Top 5 Security Questions to Ask Your Enterprise AI Search Vendor

Enterprise AI search promises to unlock your company’s knowledge, surfacing insights from documents, emails, and internal systems faster than ever before. But along with this opportunity comes a new risk: a powerful tool for accessing sensitive data. Without proper safeguards, an AI search solution could inadvertently expose confidential information, violate compliance requirements, or create security vulnerabilities that put your organization at risk.

Not all AI vendors approach security with the same rigor. Before signing a contract, you need clear, unambiguous answers to five critical questions to ensure your data remains safe, compliant, and under your control.

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1. How Do You Enforce Our Existing Data Access Permissions?

This is the most important question you can ask. AI search must respect the permissions and access controls that already exist in your systems. An employee should never be able to find a document through AI search if they wouldn’t be able to access it in its original location, whether that’s SharePoint, Google Drive, or a private network folder.

A robust vendor should describe a system for syncing identities and permissions in real time. This includes handling user groups, inheritance rules, and updates to permissions as employees join or leave teams. Red flags include vague answers, reliance on manual permission replication, or delays in reflecting changes. The goal is seamless integration with your existing access controls so AI search mirrors the security posture of your organization, rather than circumventing it.

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2. Is Our Data Used to Train Your Foundational Models?

Proprietary data is a company’s most valuable asset. You must ensure that your internal documents, emails, or any other content are not being co-mingled with data from other organizations or used to train global AI models. Otherwise, your confidential information could indirectly benefit competitors, or worse, become used in unintended ways.

Ask how their architecture separates your data and supports any fine-tuned models. Request a copy of their Data Processing Agreement (DPA) to understand the legal and technical safeguards in place. A transparent vendor will have no hesitation in providing documentation and details of their approach.

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3. How Is Our Data Secured, Both in Transit and at Rest?

Data in motion and data at rest are both vulnerable if proper security measures aren’t in place. As information travels from your systems to the AI vendor, and while it is stored or indexed, it must be protected with industry-standard encryption protocols.

Look for specifics: TLS 1.2 or higher for data in transit, AES-256 for data at rest, and clear key management practices. Vendors should explain how encryption keys are stored, rotated, and protected. Avoid solutions that provide vague assurances or rely solely on network security without strong encryption practices. Your data should remain protected from interception, tampering, or unauthorized access at every stage of processing.

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4. How Do You Host and Store Data?

Hosting and storage are critical for both security and compliance. Depending on your industry and geographic footprint, regulations like GDPR, CCPA, or other local requirements may mandate how and where data is processed.

A strong vendor will host with a reputable cloud provider and provide clear service level agreements (SLAs), ideally guaranteeing 99% uptime or better. Ask whether they offer a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) or single-tenant deployment for maximum isolation. Some vendors provide this as an optional feature for an additional fee, which may be worthwhile for particularly sensitive datasets. The goal is to ensure that hosting infrastructure supports both security and regulatory compliance, rather than introducing new vulnerabilities.

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5. What Certifications and Compliance Standards Do You Adhere To?

Independent third-party audits and certifications demonstrate a vendor’s commitment to security. While internal assurances are valuable, certifications provide objective evidence that processes, policies, and controls are regularly evaluated against established standards.

Look for SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and any industry-specific compliance requirements such as HIPAA for personal healthcare information or GDPR for organizations operating in Europe. A mature vendor should have these reports readily available for review under an NDA. Vendors that cannot provide documentation or are vague about their certifications may not meet your organization’s security requirements.

Security cannot be an afterthought when deploying AI. The stakes are high: AI search tools have unprecedented access to sensitive information, and any misstep can result in data leaks, regulatory violations, or damage to employee trust.

By asking these five questions, about permissions, data usage, encryption, hosting, and certifications, you can gauge whether a vendor takes security seriously. A partner who answers confidently and transparently is one you can trust to protect your data while enabling enterprise AI search to deliver value.

Arm yourself with these questions. Book a demo with MeBeBot to see how our secure AI platform can protect your data while powering enterprise search.