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The AI Optimizer – Intelligent search optimization that makes your store smarter

What is the AI Optimizer and how can it help your online store?

The AI Optimizer is a feature of Smart Search that determines whether a customer stays or leaves. Imagine this: A customer visits your online store and searches for “scarves,” but your product catalog only recognizes the term “neck warmer.” The result? No relevant results, no clicks, no purchases. It’s precisely these kinds of gaps that often go unnoticed in day-to-day business—not because they don’t matter, but because manual analysis is simply too time-consuming.

The AI Optimizer automatically fills these gaps. It analyzes your store customers’ search queries on a daily basis, identifies where terms don’t match, and suggests appropriate synonyms and variations that lead to better search results. You can find specific suggestions for improvement right in your Control Desk, Epoq’s digital control interface. This way, your search function continuously improves without you having to spend hours analyzing data.

The result: Relevant results lead to more clicks, fewer bounce rates, and faster purchases. Customers find what they're looking for—and buy it. Your store benefits directly.

With or without the AI Optimizer—the difference is clear

Without AI Optimizer With AI Optimizer
Search terms without clicks go unnoticed; you don't know why customers are leaving without buying anything ✓ Search terms with no clicks are automatically identified every day, and you immediately receive specific suggestions for improvement
Synonyms and alternative terms must be researched and maintained manually, which is time-consuming ✓ The AI automatically identifies appropriate synonyms and corrections, which are immediately available for use
Opportunities for optimization get lost in the day-to-day grind, while search efforts stagnate and lose relevance ✓ Search performance improves every day without requiring any additional manual effort from your team

Did you know that…

70%

All e-commerce search systems fail when customers use a different name for an item than the store does (Source: Baymard Institute, 2024)

69%

All online shoppers go to the search bar first—and leave if they can’t find what they’re looking for (Source: Baymard Institute, 2024)

41%

Most online stores are unable to accurately answer their customers' most common search queries (Source: Baymard Institute, 2024)

The AI features of the AI Optimizer

AI Synonyms

The system automatically identifies relevant synonyms for search terms. The AI Optimizer determines which terms effectively expand the search results to include relevant products, thereby significantly reducing the amount of manual work required.

AI Typos

Search terms are checked for typos and spelling errors after they are entered. Future search queries are automatically corrected, so all optimizations are based on the correctly spelled term.

The benefits of using the AI Optimizer

Daily Analysis

The AI Optimizer analyzes the most relevant search terms on a daily basis and automatically identifies opportunities for optimization.

Less manual work

Specific suggestions appear directly in Control Desk; all you have to do is decide whether to accept, reject, or modify them.

Continuous improvement

Search quality is constantly improving; the more suggestions are implemented, the more relevant the search results become for your customers,

What Ex Libris says:

“Personally, I think it’s a really useful feature because it also offers suggestions that you wouldn’t necessarily optimize in a recurring analysis, but which are still valuable and reveal additional potential.”

Tiziana Belmonte | E-Commerce Project Manager | Ex Libris

Here's how the AI Optimizer improves search functionality in your store

Search term is recognized

Every day, the AI Optimizer identifies search terms that return results but do not generate clicks—for example, because the product name in the store is different.

1

AI analyzes & suggests

Large language models (LLMs) automatically check whether appropriate synonyms or expansions would meaningfully improve the set of results.

2

It's up to you

In the Control Desk, you can view all suggestions and accept, reject, or edit them individually.

3

Active immediately

Accepted suggestions are added directly as thesaurus entries and are immediately available for searching.

4

Real-world example: "scarves" yields results but no clicks

Here’s a typical scenario: Users search for “scarves,” but your product catalog only recognizes the term “neck warmer.” The AI Optimizer detects this gap, suggests the thesaurus entry, and automatically validates the newly added products. All you have to do is confirm the suggestion.

AI Optimizer detail view with the thesaurus suggestion "neckwarmer" for the search term "scarf," including a comparison of the number of results, an AI Compare explanation, and a product preview.

Ready for smart search optimization?

Get to know the AI Optimizer in a personalized demo and see for yourself how much time and effort you can save.

Schedule your web demo

FAQs about the AI Optimizer

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