AI Semantic Search

Enable AI Semantic Search for WooCommerce to help customers find products by intent and meaning, using AI-powered vector search combined with classic keyword matching.

Installation

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  1. Download the AI Semantic Search for WooCommerce.zip file from your WooCommerce account.
  2. Go to WordPress Admin > Plugins > Upload Plugin and choose the plugin .zip file.
  3. Then install and activate the plugin.

Configurations

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Within the WordPress admin panel, go to WooCommerce > Settings and click on AI Semantic Search. Here you will find the following settings.

General & API Settings

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Click on the General & API tab to configure the core AI search engine and connect your OpenAI account:

  • Enable AI Semantic Search: Checkbox to turn the semantic vector search engine on or off globally.
  • Search Mode: Choose Semantic (AI Only) for neural embedding-based matching, Keyword (Classic) for exact word matching, or Hybrid (Best) to combine both.
  • Search Behavior: Select Instant Results to show results as the customer types, or On Submit Only to wait until the search is submitted.
  • OpenAI API Key: Enter your OpenAI API key, required for generating product vectors.
  • Test OpenAI Connection: Button to verify your API key is working correctly.
  • Embedding Model: Choose Small (Fast) for lightweight, cost-effective embeddings, or Large (Precise) for maximum semantic accuracy.
General & API Settings

Search Logic & Data Coverage Settings

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Click on the Search Logic & Data Coverage tab to control which product data is indexed and how it’s weighted:

  • Search in Title: Checkbox to include product title text in search embedding calculation.
  • Search in SKU: Checkbox to include SKUs for exact product matching by code.
  • Search in Long Description: Checkbox to include long descriptions for deeper semantic context.
  • Search in Short Description: Checkbox to include the product short excerpt in indexing.
  • Search in Categories: Checkbox to include product categories as semantic context.
  • Search in Tags: Checkbox to include product tags for keyword and semantic associations.
  • Search in Price: Checkbox to include pricing text so customers can search by cheap or exact price bounds.
  • Search in Attributes: Checkbox to include custom attributes like colors or sizes.
  • Product Variations: Choose Merge with Parent to hide variations and match the main product, or Separate Results to show each variation as its own result.
Search Logic Settings
  • Title Importance (Weight): Set the multiplier for title relevance in hybrid search comparisons.
  • Description Importance: Set the multiplier for long description relevance.
  • Attributes Importance: Set the multiplier for attributes indexing influence.
  • Tags Importance: Set the multiplier for tags keyword influence.
  • Enable Fuzzy Matching (Keyword): Checkbox to automatically correct typos using fuzzy string matching on the keyword side.
  • Enable Keyword Fallback: Checkbox to fall back exclusively to classic keyword search if the AI is down or fails.
  • Enable Search Query Cache: Checkbox to reuse stored search results for identical queries, expiring after one week.

Note: After switching Product Variations modes, run Clear Indexed Data + Reindex All so results fully match the selected mode.

Data Coverage Settings

Indexing & Performance Settings

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Click on the Indexing & Performance tab to manage how and when products are indexed:

  • Auto-Index on Product Save: Checkbox to synchronize products dynamically whenever they are saved or updated.
  • Enable Background Indexing: Checkbox to move the indexing process into the background via WP-Cron.
  • Indexing Interval: Set how frequently the background worker sweeps for missing products.
  • Indexing Batch Size: Set the number of products pushed to OpenAI simultaneously to prevent timeouts.
  • Retry Failed Indexing Attempts: Checkbox to automatically retry items that experienced API failures.
  • Limit Products Processed Per Search: Set a safety cap on the maximum rows parsed per single cron sweep or query.
  • Reindex All Products: Button to manually rebuild the search index for all products.
  • Clear All Indexed Data: Button to delete all semantic embeddings from the database.
  • Indexing History & Cron Logs: View a log of indexing runs, including time, method, items, details, duration, and status. Download the full log or clear the history as needed.
Indexing & Performance Settings

