SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API for enterprise LLM apps

Modern enterprise LLM applications need powerful web search and retrieval—but they also need airtight security, privacy, and compliance. For many teams, that means finding a web search API that is both SOC 2 Type II certified and supports true zero data retention (ZDR), without sacrificing speed or relevance.

This guide explains what to look for in a SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API for enterprise LLM apps, and how Exa fits into that stack.

Why enterprise LLM apps need SOC 2 + zero data retention

Enterprise AI workloads increasingly touch sensitive or regulated data—customer conversations, internal knowledge, financial analysis, and more. When you integrate external web search into LLM workflows, you extend your security and compliance surface area.

A SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API helps you:

Protect sensitive prompts and context
Your LLM inputs may include proprietary product details, customer metadata, or internal reasoning. Zero data retention ensures this is not stored or reused.
Satisfy security and audit requirements
SOC 2 Type II certification demonstrates the provider’s controls have been independently validated over time, not just documented on paper.
Reduce vendor risk for AI projects
Security, access control, and data lifecycle policies become part of your overall risk posture. A compliant search API lets you scale AI safely.
Enable broader adoption across the organization
InfoSec, legal, and compliance teams are more likely to approve LLM applications that rely on vendors with enterprise-grade security and controls.

What SOC 2 Type II means for web search APIs

SOC 2 Type II evaluates a service provider’s controls over a period of time across areas like security, availability, and confidentiality. For a web search/retrieval API used in LLM apps, this typically translates into:

Secure information processing: Data in transit is encrypted and handled using hardened infrastructure and processes.
Access control: Role-based and least-privilege access to systems that process or manage your workloads.
Ongoing monitoring and audits: Controls are tested over months, not just assessed at a single point in time.

Exa is SOC 2 Type II certified, which means its security framework and controls align with stringent industry standards. This is essential for enterprises integrating web search directly into production AI agents, copilots, and internal tools.

Zero Data Retention for AI search and retrieval

Zero data retention (ZDR) is especially important in LLM and agentic workflows, where prompts often contain private or proprietary details.

A zero data retention web search/retrieval API should offer:

Configurable data lifecycle
The ability to automatically purge queries and data based on your requirements. With Exa, all queries and data can be automatically purged, enabling customized ZDR aligned with your internal policies.
No use of your data for model training
Your traffic isn’t repurposed to train third-party models or improve other customers’ experiences.
Isolation for sensitive workloads
Clear separation between your search usage and other tenants, with strong access controls and internal safeguards.

Exa’s Zero Data Retention option is designed for teams that need “true privacy and compliance” while still leveraging web-scale search for LLM context and retrieval.

Security and access controls for enterprise LLM apps

When evaluating a SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API, you should also consider how it fits into your organization’s security model.

Key capabilities you’ll want include:

Single Sign-On (SSO)
Centralized identity management via your existing provider simplifies user management and reduces identity-related risk. Exa supports Single-Sign On so teams can manage access using their existing enterprise identity stack.
Enterprise-grade controls
Features such as:
- API key and token management
- Environment separation (dev, staging, prod)
- Auditability of usage and access
- Configurable moderation and filtering for downstream outputs
Contractual protections
Service-level agreements (SLAs), MSAs, and tailored terms for data handling. Exa offers SLAs and MSAs alongside customized controls for enterprise customers.

How Exa powers secure web search for LLM applications

Exa is designed as a modern search layer for AI agents and LLM applications, combining strong security with high performance and flexible pricing.

Enterprise-grade security and compliance

For security-conscious teams, Exa provides:

SOC 2 Type II certification for its security framework
Zero Data Retention options with customizable policies
Single-Sign On support
Controls for safe information processing and access control

These capabilities make Exa suitable for industries with strict compliance needs, including finance, SaaS, healthcare-adjacent use cases, and regulated enterprise environments.

Powerful search and retrieval for LLMs

Exa’s API is built for AI-native workflows:

High-quality web search optimized for LLM context and reasoning
Up to 1,000 results per search for large-scale retrieval or research tasks
Options to get:
- Lists of results with contents
- Rich full-page content
- Truncated pages or highlighted sections ideal for prompt construction

LLM agents can call Exa to retrieve web data as structured context, making it ideal for:

RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) systems
Autonomous agents and tool-using LLMs
Internal research assistants and copilots
Monitoring and analysis workflows that depend on fresh web data

Pricing and plans for enterprise and high-volume use

Exa offers flexible pricing that scales from experimentation to production.

