Milly AI Search — turn your search box into a shopping assistant
A live results grid alongside an AI chat that recommends real products, even when the shopper's wording doesn't match a title or tag.
- Instant results plus an AI helper, side by side
- Only suggests products you actually sell
- Learns your shipping & return policies once
- You choose which products it pushes most
- Handles typos and speaks your customers' language
How do shoppers see Milly on my storefront?
Enable the "Milly - App switch" app embed from your theme editor (Theme editor → App embeds). Once on, clicking your theme's search icon opens the Milly popup instead of the theme's native search.
What does the AI chat actually use to answer questions?
Two sources: the live product search results for the shopper's query, and a broader catalog index we keep in sync with your store (title, tags, description, variant options, and metafields). The AI only ever recommends real products from those two sources — it doesn't invent products.
Why does the catalog index need reindexing?
New products, price changes, and inventory updates sync automatically via webhooks. A full reindex (Catalog index page → "Reindex now") is worth running after bulk changes (e.g. a CSV import) or if you want to be sure everything is fully up to date.
Can I control the AI's tone or name?
Yes — in Settings, under "Assistant identity", you can set the assistant's name, avatar, and tone (friendly/professional/playful/concise). Welcome/intro message wording itself now lives on the Translations page, one set per storefront language.
Can I pin specific products or collections for the AI to recommend?
Yes — the "AI suggestions" card on the Suggestions page lets you pin featured products and promoted collections, each with an optional note (e.g. "20% off this week"). The AI is instructed to strongly prefer recommending these when relevant.
Can I show clickable search-term pills before the shopper types anything?
Yes — the "Search suggestions" card on the Suggestions page lets you add your own one-word/short-phrase pills, or promote an actual top search straight from your store's own search history.
What's the "Show suggested search terms while typing" option?
A separate dropdown of phrase suggestions (e.g. "jeans for men") shown under the search input as the shopper types, before they press Enter — powered by Shopify's own predictive search plus a catalog-title fallback. Off by default; toggle it on the Suggestions page.
What do synonyms do, and how are they different from the AI's own wording handling?
Synonyms (Suggestions page → "Synonyms") make the plain results-grid search treat different words as equivalent — e.g. "kids" also matching "детска", or "trainers" also matching "sneakers". The AI chat side doesn't need this since it already expands the shopper's wording on its own.
Does Milly show sale/discounted pricing?
Yes — when a product has a compare-at price set, both the results panel and the AI chat's product cards show the discounted price with the original struck through, and the AI is told to mention deals when relevant.
What content types can the results panel search besides products?
Collections, pages, and articles are all optional — enable them in Settings → "Shopify native search". If you turn every type off, the results column hides entirely and the popup becomes a chat-only assistant.
Can I block certain search terms or messages?
Yes — Settings → "Content moderation" lets you list forbidden words/phrases and a custom message shown instead. Separately (and not configurable), rapid-fire requests and keyboard-mashing/gibberish queries are automatically throttled.
My theme isn't detecting the search trigger — what do I do?
Milly intercepts common search triggers (search icon/link, predictive-search inputs) used by Dawn and Dawn-derived themes. If your theme uses a different trigger, add its CSS selector in Settings → "Search trigger".
What languages does Milly support?
The Translations page lets you maintain a full set of shopper-facing strings (labels, buttons, empty states, nudges) per storefront language — Milly automatically shows the right set based on the shopper's active language.
Where do I see how Milly is performing?
The Analytics page breaks down searches, AI chat vs. results-grid product clicks, add-to-carts, and orders/revenue influenced by each surface, with a date-range picker. The homepage also shows a quick "Today" snapshot.