Search & AI search
Allspice Search lets readers search your recipes by title, ingredient, or a plain-language question, and see results from your site only.
On this page
What readers experience
A reader opens Search from the Allspice widget, from your site's navigation, or from your existing search bar, and types what they want:
- “easy chicken dinners”
- “something cozy for a cold night”
- “vegetarian meals that are high protein”
- “quick weeknight meals my kids might like”
Results come only from your archive, shown as a grid of recipe cards. From there readers can open a recipe, save it, add its ingredients to a grocery list, or start cooking, without leaving your site.
Search, including AI search, is free for readers and doesn't count against their chat allowance.
Standard search vs. AI search
Every site gets standard search, which matches recipe titles, ingredients, descriptions, and other indexed recipe metadata.
AI search interprets what the reader means instead of matching exact words: ingredients, cuisine, meal type, difficulty, dietary preferences, cooking time, and the kind of dish. Readers see it under the name you choose (default “Advanced Search”).
AI search is on by default and appears once your site has search pills, which are generated from your archive. You can switch it off in the Publisher Portal. If you've just added recipes, give Allspice time to index them; on WordPress, Allspice re-reads a post about 10 minutes after you publish or update it.
Search pills
Readers who don't know what to search for can tap a search pill: a suggested search built from what your archive covers in depth. If you have lots of air fryer dinners, gluten-free baking, or meal prep recipes, your pills reflect that.
The pill set is regenerated weekly, and new recipes are added to existing pills as they're imported.
Conversational follow-up
After an AI search, readers can keep refining in plain language:
- Narrow: “make it vegetarian” · “only show quick options”
- Expand: “show more like this” · “include meal prep options”
- Change direction: “actually, show me desserts for a party”
Every result still comes from your recipes.
For signed-in readers, AI search also takes their stored preferences and saved recipes into account. Readers who aren't signed in get unpersonalized results.
How results are ranked
Ranking combines relevance with how recipes perform on your site:
- recipe title, description, ingredients, and ingredient groupings
- categories and tags
- semantic match to the reader's query
- how your recipes perform on your site
- how recently the recipe data was indexed
Performance statistics are refreshed regularly, so results shift with reader interest and the seasons.
Result layout
Results appear in a grid where stronger matches can take larger cells, so the likeliest fits stand out. If Show articles in search is on (the default), non-recipe posts can appear under their own heading.
What you can configure
Search settings are in the Publisher Portal: Integrate → click the domain → General tab → Allspice search card. The full list is on Allspice Search.
- AI search on or off. On by default. Switch it off to offer standard search only.
- AI search name. What readers see AI search called, up to 30 characters. Defaults to “Advanced Search”.
- Articles in search. Include non-recipe posts in results (on by default), exclude specific tags or categories, and rename the Articles heading.
- Search box focus. Start with the cursor in search puts the cursor in the search box when search opens. On by default.
- Replace your existing site search. Turn on Search replacement and your theme's search box opens Allspice instead. Leave the selector lists empty to use built-in defaults for common WordPress themes (standard search forms, Feast, Kadence), or add your own Input, Trigger, and Form selectors. See setup details.
- Add search to your navigation. A Custom Link pointing to
#allspice-searchopens Allspice Search from any menu. Add?q=to pre-fill a query, for example#allspice-search?q=chicken. - A dedicated search page. Host search as a normal page on your site. See Advanced search page.
- Where Allspice appears. Page visibility limits which pages Allspice shows on, which also limits where
#allspice-searchlinks work. See Where Allspice appears.
Give readers one obvious place to search. Once Allspice Search is live, remove or de-emphasize competing search plugins.
FAQ
Does AI search cost my readers anything?
No. AI-powered search results are part of the free reader experience. (Open-ended AI chat is the feature with a monthly free-tier limit - see Reader access.)
Does search ever return recipes from other sites?
No. Search runs against your indexed recipe archive only.
How fast do new recipes show up?
On WordPress, the plugin notifies Allspice when you publish or update a post, and Allspice re-reads it about 10 minutes later. Otherwise, new recipes appear after the next crawl.
Can I choose my own search pills?
No. Pills are generated automatically from your archive and regenerated weekly.
Why don't I see AI search?
Check that AI search is on in the Allspice search card. If it is, your site may not have search pills yet; AI search appears once it does.