Ask AI (AI-Powered Answer Summaries)

What is Ask AI?

Ask AI generates a natural language answer summary at the top of your search results page. When a shopper types a question or descriptive query, the AI reads the matching products and produces a concise, conversational response that highlights the most relevant options, key attributes, and useful context before the standard product grid appears.

This gives shoppers immediate, high-confidence answers without having to scan through individual product cards, and it works especially well for informational queries, category comparisons, and “best for” searches.

How to Enable Ask AI

1. Log in to your ExpertRec control panel.
2. Navigate to AI > Ask AI.
3. Toggle Ask AI on.
4. Save your settings. The feature is active immediately for subsequent queries on your storefront.

Note: Ask AI requires an active AI Features plan. Contact support if the menu item is not visible in your panel.

Configuration Options

• Summary position: Display the AI answer above the product grid (recommended) or in a side panel.
• Trigger conditions: Choose whether Ask AI activates on all queries, only question-style queries (those containing words like “what”, “which”, “best”, “how”), or a custom query-length threshold.
• Max summary length: Set a character or sentence limit to keep answers concise and on-brand.
• Fallback behavior: Configure what appears when the AI cannot generate a confident answer, for example a default “Here are our matching products” header.

When to Use Ask AI

• Product discovery queries: “What running shoes are good for flat feet?” or “Which protein powder is best for weight loss?”
• Category comparison queries: “What is the difference between a duvet and a comforter?”
• Specification lookups: Shoppers asking about compatibility, materials, sizing, or technical specs.
• FAQ-style questions: Common pre-purchase questions that you would otherwise handle through live chat or a separate FAQ page.

Best Practices

• Keep product data rich: Ask AI draws on your product titles, descriptions, and attributes. The more detail you include in each product record, the more accurate and useful the generated summaries will be.
• Review sample answers regularly: Use the AI > Ask AI preview panel to test common queries and confirm the summaries are accurate and helpful before enabling for all visitors.
• Combine with Semantic Search: Ask AI and Semantic Search are complementary. Semantic Search finds the right products; Ask AI explains them. Enabling both delivers the most complete AI-powered results experience.
• Monitor zero-result rates: If Ask AI triggers on very short or ambiguous queries, adjust the trigger conditions to reduce irrelevant summaries and keep the feature focused on genuinely informational searches.