What the Companion does
The Companion is a free browser extension for Chrome that puts platform search in every tab. Type a query and results appear live, grouped into Products, Services, Sectors and Guides & News, each one linking straight to the page. An enquiry form is built in, so a question can go to a specialist without leaving the page you are reading.
It works in Chrome and Chromium-based browsers such as Edge, Brave and Opera. No account is needed and nothing has to be configured. More about the Companion.
Installing it
Installation takes under a minute:
- Open the Chrome Web Store listing and select Add to Chrome, then confirm.
- Select the puzzle-piece icon in the browser toolbar and pin the Companion so its icon stays visible.
- Select the icon, or press Alt+Shift+A, to open it.
Searching from the popup
Open the Companion and start typing. The search box is focused automatically, so there is no need to click into it first.
Results are grouped by section and update as you type. Use the arrow keys to move through them, press Enter to open the highlighted result in a new tab, and press Escape to close the popup. Selecting View all results at the foot of the popup opens the full search page with the query carried across.
Before anything is typed, the popup shows popular searches and quick links through to Products, Solutions, and Support and guides.
Searching from the address bar
For a keyboard-only route, type allbase in the address bar and press Tab. The address bar shows a "Search Allbase" label, and anything typed after it searches the platform.
Suggestions appear as you type. Selecting one opens that page directly, and pressing Enter without choosing a suggestion opens the full results page for the query.
Sending an enquiry
Select the Enquire tab at the top of the popup to send a message to the team. Name, company email and message are required, and a phone number is optional.
Two shortcuts make this quicker:
- On a product result, select Enquire and the product name is carried into the enquiry automatically.
- When a search returns nothing, select Send an enquiry and the search term is carried across, so the question reaches a specialist rather than a dead end.
Replies come by email to the address given. The contact page covers the same ground if the popup is not to hand.
What the Companion collects
Searches are sent to allbase.co.uk to return results and are not stored by the extension. Personal details are collected only when an enquiry is submitted, and are used solely to reply to it. The extension does not read or change the pages being browsed. Full detail is set out in the privacy policy.
If something is not working
No results for anything. The Companion needs a connection to allbase.co.uk. Check the connection, then try the search page directly to confirm the site is reachable.
The keyboard shortcut does nothing. Another extension may have claimed Alt+Shift+A. Open chrome://extensions/shortcuts to see what is assigned and set a different combination if needed.
The address-bar keyword does not trigger. Type allbase followed by the Tab key, not the space bar. Some browsers require the keyword to be typed into an empty address bar.
The icon is not visible. The extension is installed but unpinned. Select the puzzle-piece icon in the toolbar and pin it.
An enquiry will not send. Check that the email address is a valid company address and that the message is not empty. Repeated submissions in quick succession are rate limited, so wait a moment and try again.
Still stuck? Send an enquiry through the contact page and the team will pick it up.