The AI Search Bar lets shoppers find products by describing what they want, in their own words. This article shows you how to turn it on, place it in your theme and choose what shoppers see. It is for store owners who want a better search on their store.
Plans: every plan and the free trial · Where: Convi admin › Widgets › AI Search Bar, and the Shopify theme editor · Who: the store owner, and team members whose role allows it · Time: about 10 minutes
Before you start: Convi's app embed must be on. See Convi's widgets don't appear on my store.
Turn on the AI Search Bar and place it
The AI Search Bar needs two things: its switch, and its block in your theme. The switch alone shows nothing to shoppers. To do both:
In the Convi admin, go to Widgets.
Turn on the AI Search Bar switch. The change is saved at once, and the card shows Not live yet with three steps.
Under Place it in your theme, select Open theme editor. The theme editor opens in a new tab, with the Convi AI Search Bar block ready to add to your header.
Move the block if you want to, then select Save in the theme editor.
Go back to the card and select Check again.
The card now shows Live. Once shoppers search, it also shows how many searches ran in the last 7 days.
Until the block is in your theme, the card lists the three steps and opens the theme editor for you.
If your theme has no section that accepts app blocks, the card says so and offers Contact us. We'll find a spot for the bar.
What do shoppers see when they search?
The AI Search Bar opens a dropdown when a shopper selects it. What the dropdown shows depends on whether the shopper has typed:
Before typing: Popular searches, which are your Suggested queries, and Popular products, up to 5 of your best sellers.
After typing at least 2 characters: the products that match, up to your Max results shown.
When a search includes something specific, such as a price, the dropdown shows it as a filter after Filtered by:. Shoppers can remove a filter with its X, and the results change.
A search for a candle under €50: the filters Convi picked up, the matching products, and the row that opens a chat.
When a shopper selects a product, its details open in a window on the same page, where they can add it to the cart. After typing, See all opens your store's own search page with the same search. Before typing, it opens all your products, best sellers first. On a phone, the search takes over the screen and shows up to 5 products.
Change the search bar's settings
The Settings section holds the bar's main options. To change them:
On the AI Search Bar card, select Manage.
In Settings, change the options you want.
Select Save. You'll see "AI Search Bar settings saved".
The table below lists the options.
Setting | What it does | At the start |
Max results shown | How many products a search shows, from 1 to 12 | 8 |
Where the search bar goes | Saves your choice of Beside your current search or On the search results page only. It doesn't move the bar (see the note below) | Beside your current search |
Let shoppers ask Convi from the search bar | Adds a row to the dropdown that opens a chat with the shopper's search | Off |
Settings: the number of results, where the bar goes, and the switch for the ask row.
Note: The Where the search bar goes setting doesn't move the bar. The bar shows where you place the Convi AI Search Bar block. To keep the bar out of your header, go to your search results page in the theme editor, and select Add block in a section that accepts app blocks.
Let shoppers ask Convi from the search bar
Let shoppers ask Convi from the search bar adds a row that passes the search to your assistant. The row reads "Ask" and your assistant's name. To turn it on, select Manage on the card, turn on the switch in Settings, and select Save. A shopper selects the row, and the chat opens with their search as the first message. The row doesn't show on every search. It shows when:
the search is long, 28 characters or more;
no product matches all the filters;
the search couldn't run.
The row needs the Bubble widget chatbot to be on. Each ask is an ordinary conversation, and it counts like any other. See What counts as a conversation?.
Change the search bar's texts
The Content section holds the words shoppers see, in your store's default language. To change them:
On the AI Search Bar card, select Manage, then select Content.
Under Texts, edit Placeholder, No results message, Popular searches heading, Popular products heading and See all link. Each one is required, up to 100 characters.
Under Suggested queries, select Add for a new example search, or the X on one to remove it.
Select Save. You'll see "AI Search Bar settings saved".
To translate these texts, select Translations, then Edit beside a language, and select Save. Shoppers see the default language wherever a translation is missing.
What the AI Search Bar doesn't do
The AI Search Bar works beside your store's other features, with some limits:
A search isn't a conversation. Searches don't count toward your plan's conversations. Only the ask row opens a conversation.
It doesn't remove your theme's search. Your theme keeps its own search box.
It stops when Convi is paused. The bar is hidden when the free trial is used up or a plan's spending limit is reached.
It has a daily limit. A store can run a limited number of searches a day. Past it, shoppers see "Search is briefly unavailable. Please try again in a moment."
It works once on a page. Place one Convi AI Search Bar block on each page.
Related
Convi's widgets don't appear on my store — what to check when the bar doesn't show.
What counts as a conversation? — how an ask from the search bar is counted.
Customize how the Bubble widget chatbot looks — the colors and style the bar shares with the chat.