Search Explorer lets you take any search phrase, see how Elevate interprets it, and follow a single product down to the reasons it sits where it sits. The questions below cover the things that most often surprise people once they start using it. For a walkthrough of the view itself, see Search Explorer.
Does anything I do in Search Explorer affect my site?
No. Search Explorer is a diagnostic view. Searching, switching between the corrected and original phrase, opening a product, and changing the exposure strategy toggle all change what you see in the view, and nothing else.
Why am I seeing results for a different phrase than the one I typed?
Your phrase was corrected, in the same way autocorrection works on your site. Search Explorer shows the corrected phrase first because that's what a shopper would be served. To see the result for exactly what you typed, select Original under Auto correction.
Why doesn't my phrase have an importance tier?
There isn't enough data to place it yet. This happens when too few customers have searched for the phrase, or when there aren't enough stored phrases in the market to compare it against.
Why does a product matched on a lower tier outrank one matched on a higher tier?
Intent is the strongest signal behind ranking, but it isn't the only one. A higher-tier interpretation gives a product a stronger starting position, and its ranking strength moves it from there. A strong performer matched on a lower tier can overtake a weak performer matched on a higher tier.
Is the gap between two tiers always the same?
No. A tier tells you the order of likelihood, not the distance between one reading and the next. The gap between Tier 1 and Tier 2 can be modest on one phrase and very large on another, and it isn't the same from tier to tier within the same phrase either.
Why do sales during a discount count less?
Popularity is meant to reflect ongoing demand, not a temporary spike from a lower price. Elevate's product life cycle analysis recognises when a sale is active and adjusts for it, since a product that sells well on discount doesn't necessarily keep selling well once the price returns to normal. This keeps ranking fair between products, so a discount alone won't permanently inflate a product's popularity.
Will a shopper see the same order I see?
Not necessarily. The positions in Search Explorer are the baseline, before personalisation is applied. When personalisation is enabled, individual shoppers may see products higher or lower than the baseline.