The article provides a summary of our research on designing a conversational interface for the Admissions Committee of St. Petersburg State University, with a focus on reflecting the university’s values and brand. The primary aim was to go beyond simple text-based responses and useful links, and instead, employ a virtual assistant persona embodying Peter the Great to resonate with the modern youth audience and align with the university’s historical legacy. To ensure linguistic authenticity, a comprehensive study of Peter the Great’s personal correspondence and relevant pedagogical texts of the early eighteenth century was conducted. Based on these sources, a collection of expressions was curated as a preliminary version of the chatbot’s responses. Subsequently, testing was conducted among a group of students to gauge the understandability of the language. Furthermore, a series of studies were carried out to balance the stylistic elements with the requirements of usability. The CAILA platform was used to develop “The Botik of Peter the Great” chatbot, employing language that captures the essence of the Peter the Great era while maintaining an engaging, informative, and user-friendly approach. The chatbot was launched as a widget on the Admissions Committee’s website and made available on the Telegram messenger platform.