A WordPress developer initially dismissed AI integration as overkill, but building a project estimator for his WooCommerce agency changed his perspective. That simple tool, which asks natural-language questions and generates accurate estimates, became a top lead qualification mechanism, eliminating back-and-forth emails and vague ballpark figures.

The developer chose Claude AI over competitors like GPT and Gemini for its longer context windows, better instruction following for structured JSON output, and reasonable pricing around $5-20 monthly for typical use. The Claude PHP SDK offers a clean, well-documented way to integrate, installed via Composer.

The core implementation uses the SDK to create a plugin that hooks into WordPress AJAX endpoints. A key example is an intelligent estimator: a client submits a project description, budget, and timeline, and the plugin sends a carefully constructed prompt to Claude. The AI analyzes the request, breaking down components, estimating hours and costs, identifying risks, and suggesting follow-up questions, all while storing results in the database for lead tracking.