Optimi AI Search – Product Search for WooCommerce

by optimi

Description

A visitor types “something to water plants with”. Your store’s own search finds nothing. Optimi AI Search shows your watering cans first. A typo like “rain jaket” still finds your rain jackets. And a Dutch visitor who types “regenjas” sees your rainwear.

Free, for good. The Free plan has no end date and needs no payment details. Paid plans add products, searches, and tools. You see every plan in the plugin before you sign up.

Safe to try. The plugin changes nothing in your theme. When Optimi can’t answer, your store’s own search answers. Visitors never see an error.

Your data, your choice. Only the text of your products goes to Optimi. Prices, stock, orders, and customers never leave your website. You choose where it is processed: the EU or Global.

Works for a WooCommerce store, and for posts and pages on any WordPress website. Several stores? Each gets its own license key, all managed in the Optimi Portal.

See it on your own products

The setup guide’s step “See the difference” shows your store’s own search beside Optimi’s. You use your own products, before you pay anything. The “Try it” tab compares again at any time.

What your visitors get

Results while typing. Product names appear with every letter. After a short pause, Optimi adds its best matches.
Your theme’s own box. The same list shows under it. Pressing Enter shows Optimi’s matches in your theme’s look.
A word only your description holds. The search reads the descriptions, not only the name.
The language of the page. With WPML or Polylang, a search goes out in the language of the page.
Popular searches. Before a visitor types, the box can show your store’s most searched words.

Measured, not promised. On our test catalogs, the right product came first in 47 of 47 searches. In a second set, 81 of 82. Unrelated products in the first ten answers went from 78% to 8%.

What you get

A setup guide. Seven steps, each ending in a check mark. You need no developer.
One sentence on Home. It says whether search works on your store.
“Check my store”. It opens your store as a visitor does and says what works. It runs once a day too.
The Optimi search box. One press places a floating button, a menu icon, or a bar. “Match my website” gives it your look.
The search log. The words searched most, and the words that found nothing. Never who searched.
Synonyms, redirects, and pinned products. “mug” also searches “cup”. “returns” opens your returns page.
Uptime. “Plan and connection” shows the share of searches Optimi answered in the last 30 days.

Free, and the paid plans

The Free plan is free, for good. Before you sign up, the plugin shows how many products and searches it includes. When Optimi offers a trial, it comes on top. After the trial, your store simply continues on the Free plan.

Paid plans add more products and searches. Depending on the plan, they also add the search log, popular searches, synonyms, redirects, and pinned products. You subscribe, buy credits, and find your invoices in the Optimi Portal. Every price there is excl. VAT. Cancel anytime: your plan runs through the end of the period.

Safe to try

Your theme stays yours. The plugin never changes the markup of your theme’s search box.
Your own search as the safety net. A results page waits at most 3 seconds for Optimi. Then your own search answers.
Easy to remove. An uninstall deletes the plugin’s data and asks Optimi to delete your catalog text.

What the plugin never does

It never shows a visitor an error or a message from Optimi.
It never sends who a visitor is: no IP address, no user, nothing about the device.
It never stores anything on a visitor’s device: no cookie, no local storage.
It never sends a draft, a private or scheduled item, or an item with a password.
It never sends a product you hid from search in WooCommerce (catalog visibility “Hidden” or “Shop only”). It takes no place in your plan.
It never sells anything. Buying happens in the Optimi Portal.
It never contacts Optimi before you choose the EU or Global in the setup guide. Opening that first page sends nothing.

Works with

WooCommerce products, and posts, pages, and your own content types when you switch them on.
WPML and Polylang. A product in three languages takes one place in your plan.
Page builders: Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, Bricks, Oxygen, and Breakdance.
Extra fields from ACF or another plugin, when you select them.
Every theme, through the block, the widget, a menu item, or the shortcode [optimi_search].

Languages

The plugin’s screens come in English, Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, included in the plugin. A regional variant reads its language: Belgian Dutch reads Dutch, Austrian German reads German, Brazilian Portuguese reads Portuguese. Each admin picks a language with the flag at the top right. Visitors see the search box’s words in the language of the page. When your website has a community translation of the plugin from translate.wordpress.org for a language, WordPress uses that one instead.

Requirements

WordPress 6.4 or later, PHP 8.1 or later, and an email address. WooCommerce for products; posts and pages work without it.

