Systems and methods are described for identifying item attributes that are likely to be useful to users in refining searches for items. In one embodiment, when a user submits a search query to search for items, all or a portion of the search query is used to look-up a previously-generated list of item attributes (and optionally associated attribute values) that are associated with the search query and are useful for refining the search. These item attributes, and any associated attribute values, are then presented to the user in a selectable form such that the user can interactively narrow the search.