What Is a Vector Index—and Why Your App Needs One

June 2025 • Fundamentals

If you're exploring how to implement smart search or semantic retrieval in your product, you've likely come across the term "vector index." But what exactly is it, and why should your app care?

The Basics: What Is a Vector Index?

At its core, a vector index is a searchable collection of numerical representations (embeddings) of your text data. These embeddings allow AI models to retrieve relevant information based on similarity rather than exact keyword match.

Why It Matters

This means your app can answer questions more intelligently, complete input fields more intuitively, and offer results based on meaning—not just spelling.

How natrul.ai Makes It Simple

Instead of learning how to build a vector pipeline from scratch, you just upload your documents and hit the API. We handle the embeddings, indexing, and retrieval.