Pinterest updates visual search with more AI-powered features

Pinterest is upgrading its visual search feature with a handful of new capabilities.

On Monday, the company announced it’s rolling out new functionality to improve its feature that allows users to search using an image instead of text. This includes new tools to more precisely narrow and refine searches, as well as those that make visual search more accessible across Pinterest’s website.

The company believes the new additions will help Pinterest stand out as a search engine for things users may otherwise have trouble describing with words — like a vibe, style, or aesthetic.

One new enhancement will help users to better understand what it is they like about a certain Pin, initially in the women’s fashion category in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

Here, when users tap on a Pin, they’ll see an animated glow, and Pinterest will then generate words that help people determine why they like the Pin in the first place. This feature is powered by Visual Language Models (VLMs), a form of generative AI, the company says.

The addition is similar to Google’s multimodal search, which combines text and images into a single query. In this case, however, Pinterest is helping users by generating the words that could be used to augment and narrow their search query. (The company notes it’s using “industry-leading” multimode embedding models, but didn’t specify which ones.)

Another update will allow users to refine their fashion searches by seeking out alternatives to the item shown in a different color, style, or fabric. For instance, Pinterest suggests you could use this to find a similar style that had more of a “Y2K” aesthetic, or find something similar to a blazer you liked, but that works better for a formal occasion.

Pinterest also says it will expand its visual search across more areas in its app, including by allowing users to long-press on any Pin on their Home Feed to kick off a visual search.

The update comes on the heels of an announcement that Pinterest will begin to label AI-generated images and soon allow users to limit the number of AI images they’re shown, after numerous user complaints. People had begun to worry that AI would ruin Pinterest, as it would be even harder to find genuine images that could inspire their future shopping.

Combined with the AI-focused update and the improved visual search, Pinterest hopes to re-establish its use as a visual shopping tool that leverages AI, as opposed to one that’s being destroyed by it.