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Overview

Semantic redirects use AI to understand the intent behind search queries and send customers to a relevant page instead of showing search results. Unlike keyword-based redirects, semantic matching recognizes variations and related terms, so one redirect covers many phrasings of the same request. Semantic redirects are managed through a dedicated settings page in the Layers dashboard under Settings → Semantic Redirects.

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How semantic redirects work

When a customer performs a text search, Layers evaluates their query against your configured semantic redirects. If the query matches a redirect term, Layers normally sends the customer to the redirect destination. When the destination is an eligible collection landing page and Inline Collection Redirects is enabled, Layers can instead show that collection’s products in the search results. Links with tags, filters, a chosen sort, or a pagination override keep regular redirect behavior. Locale prefixes and tracking information added to the link do not prevent inline results.
  1. Customer searches for “customer service” or “need help”
  2. Layers recognizes the semantic similarity to your configured “support” redirect
  3. Layers sends the customer to the support destination.
Semantic matching uses AI to understand query intent, so matches aren’t limited to exact keywords.

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When redirects apply

Semantic redirects trigger for text search and autocomplete requests. They do not apply to:
  • Image search
  • Similar product search
  • Browse/collection requests
For text search, a regular redirect replaces product results. When Inline Collection Redirects is enabled and the destination is an eligible collection landing page, the collection products appear in the search response instead. The shopper’s query is preserved, and normal facets and pagination remain available. Links with tags, filters, a chosen sort, or a pagination override keep regular redirect behavior. Locale prefixes and tracking information added to the link do not prevent inline results. Autocomplete behavior is unchanged: it returns the redirect alongside suggestions, and your storefront decides whether to redirect immediately or continue showing suggestions. As a result, semantic redirects activate only when customers search with text queries, not when they browse visually or explore similar products.

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Response format

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Text search

When a semantic redirect is triggered via the Search API, the response includes:
This example shows a regular redirect. If Inline Collection Redirects is enabled and the destination is a supported bare collection URL, Layers serves the collection’s products in the search response instead. That response does not include a redirect destination. Key characteristics of regular redirects:
  • The results array is empty
  • totalResults is 0
  • The redirect URL is provided in _meta.redirect.url

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Autocomplete

When a semantic redirect is triggered via the Autocomplete API, the redirect is included alongside normal suggestions:
Key characteristics of autocomplete redirects:
  • Autocomplete suggestions are still returned normally
  • The redirect URL is provided in _meta.redirect.url
  • Your frontend decides whether to redirect immediately or show the suggestions

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Common use cases

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Customer support queries

Direct searches for help-related terms to your support page:
  • “help”, “support”, “customer service”, “contact us”
  • Target URL: https://yourstore.com/pages/contact-us

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Brand landing pages

Route brand-specific searches to dedicated brand pages:
  • “nike”, “nike shoes”, “nike products”
  • Target URL: https://yourstore.com/collections/nike

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Policy and information pages

Send policy-related queries to relevant information:
  • “return policy”, “returns”, “refund”, “how to return”
  • Target URL: https://yourstore.com/policies/refund-policy

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Promotional campaigns

Direct sale-related searches to campaign landing pages:
  • “sale”, “clearance”, “discount”, “deals”
  • Target URL: https://yourstore.com/collections/sale

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Store locations

Route location queries to store finder pages:
  • “store locations”, “find a store”, “stores near me”
  • Target URL: https://yourstore.com/pages/store-locator

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Exact term matching

Before any AI matching runs, Layers checks whether the query is an exact match for one of your configured redirect terms. Exact matching ignores letter case and extra whitespace, so Return Policy and return policy both match a term configured as return policy. Exact matches trigger the redirect instantly, with no AI processing involved. Exact term matching has two practical benefits:
  • Autocomplete redirects fire on a shopper’s first query. A shopper who types a configured term sees _meta.redirect in the autocomplete response immediately, even if Layers has not seen that query before.
  • New redirects work right away. As soon as you save a redirect, queries that exactly match its terms start redirecting. You don’t need to wait for AI matching to pick up the new term.
If a query matches both an exact term and a semantically similar term, the exact match wins.

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Semantic matching

Semantic matching understands query intent beyond exact keywords:
  • “need help” matches a redirect configured for “customer service”
  • “how do I return something” matches a redirect for “return policy”
  • “where can I get support” matches a redirect for “help”
  • “what’s on sale” matches a redirect for “clearance”
Because semantic matching understands related concepts and intent, you don’t need to configure every possible variation.

