diff --git a/src/components/Autocomplete/types.ts b/src/components/Autocomplete/types.ts
index 6f2610d177..cd003f5aec 100644
--- a/src/components/Autocomplete/types.ts
+++ b/src/components/Autocomplete/types.ts
@@ -47,3 +47,14 @@ export type AutocompleteApi = {
   items: AutocompleteItem[]
   isFetching: boolean
 }
+
+/**
+ * A locally cached dataset injected into autocomplete results. Items are
+ * pre-hydrated and ordered most-relevant-first; array order encodes
+ * recency/priority and is used as the tie-break when ranking matches.
+ */
+export type LocalSource = {
+  /** stable id, e.g. 'recents', 'convo-members', 'follows' */
+  key: string
+  items: AutocompleteItem[]
+}
diff --git a/src/components/Autocomplete/useAutocomplete/__tests__/mergeAutocompleteResults.test.ts b/src/components/Autocomplete/useAutocomplete/__tests__/mergeAutocompleteResults.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4d2d52bce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Autocomplete/useAutocomplete/__tests__/mergeAutocompleteResults.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+import {describe, expect, it} from '@jest/globals'
+
+import {
+  type AutocompleteProfile,
+  type AutocompleteSearch,
+} from '#/components/Autocomplete/types'
+import {mergeAutocompleteResults} from '../mergeAutocompleteResults'
+
+function profileItem(
+  did: string,
+  handle: string,
+  displayName?: string,
+): AutocompleteProfile {
+  return {
+    key: did,
+    type: 'profile',
+    value: '@' + handle,
+    profile: {did, handle, displayName},
+  }
+}
+
+function searchItem(q: string): AutocompleteSearch {
+  return {key: `recent-${q}`, type: 'search', value: q}
+}
+
+const alice = profileItem('did:1', 'alice.test', 'Alice')
+const bob = profileItem('did:2', 'bob.test', 'Bob')
+const carol = profileItem('did:3', 'carol.test', 'Carol')
+
+describe('mergeAutocompleteResults', () => {
+  it('returns remote items untouched when no sources', () => {
+    const result = mergeAutocompleteResults({
+      query: 'al',
+      remoteItems: [alice, bob],
+    })
+    expect(result).toEqual([alice, bob])
+  })
+
+  it('empty query returns local items in source order, deduped', () => {
+    const result = mergeAutocompleteResults({
+      query: '',
+      sources: [
+        {key: 'a', items: [alice, searchItem('cats')]},
+        {key: 'b', items: [alice, bob]},
+      ],
+      remoteItems: [],
+    })
+    expect(result).toEqual([alice, searchItem('cats'), bob])
+  })
+
+  it('typed query pins fuse matches above remote', () => {
+    const result = mergeAutocompleteResults({
+      query: 'alice',
+      sources: [{key: 'recents', items: [bob, alice]}],
+      remoteItems: [carol],
+    })
+    expect(result[0]).toEqual(alice)
+    expect(result).toContainEqual(carol)
+    expect(result).not.toContainEqual(bob)
+  })
+
+  it('pins at most 3 local matches', () => {
+    const many = Array.from({length: 6}, (_, i) =>
+      profileItem(`did:m${i}`, `alice${i}.test`, `Alice ${i}`),
+    )
+    const result = mergeAutocompleteResults({
+      query: 'alice',
+      sources: [{key: 'recents', items: many}],
+      remoteItems: [carol],
+    })
+    expect(result).toHaveLength(4)
+    expect(result[3]).toEqual(carol)
+  })
+
+  it('dedupes by key, keeping local position with remote profile data', () => {
+    const remoteAlice = profileItem('did:1', 'alice.test', 'Alice (new name)')
+    const result = mergeAutocompleteResults({
+      query: 'alice',
+      sources: [{key: 'recents', items: [alice]}],
+      remoteItems: [carol, remoteAlice],
+    })
+    expect(result[0]).toEqual({...alice, profile: remoteAlice.profile})
+    expect(result).toHaveLength(2)
+  })
+
+  it('matches search-term items by value', () => {
+    const cats = searchItem('cats')
+    const result = mergeAutocompleteResults({
+      query: 'cat',
+      sources: [{key: 'recents', items: [bob, cats]}],
+      remoteItems: [],
+    })
+    expect(result).toEqual([cats])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/components/Autocomplete/useAutocomplete/mergeAutocompleteResults.ts b/src/components/Autocomplete/useAutocomplete/mergeAutocompleteResults.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3788ae6746
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/Autocomplete/useAutocomplete/mergeAutocompleteResults.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import Fuse from 'fuse.js'
+
+import {
+  type AutocompleteItem,
+  type LocalSource,
+} from '#/components/Autocomplete/types'
+
+/** Max local matches pinned above remote results while typing. */
+const MAX_PINNED = 3
+
+/**
+ * Merges local source items with remote typeahead results. An empty query
+ * returns local items only, in source order. A typed query fuse-matches over
+ * local items and pins the top matches above remote results (fuse score,
+ * tie-broken by insertion order, i.e. source order then recency). Items are
+ * deduped by key; a pinned local profile adopts the fresher remote profile
+ * data when the same account also appears in remote results.
+ */
+export function mergeAutocompleteResults({
+  query,
+  sources = [],
+  remoteItems = [],
+}: {
+  query: string
+  sources?: LocalSource[]
+  remoteItems?: AutocompleteItem[]
+}): AutocompleteItem[] {
+  const seen = new Set<string>()
+  const localItems: AutocompleteItem[] = []
+  for (const source of sources) {
+    for (const item of source.items) {
+      if (seen.has(item.key)) continue
+      seen.add(item.key)
+      localItems.push(item)
+    }
+  }
+
+  let localMatches = localItems
+  if (query) {
+    const fuse = new Fuse(localItems, {
+      keys: ['value', 'profile.handle', 'profile.displayName'],
+      threshold: 0.3,
+    })
+    localMatches = fuse
+      .search(query, {limit: MAX_PINNED})
+      .map(result => result.item)
+  }
+
+  const remoteByKey = new Map(remoteItems.map(item => [item.key, item]))
+  const localKeys = new Set(localMatches.map(item => item.key))
+
+  return [
+    ...localMatches.map(item => {
+      const remote = remoteByKey.get(item.key)
+      if (item.type === 'profile' && remote?.type === 'profile') {
+        return {...item, profile: remote.profile}
+      }
+      return item
+    }),
+    ...remoteItems.filter(item => !localKeys.has(item.key)),
+  ]
+}