This application relates to apparatus and methods for generating preference profiles that may be used to rank search results. In some examples, a computing device obtains browsing session data and determines items that were engaged, such as items that were viewed or clicked. The computing device obtains item property data, such as product descriptions, for the items, and applies a dependency parser to the item property data to identify portions that include certain words, such as nouns or adjectives, which are then identified as attributes. The computing device generates attribute data identifying portions of the item property data as item attributes. In some examples, the computing device applies one or more machine learning algorithms to the session data and/or search query to identify item attributes. The computing device may generate a profile that includes the item attributes, and may rank search results based on the attribute data, among other uses.