Voice Search Settings

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Click on the Voice Search tab to enable and configure voice-based search:

  • Enable Voice Search: Checkbox to enable the voice microphone input icon on the search box.
  • Recognition Language: Enter the browser language code for speech recognition, e.g., en-US or fr-FR.
  • Show Spoken Text Live: Checkbox to render words dynamically in the search bar as the customer speaks.
  • Auto-Trigger After Speech: Checkbox to submit the search automatically immediately after speech pauses.
Voice Search Settings

Frontend & Display Settings

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Click on the Frontend & Display tab to customize how the search box appears and behaves on your store:

  • Search Widget Shortcode: Copy and paste the [ai_semantic_search] shortcode anywhere to place the search box.
  • Main Color (Buttons/Active): Set the primary theme color of buttons, the voice circle, and highlights.
  • Accent Color (Price/Icons): Set the secondary contrast color used for price points or tags.
  • Text Color: Set the default text tone used for title matching results.
  • Search Display Mode: Choose Standard Inline for a traditional embedded search box, or Popup Overlay (Modern) for a full-screen search experience with glassmorphism and animations.
  • Trigger Button Style: Choose Search Pill for a professional bar with icon and text, or Minimal Circle for a clean, space-saving circular icon.
  • Sticky Floating Trigger: Pin a floating universal search button to the Bottom Left or Bottom Right of the screen.
Search Widget Settings
  • Max Results Per Search: Cap the UI dropdown limit for suggested products.
  • Search Input Placeholder: Set the empty text prompt shown before typing.
  • Show Product Titles: Checkbox to render the product title inside the dropdown list.
  • Show Product Images: Checkbox to include product thumbnails in the search results.
  • Show Prices: Checkbox to display the active selling price for each product.
  • Show Description Snippet: Checkbox to extract a short context snippet of why a product matched.
  • Show Add to Cart Button: Checkbox to provide an inline add to cart option right inside the search UI.
  • “No Results” Message: Set the substitute message displayed when zero products match.
  • Result Click Behavior: Choose Go to Product Page for standard WooCommerce behavior, or Add to Cart Direct for AJAX add to cart from the result.
Search Display Settings
  • Display Icons on Default Search Bars: Checkbox to inject the plugin’s search features seamlessly onto standard structural WooCommerce bars.
  • Border Style: Choose Modern Rounded for smooth, organic corners, or Professional Sharp for clean, 90-degree corners.
  • Button Text: Set the label shown on the manual search trigger.
  • Display on Selected Pages: Restrict plugin frontend injection to specific pages. Leave blank to load globally.
Search Icon Settings

Security & Analytics Settings

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Click on the Security & Analytics tab to protect your store and manage OpenAI usage:

  • Rate Limit (Requests/Minute): Throttle searches per IP address to prevent OpenAI API abuse.
  • Min Query Length: Set the minimum typed characters required before firing AJAX triggers.
  • Max Query Length: Set the upper bound character limit for user text to clip massive inputs.
  • Block Empty Searches: Checkbox to prevent the search from submitting exactly empty strings to OpenAI.
  • Enable Search Logging: Checkbox to record search queries for analytics.
  • Enable Advanced Debug Mode: Developer option to bypass caches and verbosely output JSON states.
  • Log OpenAI Interactions: Developer option to capture raw embeddings packets for diagnosis.
  • Log AJAX Traffic: Developer option to log incoming nonced AJAX request payload headers.
  • Track Product Clicks: Developer option to measure interaction metrics for ranking tuning.
Security & Analytics Settings

Search Analytics

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Click on the Search Analytics tab to view store search performance:

  • Total Searches: Displays the total number of searches performed on your store.
  • Top Search Terms: View the most frequently searched queries, along with frequency and average results. Filter, select, and delete terms as needed.
  • Recent Search History: View a chronological log of search queries, including time and result count. Filter, select, and delete history entries as needed.
  • Clear All Analytics Logs: Button to remove all recorded search analytics data.
Search Analytics

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