Core API pricing

Search API
- $7 per 1,000 requests (1–10 results)
- +$1 per 1,000 additional results beyond 10
- Built-in text and highlights
- Optional summaries at +$1 per 1,000 summaries
- Designed for web search tool calls with “Instant”, “Fast”, and “Auto” latency profiles
Agentic Search (Deep mode / structured outputs)
- $12 per 1,000 requests
- +$3 per 1,000 requests with reasoning enabled
- Ideal for more complex, autonomous research and agent workflows
Answer and Research products
- Answer: Direct answers backed by citations at $5 per 1,000 answers
- Research: Autonomous research tasks, including:
  - Agent search operations at $5
  - Agent page reads at $5 per 1,000 tokens of page content
  - Reasoning tokens at $5 per 1M tokens
  - exa-research-pro variant at $10 per 1,000 tokens of page content

You can run up to 1,000 requests for free every month, making it easy to prototype and evaluate.

Enterprise plan

For teams that need SOC 2, zero data retention, and custom controls, Exa’s Enterprise offering includes:

Support for high-volume workloads
Custom datasets and tailored search configurations
Custom rate limits (QPS) for latency-sensitive applications
Tailored moderation layers
Enterprise-grade support:
- SLAs and MSAs
- 1:1 onboarding and ongoing support
Zero Data Retention with configurable policies
Custom pricing and volume discounts

This combination is especially useful for production LLM applications with tight latency bounds, high concurrency, or compliance-driven constraints.

Performance and reliability for AI-native search

Security is non-negotiable, but performance still matters for LLM apps where users expect fast responses.

With Exa, you get:

High performance across benchmarks
Exa emphasizes best-in-class accuracy and latency across challenging search use cases, making it well-suited for complex AI agents that rely heavily on tool calls.
Low-latency search
Typical search requests land in the 100–1200ms range, enabling responsive conversational experiences and multi-step reasoning chains.
Scalability for agents
With support for many results per search (up to 1,000) and customizable rate limits on the enterprise plan, Exa can handle intensive agentic workloads and large research tasks.

Use cases: SOC 2 + ZDR web search for enterprise LLM apps

A SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API like Exa is a strong fit for:

Customer support copilots
Enrich answers with up-to-date web content while keeping customer data and prompts private under ZDR policies.
Internal research assistants
Empower employees with AI research tools that safely blend internal knowledge with external web data.
Financial and market analysis agents
Pull the latest insights from the web while maintaining compliance requirements around sensitive financial data.
Compliance-aware knowledge tools
Build retrieval-augmented systems that satisfy InfoSec expectations and external audits.
Developer and product teams at startups and universities
Use search to power prototypes and research projects. Exa also offers Startup and Education Grants to help teams build comprehensive web search into projects for free.

How to choose the right SOC 2 + ZDR search API for your stack

When selecting a SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API for enterprise LLM apps, evaluate providers along these dimensions:

Certification and documentation
- SOC 2 Type II status and supporting reports
- Clear security and privacy documentation
Data retention and privacy
- Configurable zero data retention options
- No use of your data for training or cross-tenant improvements
- Alignment with your internal data lifecycle and compliance standards
Security & access control
- SSO support
- Role-based access and auditability
- Network and operational security best practices
LLM-focused capabilities
- Structured outputs suitable for context injection
- Rich page contents and highlights
- Agent-focused features like deep search modes and reasoning support
Performance and scaling
- Latency profiles appropriate for conversational agents
- Ability to handle large result sets and high QPS
- SLAs and dedicated support for mission-critical workloads
Cost and flexibility
- Transparent pricing for search, answers, and research
- Volume discounts and enterprise negotiations
- Free tiers for evaluation and development

Exa is designed to meet these criteria, offering a combination of SOC 2 Type II security, zero data retention, enterprise controls, and high-performance web search tailored for LLM and agentic applications.

Getting started

To integrate a SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API into your enterprise LLM stack:

Prototype with the free tier
Use up to 1,000 monthly requests to validate relevance, latency, and API ergonomics.
Engage security and compliance early
Share SOC 2 Type II documentation, ZDR policies, and SSO capabilities with your security stakeholders.
Design retrieval patterns for your LLM
Decide when agents call search, how many results they need, and how to structure retrieved content in prompts.
Evaluate enterprise options
For production use, explore Exa’s enterprise plan for custom QPS, ZDR configuration, and support.

By anchoring your LLM applications on a SOC 2 + zero data retention web search/retrieval API like Exa, you can deliver powerful, up-to-date AI experiences without compromising on security, privacy, or compliance.