Default WordPress search only matches keywords. If the words a visitor types\ndon't literally appear in a post, they get \"nothing found\", even when your site\nhas exactly the right page.<\/p>\n\n
SmartMatch Search looks at what the visitor means instead. It puts the best\nmatching page at the top of the normal search results, marked as the best\nmatch. Visitors can search the way they talk:<\/p>\n\n
It also leaves out results that only share a word with the query: a post\nisn't suggested just because the search term shows up in it somewhere.<\/p>\n\n
The normal search results stay where they are. SmartMatch Search only adds a\nsuggestion above them. If nothing relevant is found, or the AI is unavailable,\nvisitors see the normal results as before. When the normal search finds\nnothing, the suggestion becomes the result, so visitors don't hit an empty\npage.<\/p>\n\n
It works with your existing search form and theme, both classic and block\nthemes. You don't need a new template or shortcode.<\/p>\n\n
Every AI search costs you a small amount at your AI provider, so you want to\nspend that on people, not bots. This is why SmartMatch Search works together\nwith Burst Statistics. Burst already filters bots, crawlers and spam out of\nyour visits. SmartMatch Search only uses the AI for visits Burst has counted as\nhuman. Bots get the normal search results and cost you nothing.<\/p>\n\n
Logged-in users always get the AI search, even without a Burst visit, for\nexample when Burst doesn't track their user role. A logged-in user is never\na bot.<\/p>\n\n
Costs are also limited by:<\/p>\n\n
Searches show up in the Engagement tab of your Burst dashboard. You see what\nvisitors search for, and where your content doesn't answer their questions yet.<\/p>\n\n
SmartMatch Search does not connect to any service of its own and sends no data\nto Burst or SmartMatch servers. When a search needs an AI answer, the search\nterm and the candidate posts (post ID, post type, title, URL path and a short\nexcerpt of public, published content) are sent to the AI provider that you\nconfigured in the WordPress AI plugin. Which provider that is depends entirely\non your configuration there, and its terms of service and privacy policy apply\nto those requests. This only happens for validated human visits, within the\ndaily budget, and only when the answer isn't already cached. No IP addresses or\nvisitor identifiers are included in these requests.<\/p>\n\n\n