Today, chatbots are a hot topic of numerous scientific studies and a promising direction for the near future. With the invention of chatbots, which are an important area in the field of artificial intelligence and natural language processing, organizations have become more involved in performing communication-oriented work without any human intervention. Chatbots build relationships, answer questions and promote better understanding among employees of the organization, taking into account relevant issues, influence the decision-making process in the organization. Chatbots are embedded everywhere on websites, in various instant messaging chats, or on other forms of communication platforms. The current state and preconditions of demand for chatbots are considered in the work. The relevance of the use of chatbots for human interaction and the virtual environment is substantiated. The spheres of application of chatbots are considered, it is substantiated that chatbots are one of the most perspective directions of web interaction with users. This is due, firstly, to the active use of messengers, and secondly, the development of artificial intelligence technologies. In the long run, chatbots will help minimize many routine processes but are not an alternative to humans. A chatbot is a specific virtual interlocutor that can perform a variety of functions, depending on the scope. There are different types of chatbots and different visions of how to classify them. The study analyzes the scientific works of foreign and domestic researchers, which offers different approaches to the classification of chatbots. The detailed multifactor classification of chatbots for a clear understanding of essence, approaches to creation, advantages, and disadvantages of chatbots according to this or that attributes is formed in the work. Research and analysis of the features of modern chatbots allowed to divide chatbot programs into seven criteria: purpose; location; type of interface; the number of users; a form of access; algorithm; functional. Each of these categories is divided into groups and subgroups on different grounds. Possible examples of chatbots of the corresponding categories are given.