Can an AI agent find export buyers and contact them on WhatsApp?

The quotes below were read on 11 November 2026.

• Where the rule applies: the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy lists "The WhatsApp Business App" and "The WhatsApp Business Platform".
• Who you may contact: "You may only contact people on WhatsApp if: (a) they have given you their mobile phone number or username; and" the condition continues with opt-in. The policy also says: "You are solely responsible for determining the method of opt-in".
• Why one complaint matters: "Users can block or report businesses." Then: "Our systems may limit the amount of messages a business can send". WhatsApp also "may prohibit you and your organization from all future use of WhatsApp products and services."
• What counts as opt-in: Meta's opt-in page says opt-in "can be general and not specifically for WhatsApp, as long as businesses comply with all local laws". It also says businesses "must clearly state the business's name that a person is opting in to receive messages from." So the buyer must still have given you the number, and the opt-in must name your business. The quoted text does not name the local laws for any country.
• Messages outside a conversation (WhatsApp Business Platform): Meta's template documentation says: "Template messages are the only type of message that can be sent to WhatsApp users outside of a customer service window." The page does not state how long the window is.

Tools that say they "find buyers and reach them on WhatsApp" work in three different ways. Each row uses the vendor's own description.

Sellinger states the limit plainly on its own product page:

You can do every step below from your phone. Steps 7 and 8 apply whichever tool you use.

1. 1

   Open the chat

   Tap wa.me/12403181689. It opens a normal chat in the WhatsApp you already use. There is no other app to install.

2. 2

   Describe the product, the countries and the buyer type

   In one message, give the grade, origin, packing, target countries and the kind of buyer you sell to. Example: 1121 sella basmati from Pakistan, 25 kg bags, importers and wholesalers in the United Arab Emirates and Kenya.

3. 3

   Read the matched buyers and the reason each fits

   Each result is a named company with a short reason it fits. Reevi checks that each company has a working website. Check that the buyer type and the reason match how you sell.

4. 4

   Refine the list in plain words

   Reply with what is wrong, for example: "Remove supermarkets. Only importers that pack under their own brand." Check that the rejected companies are gone.

5. 5

   Approve the introductions

   Tell Reevi which buyers to contact. It sends each approved introduction to the buyer by email, not by WhatsApp.

6. 6

   Read the replies

   Reevi routes each reply back to you. Mark the buyers who reply with a WhatsApp number.

7. 7

   Check the company before you quote

   Reevi's Check a Lead at reevi.ai/buyer-intelligence gives a free basic report. It covers identity and ownership, sanctions and PEP (politically exposed person) screening, adverse media and risk signals. The full checklist is in the buyer verification guide.

8. 8

   Move a buyer to WhatsApp only after they agree

   Move when the buyer replies with a number and asks to continue on WhatsApp, or publishes a business WhatsApp number and invites contact. Send each message yourself from your own WhatsApp. The opt-in rule quoted above applies to every message.

For more on the structure of the first email, see the first email guide.

• Contacts: searching needs no account and shows named companies with the reason each fits. A free account keeps the list and adds verified contacts and a ready-to-send opener.
• Cost: the Free plan gives 5 buyers every month with no card, and the pricing page lists outreach as part of each buyer (company, contacts, research, outreach). Grow ($9.90 a month, 25 buyers) and Scale ($39.90 a month, 100 buyers) cost $0 for 7 days, but both need a Visa or Mastercard credit card. The page does not say how to cancel during the trial or whether each contact is a direct email address. Ask in the chat before you add a card.
• Language: the published languages are English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian. Urdu, Hindi and Arabic are not on the list, and voice messages are not mentioned. For messages to buyers, the Free plan is English only, Grow has 3 buyer languages and Scale has all buyer languages. The pricing page does not name them.
• The email: reevi.ai says Reevi sends personalized outreach to the decision-maker on your behalf and routes the reply straight back to you. It does not publish the sender address, whether you can edit the email first, or whether the reply arrives in the chat or your inbox. Ask in the chat. Then approve one buyer and see where the reply lands before you approve more.

Before you name countries in a search, look at how many companies appear as buyers of milled rice (HS 100630) in customs records for three markets. The numbers are read again each month.

• United Arab Emirates: 848 companies in mirror records. The page names Pakistan as the largest supplier by value.
• Saudi Arabia: 541 companies in mirror records. The page names India as the largest supplier by value.
• Kenya: 405 companies in Kenya's import records. The page names Pakistan as the largest supplier by value.

How to read these numbers. Mirror data counts a buyer in the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia because an exporter in another country declared a shipment to it. Shipments from exporting countries whose records are not in the data are missing. Kenya's count comes from records filed in Kenya itself. The two record types measure different things, so do not compare them as market sizes. The data provider does not state the period the records cover. The methodology page explains each field.

The pages show counts, not company names. For names, run the search in steps 2 to 4 or use a data platform from the table above. Every market for this product is on the milled rice page, and grade advice is in the rice importers guide.