diff --git a/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts b/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts
index ce987540eb7af..98f0c88a64c08 100644
--- a/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts
+++ b/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts
@@ -11651,9 +11651,13 @@ function prepareOnboardingOnyxData({
     let bespokeAction: OptimisticReportAction | undefined;
 
     if (shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks && companySize === CONST.ONBOARDING_COMPANY_SIZE.MICRO) {
-        bespokeWelcomeMessage = getBespokeWelcomeMessage(userReportedIntegration);
+        const bespokeMarkdown = getBespokeWelcomeMessage(userReportedIntegration);
         optimisticConciergeReportActionID = rand64();
-        bespokeAction = buildOptimisticAddCommentReportAction(bespokeWelcomeMessage, undefined, CONST.ACCOUNT_ID.CONCIERGE, 2, targetChatReportID, optimisticConciergeReportActionID);
+        bespokeAction = buildOptimisticAddCommentReportAction(bespokeMarkdown, undefined, CONST.ACCOUNT_ID.CONCIERGE, 2, targetChatReportID, optimisticConciergeReportActionID);
+        // Reuse the HTML that buildOptimisticAddCommentReportAction already parsed via getParsedComment,
+        // so we avoid calling getParsedComment a second time with the same input.
+        // The backend passes this to the LLM as HTML for AddComment, which expects HTML.
+        bespokeWelcomeMessage = bespokeAction.commentText;
     }
 
     let createWorkspaceTaskReportID;
diff --git a/tests/unit/ReportUtilsTest.ts b/tests/unit/ReportUtilsTest.ts
index 9db06b91b9169..f495936f14f24 100644
--- a/tests/unit/ReportUtilsTest.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/ReportUtilsTest.ts
@@ -569,6 +569,9 @@ describe('ReportUtils', () => {
             const reportActionsEntries = result?.optimisticData.filter((i) => i.key === `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${adminsChatReportID}`);
             expect(reportActionsEntries).toHaveLength(1);
             expect(result?.bespokeWelcomeMessage).toBeDefined();
+            // The bespoke message sent to the backend should be HTML (not raw markdown)
+            // so the server can pass it through to AddComment without formatting loss.
+            expect(result?.bespokeWelcomeMessage).toMatch(/<[^>]+>/);
             expect(result?.optimisticConciergeReportActionID).toBeDefined();
         });