Web Search

While Alcemi is primarily trained on your store’s specific catalog and the policies you upload, there are times when a customer might ask a broader question related to your products, industry, or general advice.

To handle these scenarios gracefully, Alcemi is integrated with Web Search.

How Web Search Works

When a customer asks a question, Alcemi’s routing engine evaluates whether the answer can be found in your store’s data. If the question requires external context or general knowledge to provide a helpful answer, the AI autonomously executes a secure web search in the background.

Example Scenario:

• Customer: “Are your vitamin C serums safe to use with retinol?”
• Internal Data: Your store’s product descriptions might not explicitly mention retinol compatibility.
• Web Search: Alcemi searches the web for dermatological consensus on combining vitamin C and retinol, then crafts a helpful, accurate response for the customer while still recommending your serum.

Why This Matters

• Better Consultations: It allows the AI to act as a true “Shopping Assistant” rather than just a store directory. It can give styling advice, technical specifications, or usage tips by pulling from the wider internet.
• Fewer Handoffs: By answering general-knowledge questions intelligently, the AI resolves more queries without needing to escalate them to your human support team.
• Seamless Experience: The web search happens in fractions of a second. The customer never sees that a search occurred; they just get a highly accurate, conversational answer.

Privacy and Control

The web search integration is entirely focused on providing better shopping assistance. Alcemi does not use web search to fetch competitor prices or direct users away from your store. The focus remains completely on answering the user’s query to help them make a purchasing decision on your storefront.