September 23, 2026
4 min read
Intent Search is Clerk.io’s new self-healing search capability, built to recover searches that would otherwise return nothing.
Zero-result searches are one of the clearest dead ends in e-commerce.
A shopper types what they are looking for, your store may have something relevant, but the wording does not match the catalogue closely enough. The result is an empty search page.
Intent Search is built to fix that automatically.
If a search would return zero results, Clerk.io uses AI to understand what the shopper meant, rewrites the query using more relevant keywords, and searches again.
The goal is simple: only show zero results when your store genuinely has nothing relevant to sell.
How self-healing search works
Intent Search acts as a fallback for failed searches.
Your normal Clerk.io Search still runs first. If it finds products, the search continues as usual.
If it finds nothing, Intent Search steps in behind the scenes.
It looks at what the shopper typed, works out the likely intent, and rewrites the query into terms that better match the product catalogue. That rewritten search can include several related keywords, giving Clerk.io another chance to find relevant products.
The shopper simply sees useful results instead of a dead end.
Example 1: “Fabric to block streetlights”
A shopper on I Want Fabric searches for:
“Fabric to block streetlights”
That is not a typical catalogue term. The shopper is describing what they want the product to do rather than naming the product itself.
Instead of ending with zero results, Intent Search can interpret the request and connect it to products such as blackout curtain lining.
That means the shopper does not need to know the exact product name before searching. They can describe the problem they want to solve and still reach relevant products.
This is the idea behind self-healing search: the first search can fail, but the shopping journey does not have to.
Example 2: “Kombiskab” vs. “Køle-fryseskab”
The same problem happens when shoppers and catalogues use different words for the same type of product.
On Korsør Hvidevarecenter, a shopper searches for:
“Kombiskab”
The catalogue uses:
“Køle-fryseskab”
The two terms refer to the same type of product, but the wording is different. If that mismatch would normally lead to zero results, Intent Search can recognize the meaning behind the query, rewrite the search using the catalogue terminology, and return relevant fridge-freezer products.
Example 3: “Detersivo” vs. “Detergente”
The same thing happens in Italian.
A shopper searches for:
“Detersivo”
The catalogue uses:
“Detergente”
Both terms refer to detergent, but the wording differs. If that difference would otherwise produce zero results, Intent Search can rewrite the query using the catalogue term and search again.
Built for the searches nobody planned for
Intent Search is built for moments where the shopper’s wording and the catalogue’s wording do not line up.
That could be:
- a synonym
- a local term
- another language
- a broader description
- a full sentence describing what the shopper needs
If the original search returns zero results, Clerk.io gets another chance to understand the intent and find a better set of keywords.
This helps reduce avoidable zero-result pages without changing the normal search experience.
Synonyms still matter
Intent Search does not replace your existing synonym setup.
Synonyms are still useful because they can improve search matching even when a query already returns products. They can help connect different names for the same product, brand terms, abbreviations, local wording, and common alternative search terms.
Intent Search serves a different purpose. It only steps in when a search would otherwise return zero results.
Synonyms help improve normal search matching.
Intent Search repairs searches that fail completely.
That means it is still a good idea to maintain useful synonym rules. Intent Search adds an extra safety net for the searches you did not anticipate.
Already live on every store using Clerk.io Search
There is nothing to install, configure, or turn on.
Intent Search is already running on every store using Clerk.io Search.
Whenever a shopper enters a query that would normally return zero results, the system gets another chance to interpret the search and find relevant products. The whole process happens automatically in the background.
Only show zero results when zero results actually make sense
There will still be searches that should return nothing. If a shopper searches for something your store simply does not sell, a zero-result page is the correct outcome.
What Intent Search is built to remove are the avoidable zero-result searches: the ones caused by different terminology, synonyms, local phrasing, language, or the gap between how a shopper describes a product and how that product appears in the catalogue.
The aim is not to force products into every search. It is to stop relevant products being missed because of the words a shopper happened to type.
The first glimpse of our new search engine
Intent Search is the first update in a wider series of improvements we are making to Clerk.io Search.
The direction is simple: Search that just works.
Search that understands what shoppers mean, helps them find the right products without having to think like a product catalogue, and can recover when the first attempt fails.
Zero-result pages should be something shoppers only see when there really is nothing relevant to show.
