Search & Discovery

See how customers find products in your store. Track search queries, zero-result terms, and browsing patterns to close gaps and boost sales.

The Search & Discovery report covers on-site search: the search box inside your store. It tracks what shoppers type, which queries lead to a click and then a purchase, and where search comes up empty. Acting on it lets you close catalog gaps your own customers are already telling you about, lift conversion without buying more traffic, and fix zero-result failures that silently cost sales every day.

Search data requires your connected platform to track on-site search events. If search analytics look empty, check that search tracking is enabled in your platform settings. The SEO report covers organic search visibility in Google; with Search Console connected, this report also shows the Google demand behind your catalog in the Search demand on Google block.

Key metrics

Five numbers tell you how well your search experience works.

Metric	What it tells you
Total Searches	The number of searches in the selected period. A rising trend alongside flat conversion usually signals an intent gap, not a traffic problem.
Click-through Rate (CTR)	The share of searches where the shopper clicked at least one result. Low CTR means results look unappealing or irrelevant.
Search Conversion Rate	The share of searches that lead to a purchase. Higher means your search results help customers buy.
Zero-Result Rate	The share of searches that return nothing. Every one is a missed sale.
Unique Queries	The number of distinct search terms. A high ratio of unique queries to total searches means your catalog vocabulary is fragmented, customers reach the same products via very different words.

Zero-result rate is your most actionable metric. Every empty search is a customer telling you exactly what they want but cannot find. Fix these first.

Search funnel

The search funnel traces how a session moves from search intent to purchase:

Searches → Clicks → Conversions

Each step shows the absolute count and the drop-off rate to the next step.

Drop-off location	What it signals	What to fix
Searches → Clicks	Results appear but look unappealing	Product images, titles, and price visibility in the results display
Clicks → Conversions	Product pages do not close the sale	Product descriptions, images, and pricing on pages appearing for top queries

A healthy funnel converts 4–8% of searches directly into purchases. If you are below 2%, the issue is usually in the results display; if you are between 2–4%, the bottleneck is more often on the product page itself.

Insight chips

Above the main charts, three insight chips highlight patterns worth acting on immediately:

• Best-converting query: the search term with the highest conversion rate, often revealing what your best customers are looking for.
• Most specific query: the longest or most detailed search term in the top queries; a signal that shoppers know exactly what they want.
• Recurring zero-result offenders: search terms that have returned no results across multiple days in the period. These are the most urgent gaps to close.

Read the charts and tables

Search volume

A sparkline shows how search volume trends over the selected period. Spikes often line up with marketing campaigns, seasonal demand, or new product launches.

Top search queries

A bar chart ranks your most-searched terms by frequency. These are what customers care about most. Make sure they return excellent results.

Query-length distribution

A donut chart breaks searches into three length bands:

Band	What it suggests
1 word	Broad, exploratory intent. Customers may not know exactly what they want, or they expect autocomplete to guide them.
2–3 words	Navigational intent. The shopper has a product type in mind.
4+ words	High-intent, specific queries. Customers who search like this often convert best, and are the most disappointed when results fail.

An interpretation card below the donut explains what your specific mix suggests and whether to invest in synonym handling, faceted search, or richer product data.

Search by category

A donut chart shows which categories get the most search traffic. Use it to see which categories customers actively search for versus the ones they only browse.

Discovery method

A donut chart breaks down how customers find products: direct search, category browsing, recommendations, or external links. Use it to weigh search against your other discovery paths.

Trending searches

A table shows the search terms growing fastest in frequency. These are emerging trends: new demand, or responses to promotions and outside events.

Search queries table

The full query table lists every search term with its performance data:

Column	What it shows
Query	The search term as typed.
Searches	How many times this exact term was searched.
Clicks	How many result clicks it generated.
Conversions	How many purchases followed.
Conversion Rate	Conversions ÷ Searches.

Sort by Conversion Rate to find your highest-intent terms. Sort by Searches to see what your customers care about most.

Zero-result queries table

A dedicated table lists every search term that returned no results, with two columns alongside the search count:

Column	What it shows
Query	The search term that returned nothing.
Searches	How many times customers searched for it.
Status	Recurring (5+) for terms that have returned zero results five or more times; Review (1–4) for terms seen fewer times. Recurring terms are the highest priority.

