Product Search by Image

What It Does #

Product Search by Image (Image Search) lets customers upload or paste an image in the chat and get visually similar or matching products from your WooCommerce catalog. The AI derives search keywords from the image, searches your products, and shows results in a product carousel. Great for mobile-first shoppers who use screenshots or photos to find products (“I saw it, I want it”).

Requirements #

• Helpmate Pro — Product Search by Image is a Pro feature. Activate a Pro API key and the Helpmate Pro plugin.
• WooCommerce — Must be installed and active. Products are searched from your WooCommerce catalog.
• Chatbot — The AI chatbot (API key and knowledge base) must be set up. The image search control appears in the chat input when the module is enabled.

Turn On Product Search by Image #

1. In the WordPress admin, go to Helpmate → Automation → Chatbot → Product Search by Image (under the Automations section in the sidebar; the menu label may show as Image Search).
2. Use the Enable Module switch at the top to turn the feature on.
3. Configure Delete Image After Search (see below) if needed.

When the module is enabled, the chat input shows an option for customers to upload or paste an image. When they send an image (with or without text), the AI can trigger an image search and return a product carousel.

Settings #

Delete Image After Search

• On — The uploaded image file is deleted from your server (from the helpmate_uploads folder) after the search is processed. Use this if you want to avoid storing customer uploads.
• Off — The image is kept on the server. The image URL can be stored in chat message metadata so it remains visible in the conversation (e.g. in the Inbox) for context.

No other options are required. Product matches are based on keyword search (keywords are generated from the image by the AI/service); the number of results shown in the carousel is determined by the plugin (e.g. a fixed limit such as 10).

How It Works for the Customer #

1. Customer opens the chat and uploads or pastes an image (e.g. a screenshot, a photo of a product they like, or an image from elsewhere). They can add a message (e.g. “Find something like this” or “Do you have this?”) or send the image alone.
2. The image is sent to your site; the system generates search keywords from the image content.
3. Your WooCommerce products are searched using those keywords (e.g. title, tags, categories, description).
4. The chatbot replies with a product carousel of relevant products and the message: “Here are the products related to the image you provided.” If nothing matches, the customer sees a message that no products were found.

Results are shown as a horizontal carousel so customers can scroll and click through to product pages.

Getting Better Results #

Matches depend on how well your product data matches the generated keywords. To improve accuracy:

• Product titles — Use clear, descriptive titles that include style, color, material, or type (e.g. “Blue Cotton T-Shirt”, “Wooden Desk Lamp”).
• Tags and categories — Add relevant tags and categories so keyword search can find products by theme or attribute.
• Descriptions — Include searchable text that describes what the product looks like or is used for.
• Product images — Ensure products have good-quality images; the AI derives keywords from the customer’s image, but your catalog’s text data is what drives the search.

Summary #

Related:

AI Chatbot with Knowledge-base · Let Shoppers Search by Image: Turn Inspiration into Instant Purchases · Proactive Sales