Shopify Search & Discovery and AI Autocomplete: How they work together
Last checked . We make AI Autocomplete.
Short answer
Yes, AI Autocomplete works with Shopify Search & Discovery, and you can run both. Search & Discovery keeps your search results page, your filters and your product recommendations. AI Autocomplete upgrades the search box: As a shopper types, it suggests details like type, color and brand, and each detail they pick narrows the products shown in the dropdown. When they press Enter, they land on your normal Shopify search page. A price they typed, like “under $50”, arrives as a price filter, and a color arrives as your Color filter, as long as those filters are set up in Search & Discovery. You don't import anything, and you don't edit theme code.
What each one does
| Shopify Search & Discovery | AI Autocomplete | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Shopify | MagicX |
| Price | Free | The Standard plan is $30 a month after a 30-day free trial, billed through Shopify. It includes 100,000 predictions a month, then $0.0003 per prediction. A prediction is one set of suggestions shown while a shopper types. |
| What it does | Lets you customize Shopify's built-in search: Filters, product boosts, product recommendations and search analytics | Upgrades the search box and its dropdown |
| Understands a phrase like “red dress under $50” while typing | Shopify says its semantic search doesn't apply to the search dropdown (predictive search). Semantic search is only on the Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, for stores under 200,000 products | Yes. It reads the phrase and suggests the details to narrow by. “Under $50” becomes a price filter |
| Shows filter choices in the search box as people type | Not described. Shopify's help page lists products, collections, pages, blog posts and query suggestions as the dropdown's results | Yes. That is the core of the product |
| Typo tolerance | Matches one wrong letter or two swapped letters, if the first 4 letters are right. Works on product title, type, variant title and vendor | Corrects one- and two-letter typos against your product titles |
| Filters on search and collection pages | Yes: Up to 25 filters, up to 100 values shown per filter | Doesn't touch collection pages. On the search page, it uses your Search & Discovery Price and Color filters |
| Product recommendations | Yes | No |
| Boosts and merchandising | Product boosts, up to 10 search terms per boost | No |
| Search analytics | Last 30 days. The search dropdown is not included | No dashboard for merchants yet |
| Languages | 20 languages on its listing | English |
| Setup | Search works with no setup. Filters, boosts and recommendations are set up in the app | Install, sync your catalog, start the trial, switch on one toggle in the theme editor |
Why you can run both
- They do different jobs. Search & Discovery shapes your results and filters. AI Autocomplete shapes what happens while the shopper is still typing.
- Enter still goes to Shopify. When a shopper presses Enter, AI Autocomplete sends them to your store's own search page. Whatever Search & Discovery applies to that page keeps applying.
- Your filters get used. If you set up a Color filter in Search & Discovery, a shopper who types “yellow dress” lands on results filtered to yellow, once AI Autocomplete recognises the color and your filter has that value. A typed price like “under $50” becomes your Price filter.
- Nothing to import. AI Autocomplete reads your products straight from Shopify. From Search & Discovery it reads only the list of filters your store shows shoppers, so it can match a typed color to your Color filter. It doesn't copy or change any Search & Discovery settings.
What changes when you add AI Autocomplete
Know these before you install:
- The search dropdown becomes ours. It shows suggestions and matching products. It no longer shows the collections, pages, blog posts or query suggestions that Shopify's dropdown can show.
- Search & Discovery settings shape your results page, not our dropdown. Inside the dropdown, AI Autocomplete uses its own understanding of your catalog.
- Details other than price and color travel as search words. A type or brand a shopper picks narrows our dropdown, and goes to your search page as part of the search text, not as a filter.
- English only for now.
- Optional: You can also show AI Autocomplete's own results on the search page. This is off by default. If it finds nothing, your theme's results show as usual.
Search & Discovery complaints we help with, and ones we don't
We read the 1, 2 and 3 star reviews of Search & Discovery on the Shopify App Store. Here is how the common complaints line up.