Search demand on Google

With a connected Google Search Console property, a Search demand on Google block adds what people search for on Google to what they search for in your store. It needs synced Search Console data for the selected period; until then it says Search Console is connected and asks you to run a sync from the SEO report or pick a wider range.

Top Google queries

Ranked by impressions, the real demand for your catalog. Each row shows impressions, clicks, CTR and position, plus a View rank history for shortcut that opens Rank history: : daily clicks, impressions, CTR and position for that term, with its Best position and the date it was reached. Position is each day’s impression-weighted average, not a rank snapshot, and Search Console keeps limited history. Explore queries opens the full loaded list.

Missed demand

Searches where people see your page but click far less than they should at that spot. The table shows YOUR CTR next to the EXPECTED CTR for that position. People are looking, but not clicking; a better title and meta description usually fixes it. When every search gets about the clicks you would expect, the block says No missed demand detected.

Opportunity segments

Segment chips above the queries put each query in at most one bucket, checked in the order shown:

Segment	Definition	Why it matters
Title & meta opportunity	A strong position, real impressions, CTR below expected.	People see you and scroll past. Rewriting the title and meta description is the cheapest click you can buy.
Striking distance	Just outside the top positions, with real impressions.	Page two with demand behind it. A small ranking push moves these onto page one.
Ranking, no clicks	A strong position, real impressions, zero clicks.	You are on page one and still getting nothing. Check what your result actually looks like in Google.
Top earners	A strong position with a healthy click count.	This is what already works. Check these before you change a title, a URL or a page layout.

“Below expected” uses the expected CTR from your Search Console insights whenever they cover the query; otherwise a position-based fallback applies. Each segment has an Export segment (CSV) button so you can hand the shortlist to whoever rewrites the titles.

Benchmarks

Use these ranges to judge your numbers at a glance.

Metric	Concerning	Average	Good
Search Conversion Rate	<2%	2–4%	4–8%
Zero-Result Rate	>10%	5–10%	<5%
Clicks per Search	<1	1–2	2+

Act on what you find

Zero-result rate is above 5%

Open the zero-result queries table and start with the Recurring terms, those appearing five or more times. Add synonyms, fix misspellings in your product data, or add the products customers are searching for. Use Enrich products to regenerate titles and descriptions for the relevant items so they match the search vocabulary. Outcome: each zero-result query you fix is an unfulfilled intent you convert into a potential sale.

CTR is low despite high search volume

Your results appear but customers do not click them. The fix is usually product titles and images, not catalog gaps. Use Enrich products to rewrite titles for your top-searched terms so they match the shopper’s language and highlight the key attributes. Outcome: higher CTR means more revenue from the same traffic without any ad spend.

Search converts poorly despite good click volume

Results are clicked but do not lead to a purchase. The bottleneck is the product page. Improve product descriptions, images, and pricing for the products that appear in your top queries. Run a Data Quality check to identify missing fields that undermine buyer confidence. Outcome: closing this gap turns already-engaged shoppers into buyers.

A trending search has no matching products

This is demand you are not yet serving. Add products to fill the gap, or update existing product titles and descriptions so they match the trending term. Outcome: capturing emerging demand early means you rank before competitors do.

4+ word queries dominate and conversion is low

Shoppers know exactly what they want but cannot find it. This points to catalog gaps or weak attribute data, missing dimensions, specs, or materials that shoppers use in detailed queries. Use Data Quality to identify missing fields for the relevant products. Outcome: filling attribute gaps improves both search relevance and SEO, compounding the benefit.

One query converts far better than others

This is the keyword your best customers use. Treat it as a model: what does this product page do well that others do not? Copy those patterns across your catalog. You may also find it useful as an anchor for a product family to surface related items. Outcome: spreading best-performing content patterns can lift your average conversion rate catalog-wide.

Related

Traffic & Behavior

See the broader picture of how visitors navigate and engage with your store.

Conversions

Understand how search discovery connects to your overall conversion funnel.

Product Performance

Check whether the products customers search for are actually your best performers.

SEO

Track organic search visibility in Google via Search Console data.