can build follow-up around people who start the checkout but never finish it.

Make sure those workflows use the right trigger. For new contacts created in Step 1, check for the Contact Created trigger instead of relying only on Order Form Submission.

Test everything with a brand-new contact before sending traffic. Check the contact record, workflow activity, checkout fields, payment step, order confirmation, and custom thank-you page if you use one.

Finally, keep the checkout matched to the offer. A simple digital product may only need a few fields. A higher-value service may need a phone number and more follow-up data. Build the AI checkout around what helps the sale, not around collecting information just because it’s available.

AI checkout gives you more than a cleaner payment page. It gives you another way to capture leads, recover missed sales, and make the buying process easier.

Here’s a simple example. A prospect starts your checkout, enters their name and email, then leaves before paying. With the two-step checkout, that person can still be saved as a contact in GHL.

That means you can follow up instead of losing the opportunity completely. You could send a reminder, start a lead nurturing workflow, notify a sales rep, or move the contact into another part of your sales process.

The flexible checkout fields also help you reduce friction. If you don’t need a full billing address, you can hide those fields. If phone follow-up is important, you can require the phone number instead.

For agencies, this makes it easier to build checkout flows that fit different client offers. A digital product, service package, consultation, or subscription does not need to use the exact same AI checkout setup.

The improved order details also give buyers more confidence after payment. They can clearly see what they bought, what they paid, and when the next charge is due for a subscription.

Put it all together and you get a better balance between conversion and lead capture. You’re asking buyers for the information you actually need while giving your team more chances to follow up when a sale does not happen the first time.

AI checkout is now much more flexible inside GoHighLevel. You can control which fields buyers see, collect leads before payment, and give customers a clearer confirmation after the sale.

The biggest win is the two-step checkout. It gives you a chance to capture the contact before payment is complete, which can make follow-up and abandoned checkout recovery much more useful.

You also have better control over the buying experience. Hide unnecessary billing fields, require a phone number when it matters, and use a custom thank-you page when you want more control after payment.

Just make sure your workflows are ready for the change. New leads captured in Step 1 use the Contact Created trigger, so review your automation before sending traffic.

If you already have an AI Studio project using Payments, this is a good update to test right away. Start with one checkout, simplify the fields, test the two-step flow, and confirm your follow-up works from start to finish.

Have you tried the new AI checkout options yet? Test them in one of your existing GHL projects and see where you can reduce friction and capture more leads.