Where AI Autocomplete helps
- A search for a yellow dress shows every dress, in every color. AI Autocomplete turns a typed color and price into filters on your search page, as long as your store has those filters set up.
- Search shows far too many unrelated products. Our dropdown helps shoppers narrow a search to a type, color or brand before they press Enter. Your results list itself still comes from Shopify by default.
- Setting up filters is rigid. Shoppers pick details in the dropdown just by typing, with nothing to set up first. Your search page's filter panel is still Search & Discovery's.
Where it doesn't help (keep using Search & Discovery, or another app)
- Product recommendations that reset, or that must be set one product at a time. We don't touch product pages.
- The cap of 25 filters and 100 values per filter, and no filters on collections over 5,000 products. Your search and collection pages still use Search & Discovery's filters, so the same limits apply.
- Making “in stock” the default on size filters. That is a filter setting we don't change.
- Slow or buggy Search & Discovery settings pages. Not something we can fix.
- Filter names in other languages. We are English only.
How to add AI Autocomplete (a few minutes, no code)
- Install AI Autocomplete from the Shopify App Store.
- Connect your catalog. We sync your products from Shopify. Nothing to import from Search & Discovery.
- Start the trial. 30-day free trial. Billed through Shopify.
- Click “Activate in theme editor”. Switch on the AI Autocomplete app embed and click Save.
- Type a sentence into your store's search box to see it work.
To undo it, switch the app embed off, or cancel from your Shopify admin. Your theme's own search box comes back. Theme app extensions don't edit your theme's code, and your Search & Discovery settings are untouched.
See it on a live store
Try the search box on Zorali, Oragift, Varanga or Gayathri Sarees. All four run the AI Autocomplete app embed on their Shopify stores. You can also try Solene (showcase), our own demo store.
About AI Autocomplete
AI Autocomplete is a Shopify app by MagicX that upgrades your store's search box. Shoppers filter by typing, so they find the right product faster. Stores can see up to 30% more sales from search.
30-day free trial. Billed through Shopify.
How we compared: Last checked October 12, 2026. We read Shopify's Help Center pages on search, predictive search, filters and search analytics, the Search & Discovery App Store listing and its 1, 2 and 3 star reviews, and our own app's code and settings. Features change, so check Shopify's Help Center before you decide. If something here is out of date, and we'll fix it.
Disclosure: We make AI Autocomplete. Search & Discovery is made by Shopify. We use its name only to explain how the two apps work together. This page is not endorsed by Shopify.
FAQ
Does AI Autocomplete work with Shopify Search & Discovery?
Yes. AI Autocomplete upgrades the search box and its dropdown. Search & Discovery keeps running your search results page, filters, boosts and product recommendations. When a shopper presses Enter, they go to your normal Shopify search page.
Do I need to uninstall Search & Discovery or import anything?
No. Keep Search & Discovery installed. AI Autocomplete reads your products straight from Shopify, so there is nothing to import or move over.
Will my Search & Discovery filters and boosts still work?
Yes, on your search results page and collection pages. AI Autocomplete doesn't change those pages unless you turn on its optional search page results. Search & Discovery settings don't apply inside the AI Autocomplete dropdown, which uses its own understanding of your catalog. If you set up Price and Color filters, a price or color a shopper types becomes that filter on the results page.
What does AI Autocomplete cost compared with Search & Discovery?
Search & Discovery is free. AI Autocomplete pricing: The Standard plan is $30 a month after a 30-day free trial, billed through Shopify. It includes 100,000 predictions a month, then $0.0003 per prediction. A prediction is one set of suggestions shown while a shopper types.
Will AI Autocomplete change my theme?
No theme code is edited. You switch on an app embed in the theme editor. Switch it off and your theme's own search box comes back.
Does it work with my theme?
AI Autocomplete finds your theme's search box on its own. If it can't, you can point it at the right box in the app embed's settings, with no code changes to your theme. Custom (headless) storefronts can use our SDK or API instead.