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This feature isn’t available on every plan. Refer to your pricing plan to see if it’s included.
Real-time personalization dynamically optimizes search results based on users’ real-time interactions within their current session. This personalization approach:
  • Provides coverage for all users, including first-time visitors
  • Happens in real-time as users interact with your website
  • Adapts continuously to the user’s changing intent
  • Complements historical personalization for a comprehensive strategy
Real-time personalization will activate only for new users, while historical personalization will apply for returning users.
By relying on immediate behavioral signals, real-time personalization delivers a responsive search experience that evolves with the user’s journey, enhancing desirability without requiring previous visit history. For a detailed comparison, read about the differences between real-time and historical personalization.

Enable real-time personalization

Prerequisite: you must configure Advanced Personalization before enabling real-time personalization. Go to the Algolia dashboard to enable real-time personalization.
Dashboard interface for enabling real-time personalization

Troubleshooting

You can use the Advanced Personalization user inspector to review each user . A badge indicates if real-time affinities are being used.
Screenshot of a user's real-time affinities list showing categories like 'Electronics' and 'United States' with scores.
Last modified on March 5, 2026