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Query interpretation routing

Beyond direct semantic matching, query interpretation adds a second layer of redirect detection. When a customer types a conversational query like “how do I return my order”, query interpretation identifies it as a non-product query. It then generates short candidate phrases (such as “returns”, “return policy”, “how to return”). Layers then checks these candidates against your configured semantic redirects. The interpretation system reads your configured redirect terms and uses them to constrain its candidate generation. As a result, the AI only suggests redirect phrases that correspond to terms you’ve actually set up, avoiding false positives from invented phrases that don’t lead anywhere. The more redirects you configure, the better query interpretation becomes at recognizing when a query should be redirected. Query interpretation routing catches queries that direct semantic similarity alone might miss, particularly natural-language questions and multi-word requests. No action is required: query interpretation routing works automatically with your existing semantic redirect configuration.

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Configuration

Semantic redirects are configured in the Layers dashboard:
  1. Go to Settings → Semantic Redirects
  2. Click Create Redirect
  3. Enter the search terms that should trigger the redirect
  4. Provide the target URL (must be an absolute URL with protocol)
  5. Save and enable the redirect
For detailed setup instructions, see Create a semantic redirect. To show eligible collection destinations inside search results, go to Settings → Search Behavior and turn on Inline Collection Redirects. This setting is off by default.

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Auto redirect

When the Layers storefront pixel or app block is installed, auto redirect is always on. The pixel intercepts search and autocomplete responses that contain a redirect destination and navigates the customer to that destination before the search results page renders. Eligible collection responses served inline do not contain a redirect destination and remain on the search results page. With auto redirect, customers never see an empty results page for redirected queries, especially in autocomplete flows where a suggestion matches a semantic redirect.

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How auto redirect works

  1. A customer types a query in your search bar and clicks an autocomplete suggestion, or your storefront makes an immediate search request.
  2. The Layers pixel intercepts the API response before your frontend processes it.
  3. If the response contains a _meta.redirect object, the pixel navigates the customer directly to the redirect URL.
  4. Your search results page is never rendered for that request.

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Requirements

Auto redirect requires the Layers storefront pixel or app block to be installed and loaded on the page. Without the pixel, redirects still work, but your frontend must handle them manually as described in Response format.

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Automatic page crawler

Layers can automatically scan your Shopify pages and create semantic redirects for content that customers commonly search for. You don’t have to identify every page that deserves a redirect yourself.

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How the page crawler works

The page crawler runs daily and follows a two-step process:
  1. Triage — Layers fetches all published pages from your Shopify store and uses AI to identify which pages are likely candidates for search redirects. Pages like FAQs, return policies, shipping information, contact pages, size guides, and store locators are flagged for analysis. Navigation pages, landing pages, and product-related pages are skipped.
  2. Analysis — For each flagged page, the AI reads the full page content and generates 2–6 natural search terms that a customer might type when looking for that information. For example, a returns policy page might produce terms like “returns”, “return policy”, “how to return”, and “refund”.
The crawler then creates semantic redirects for each page, pointing to the page’s URL on your store. It avoids duplicating redirects that already exist and skips terms that conflict with your manually created redirects.

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Source tracking

Each redirect in the dashboard displays a Source badge indicating how it was created:
  • Manual — Created by you through the dashboard
  • Crawler — Automatically generated by the page crawler
Use the Source badge to tell manual redirects from crawler-generated ones and to review or edit crawler-generated redirects as needed.

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What the crawler targets

The crawler focuses on informational pages that customers commonly search for:
  • FAQ and help pages
  • Return and refund policy pages
  • Shipping and delivery information
  • Contact and “get in touch” pages
  • About us and brand story pages
  • Size guides and fit guides
  • Warranty and guarantee pages
  • Care instructions and how-to guides
  • Store locator and location pages
  • Terms of service and privacy policy pages
Pages that serve as navigation, landing pages, product proxies, or placeholders are automatically excluded.

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Managing crawler-generated redirects

Crawler-generated redirects work exactly like manual ones. You can:
  • Edit the search terms or target URL
  • Disable or delete redirects you don’t want
  • The crawler will not recreate a redirect for a page it has already processed within the last 30 days
If you manually create a redirect that overlaps with a crawler-generated one, the crawler respects your manual redirect and avoids creating conflicting terms.

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Best practices

Use broad terms - Configure redirects for general concepts rather than specific variations. Semantic matching handles related queries. Provide absolute URLs - Always use full URLs including the protocol (https://) so redirects work correctly. Test thoroughly - Use the Test Text Search tool in Lab to verify redirects trigger for expected queries and don’t activate unexpectedly for product searches. Monitor search analytics - Redirected searches are tracked in the search_text dataset via the redirects and redirect_rate metrics and the redirect_term dimension. Use them to review which queries trigger redirects and to identify gaps or opportunities for additional redirects. Consider the customer journey - Redirect to pages that help customers accomplish their goals, whether that’s finding information, getting support, or discovering products. Avoid over-redirecting - Don’t redirect queries that should show product results. Reserve redirects for informational queries, support requests, and specific landing pages.

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See also