Start

Install the plugin, choose the EU or Global, and press “Start for free”. Then compare both searches on your own products.

External services

This plugin connects to Optimi AI Search, a service of Optimi (https://optimi.nl), at https://apps.optimi.nl. The search runs there. Every request carries the plugin’s name and version. Nothing is sent until you choose the EU or Global on the setup guide’s first page.

The plans: when the plugin’s pages open and the plans are over 10 minutes old. Only the plugin’s version.
The signup: when you press “Start for free” or “Sign up”. Your email address, home URL, and EU or Global choice. When Optimi knows the address, also the 6-digit code it emailed you.

Once a license key is saved, every request carries it and your home URL. Optimi also notes the IP address your server connects from.

Your content: the text of your published products, and of posts, pages, and content types you switch on. For a product: title, descriptions, categories, SKU, and the attributes, variation SKUs, and brands you choose. Also its language, a fingerprint, and a rank from sales and publish date. Sent in batches when an item is added, changed, or removed.
A search: the words a visitor typed, at most 200 characters, and the page’s language. Nothing about the visitor.
Your rules and popular searches: your synonyms, redirects, and pinned products, when you open or save them. Once a day, the popular searches per language.
The search log: when you open the Searches tab, the period you chose.
The connection check: whether the license key works, your plan, searches, credits, and the newest plugin version. When you open the plugin (at most every 10 minutes), press “Check connection”, and once a day.
Your data choice: EU or Global, once, when the service has none yet.
A ticket or a suggestion: what you typed on the Help tab, when you press “Send”.
The weekly check: how many items Optimi holds; when that differs, item numbers and fingerprints.
Disconnecting: on deactivation or when you remove the license key. Your reason and note, if you give them.
Uninstalling: a request to delete your catalog text, and a disconnect.

Optimi keeps your catalog text while your service runs. A search is kept as a hash and a vector, never as readable text. With the search log or popular searches on, the words are counted per day and language, never who searched. Those counts are deleted after 90 days. Optimi processes all of this in the EU, or with Global in the Optimi location closest to your store.

Terms and conditions: https://portal.optimi.nl/terms
Privacy statement: https://portal.optimi.nl/privacy

Installation

Install and activate the plugin. Its setup guide opens.
Choose where your store’s data is processed: the EU or Global.
The plans show. Enter your email address and press “Start for free”. Already have a license key? Open “I already have a license key” and paste it.
Follow the guide. Your products are sent, you compare both searches, and you place the search box.

Screenshots

Your search beside Optimi's. Compare both on your own products before you decide.
Products while visitors type. In the Optimi search box, styled like your store.
A typo still finds it. "rain jaket" shows your rain jackets first.
Seven steps, each with a check mark. You set it up without a developer.
One sentence on Home. It says whether search works, every day.
How searches are counted. Your own numbers, and what never counts.
What visitors can't find. Add a synonym with one press.
The search box designer. Colors, shape, and words, with a live preview.

Faq

What does it cost, and what counts as a search?

The Free plan is free, for good. The plugin shows how many products and searches it includes. One search is one answer from Optimi: a results page, or a pause while typing. Never counted: product names while typing, the same words within the hour, an answer Optimi couldn’t give, or a robot. “Plan and connection” shows your numbers.

What happens after a trial?

Your store continues on the Free plan. Your best-selling products stay in your search index, up to the Free plan’s number. The others wait for room, and your own search still finds them. Nothing you set up is deleted. The plugin shows the trial’s last day.

Will it work with my theme? Does it replace my search box?

Your theme’s box keeps working, with Optimi inside. Pressing Enter there shows Optimi’s results in your theme’s look, and the list while typing shows under it. A box with its own list is left alone. The block, widget, menu item, and shortcode [optimi_search] work on every theme.

What happens when Optimi is down, or my searches are used up?

Your store’s own search answers, and the plugin tries again by itself. Home says what happened. When your searches are used up, credits continue them, one credit a search. Without credits, your own search answers until the next period.

What is sent to Optimi, and when?

Nothing, until you choose the EU or Global. Then the plugin’s version, to show the plans. Your email address and home URL when you sign up. The text of your published content, and a visitor’s words with the page’s language. Prices, stock, orders, and customers never leave your website. “External services” in the Description lists every call.

