Search engine vs directory

Hello, this is just going to be a short update as i wanted to explain my thoughts on the split nature of Highstreett with the fact /search is the personalised search engine and /discover is a directory style marketplace.

There is a few reasons why Highstreett has been split and to be transparent one of the reasons is to do with SEO/AEO (Showing in Google and then LLMs like ChatGPT) by going for a directory we create a series of indexable business pages which can be pulled and cited. Just using the search engine means to both Google and ChatGPT we are sort of invisible.

Outside of this Discover allows you to search for a specific business or browse by business rather than searching for a specific product recommendation. The search engine provides you with recommendations where as discover you get to just browse so bringing this back to my favourite subject area (books). Discover allows you to go through a book store's digital shelf to see if something catches your eye where as if you go to our engine it will give you specific titles.

Search is the better product if you know the area you wish to get book recommendations for but if you're just interested in browsing for books them either our top recommendations page or via businesses would likely be better for you.

Finally for those who wish to find locally owned businesses but don't wish to use any AI (The search is built on LLM's) then it gives you a way to support local businesses without using any AI.

If you needed a frame of mind for how i view both products our search is similar to Google where as discover i went for more of an Amazon style experience.

Thank you,

Alex