Frequently Asked Questions

AI Search is a commercial semantic search module powered by artificial intelligence. It replaces the standard LIKE search in OpenCart with smart vector search that understands query context, synonyms, corrects errors, and searches product attributes. The module uses Ollama models (nomic-embed-text or multilingual-e5-large-instruct).

The module creates vector embeddings (numerical representations) for all products, categories, and pages in your store. When a user searches, the query is also converted to a vector and compared with all other vectors using cosine similarity. This allows finding semantically similar products even if the words don't match exactly.

Main version: OpenCart 4.x (PHP 8.0+) — available now.

Additional versions:
• OpenCart 3.x (PHP 7.x) — separate ZIP, will be available after MVP if there is demand
• OpenCart 2.x — not supported (PHP 5.6/7.0 incompatible with modern AI libraries)

SaaS version: Yes! You only need regular hosting with PHP 8.0+. All heavy work (indexing and vector search) is performed on our servers.

Self-hosted version: Requires VPS or dedicated server to run Ollama. Minimum requirements: 2 CPU, 4GB RAM. GPU optional but recommended for speed.

SaaS: 5-10 minutes. Download ZIP → install via Extensions → Installer → enter license key → start indexing.

Self-hosted: 1-2 hours if you order Setup ($99). We'll configure Docker, Ollama, download models, and perform test indexing. Without Setup — 4-6 hours on your own.

No! The module intercepts standard OpenCart search through the event system. Your theme remains unchanged. The search page looks the same, but results become much more accurate.

Depends on the number of products and selected plan:

• 200 products (Free) — ~2 minutes
• 2,000 products (Starter) — ~15 minutes
• 10,000 products (Business) — ~1 hour
• 50,000 products (Pro) — ~3-4 hours

Indexing runs in the background in batches of 50 products. You can close the browser window — the process continues. Re-indexing updates only changed products (content hash).

Yes! The module connects event hooks for automatic re-indexing:

• When adding a new product — index is created immediately
• When editing a product — index is updated
• When deleting a product — index is deleted

This also works for categories and information pages.

The multilingual-e5-large-instruct model (Business, Pro, Enterprise) supports 100+ languages including Ukrainian, Russian, English, Polish, German, Spanish, French, and others.

The nomic-embed-text model (Free, Starter) is optimized for English but works with other languages with lower accuracy.

Basic statistics are available in all plans (Log tab in admin panel): number of queries, % AI vs fallback, average response time.

Pro Dashboard (Pro/Enterprise only) includes:
• Search graphs by day
• Top-20 queries
• Zero-result queries
• Conversion after search
• Index technical status
• Latency histogram

The module automatically switches to standard OpenCart LIKE search (fallback). Your customers won't see errors — search will continue to work, but without AI improvements. This is configured in the General tab (option "Fallback to LIKE if AI unavailable").

Yes! The module uses OpenCart file cache for repeated queries. TTL (cache lifetime) is configured in the admin panel (default 60 minutes). This reduces AI server load and speeds up response to ~15ms for popular queries.

Yes! The Free plan is available forever for stores up to 200 products. Limit: 500 queries per month, 1 language, search by product names only. This allows testing the module without risks. No credit card required.

Yes! SaaS plans can be canceled at any time through Stripe Customer Portal. After cancellation, the module will continue to work until the end of the paid period, then automatically switch to fallback (standard OpenCart search).

14-day money-back guarantee on all plans (except Free).

The module will automatically switch to fallback (standard LIKE search) until the end of the month. You'll receive an email when you use 80% and 100% of the limit.

Every month on the 1st, the counter resets. Or you can upgrade your plan at any time — the new limit applies immediately (prorated billing via Stripe).

The Self-hosted license is tied to one domain. The module makes a daily ping to our server to validate the license. If the ping fails — there's a 48-hour grace period (works from cache), then fallback to LIKE.

The module code is encrypted with ionCube and has a unique watermark for each buyer. This protects against illegal distribution.

Yes! You can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time. Stripe automatically calculates the prorated difference.

Upgrade — applied immediately, you pay only the difference until the end of the period.
Downgrade — applied from the next month, current plan works until the end.

SaaS: We only index public information (product names, descriptions, categories). Customer personal data (names, emails, addresses, order history) is NOT transferred or stored.

Self-hosted: All data remains on your server. We only receive a ping for license validation (domain + module version).

Yes. We don't collect customer personal data. We only log anonymous search queries for statistics (no IP addresses, no cookies). You can clear the log at any time ("Clear Log" button in admin panel).

We recommend adding a point to your Privacy Policy about using AI search.

Yes, recommended. All requests to our API are made via HTTPS. If your store runs on HTTP — browsers may block mixed content. SSL certificate can be obtained free via Let's Encrypt.

On the contrary! AI search is often faster than LIKE queries on large tables.

Typical latency:
• First query (no cache) — 100-300ms (API + vector search)
• Repeat query (with cache) — 15-20ms (faster than standard LIKE)
• Fallback LIKE — depends on DB size (can be 500ms+)

Indexing runs in the background and doesn't affect store operation.

SaaS: Server updates automatically. Your PHP module receives updates by downloading new ZIP version from your account. The module checks for new versions daily and shows notifications in the admin panel.

Self-hosted: Updates available for one year (included). After a year — $49/year for update renewal (optional).