Where is it processed, and for how long?

In the EU, or with Global in the Optimi location closest to your store. You change it in the Optimi Portal. Your catalog text is kept while your service runs. A search is kept as a hash and a vector, never as readable text. The terms and privacy links are under “External services”.

What about my visitors’ privacy?

Nothing about a visitor is sent: no IP address, no user, no cookie. Nothing is stored on their device. To stop scripts, your website counts searches per visitor for one minute. It keeps only a hash of the address, for that minute.

Does it slow down my website?

A results page waits at most 3 seconds for Optimi. Results while typing stop waiting after 8 seconds. The answer for the same words is kept for an hour. Products are sent in the background. The script and stylesheet are about 15 KB and 4 KB compressed. They load on pages with the Optimi search box. With results while typing in your theme’s box, they load on every page.

Can I switch the results while typing off?

Yes: under Settings, “Results while typing”. The results page keeps using Optimi. A developer can switch the dropdown off in code:

add_filter( 'optimi_ai_search_dropdown', '__return_false' );

Does it search posts, pages, and my own content types?

Yes, when you select them on the Search index tab. Each takes one place in your plan, like a product. A page made with a page builder is read as a visitor sees it.

Does it work with WPML or Polylang?

Yes. Every translation is sent with its language, and a search carries the language of the page. A product in several languages takes one place in your plan.

Which languages does the plugin come in?

English, Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, all included in the plugin. A regional variant reads its language, so a Belgian Dutch or Swiss German website is covered too. The screens show English until you choose another language with the flag at the top right. Each admin chooses their own. When your website has a community translation from translate.wordpress.org for a language, WordPress uses that one instead.

How do I know it works?

Home says in one sentence whether search works. “Check my store” opens your store as a visitor does. It tries the results page, both search boxes, and the results while typing. Where something fails, it says what to do. It runs once a day by itself.

How do I move my website, or add a second store?

One license key belongs to one website and one server. Deactivate the plugin on the old website, then activate it on the new one. A new server for the same website needs nothing. A second store needs its own service and license key.

What is removed when I uninstall?

Everything the plugin keeps on your website. It also asks Optimi to delete your catalog text. Your Optimi AI Search page in the Optimi Portal can permanently delete everything at once. To start again, create a new license key there.

The plugin says the license key belongs to another website, or was connected too often

Deactivate the plugin on the other website first, then activate it here. A license key connected to more than 5 websites or servers in a day is refused until the next day. Wasn’t that you? Create a new license key in the Optimi Portal.

The plugin asks me for a code, or says I already have Optimi AI Search

Optimi knows your email address, so it emails you a 6-digit code first. It works for 10 minutes. If you already have this search, paste its license key. Lost it? Create a new one on the Connection tab in the Optimi Portal.

The plugin sends me to the Optimi Portal to subscribe

This happens only while Optimi has paused free signups for new stores. Optimi has emailed you the login for the Optimi Portal. Choose a plan there and subscribe. Then create your license key there and paste it in the plugin.

Reviews

Changelog

1.13.0

Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian are included in the plugin again, so every website has them from the first day. A regional variant reads its language. A community translation from translate.wordpress.org, when your website has one, still comes first.
The language flag and “Language of the search box” list all seven languages again.

1.12.6

The plugin no longer carries its own translation files. Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian come through WordPress’s own translations, as language packs for the languages your website has installed.
The language flag and “Language of the search box” list the languages your website has. A line under each says how to add one.

1.12.5

A search from your theme’s own search box now finds products too, together with your posts and pages, in Optimi’s order. Before, a store that also sends posts or pages could show “Nothing found” there for a description or a product code.
“Check my store” now really tries a search from your theme’s box, and the connection line no longer shows an older problem after a working test search.
Popular searches switched off: the search box shows none, at once.
Products you hid from search in WooCommerce are no longer sent and take no place in your plan.
The Settings tab confirms each Save. While everything is sent again, the line at the top of the Search index tab counts along.
The plugin no longer sends your website’s address before you connect it, and a lookup shorter than your minimum number of letters never spends a search.
Signing up: one clear message when something goes wrong, and your account gets the language of the plugin’s screens. Counts of products, posts, and pages say “items”.

Older versions: changelog.txt in the plugin folder.