Find any clause across 500 documents in seconds
Peony's AI reads, classifies, and indexes every document the moment it's uploaded. Full-text search across PDFs, Word, Excel, and scanned files — no manual tagging, no waiting for batch processing. The search engine behind every AI feature in your data room.
How Auto-Indexing works
Full-text search on upload
Every word in every document is indexed the moment it arrives. Search across your entire data room by keyword, clause, entity name, or date — no waiting, no batch processing.
AI classification
Peony reads and categorizes every file automatically — financials, legal agreements, IP filings, corporate records. Each document is classified by what it contains, not just its filename.
Smart tagging by content
Documents are tagged by type, topic, entity, and date. AI extracts key terms, counterparty names, effective dates, and jurisdictions — making every file findable by what matters.
Cross-format search with OCR
Search across PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint decks, and scanned files. Built-in OCR means even image-based documents are fully searchable.
Search everything. Find anything.
Due diligence review
Search across an entire data room. Find every reference to 'change of control' across 500 documents in seconds — not the 2-3 hours of manual searching through folders that legacy VDRs require.
Compliance audits
Auditors can search for specific clauses, dates, or entities across thousands of pages without opening a single file. Every certification, policy, and regulatory filing is instantly findable.
Large deal rooms
Deals with 1,000+ files are instantly navigable. Every document is classified and searchable from the moment it's uploaded — no weeks of manual tagging before the room is usable.
Skip the manual tagging
Legacy VDRs like Ideals, Firmex, and Digify have no AI-powered search. Teams spend days manually tagging files and searching folder by folder — hoping they labeled everything correctly.
Peony indexes every document on upload. Classification, entity extraction, and full-text search are automatic — AI-powered and included on all plans, ready in under 5 minutes.
The engine behind every AI answer
Auto-Indexing is the foundation that powers every AI feature in Peony. Better indexing means better search, better Q&A, and faster document discovery.
"Every now and then, you come across a product that has a massive positive impact on your business. Peony is one such product."
Panos Moutafis
Founder & CEO, Zenus
Frequently asked questions
What is auto-indexing in a data room?
Auto-indexing is the process of automatically reading, classifying, and indexing every document the moment it is uploaded to a data room. Peony's Auto-Indexing uses AI to deliver full-text search across PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint decks, and scanned files — no manual tagging or batch processing required. Legacy VDRs like Ideals, Firmex, and Digify require teams to manually tag and organize files before they become searchable.
How does AI classify documents automatically?
Peony's AI reads the content of every uploaded file and categorizes it by type — financials, legal agreements, IP filings, corporate records, HR documents — based on what the document contains, not its filename. It also extracts key entities like counterparty names, effective dates, and jurisdictions, and tags each file for instant retrieval. This means a misspelled or generically named file still gets classified correctly.
How does Auto-Indexing differ from AI Rooms?
Peony's Auto-Indexing is the search and retrieval engine — it indexes every word in every document for full-text search, runs OCR on scanned files, and applies smart tags based on content. AI Rooms is a separate feature for data room setup and readiness — it builds folder structures, sorts documents into folders, detects missing files, and scores completeness. Auto-Indexing makes files findable; AI Rooms makes the room organized. Both are included on all Peony plans.
Can I search scanned or image-based documents?
Yes. Peony includes built-in OCR (Optical Character Recognition) as part of Auto-Indexing. Scanned contracts, image-based PDFs, and photographed documents are all converted to searchable text on upload. Every word becomes searchable alongside native digital files. Before sharing indexed documents, your team can apply controlled redaction to permanently black out sensitive information. Legacy VDRs like Ideals and Firmex either lack OCR entirely or charge extra for it.
How fast is full-text search across a data room?
Peony indexes documents the moment they are uploaded — there is no batch processing or overnight indexing queue. Search results are returned in seconds across your entire data room, even with thousands of files, with all data protected by AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS 1.3 in transit, backed by SOC 2 Type II compliance. Find every reference to a specific clause, entity, or date across 500 documents in seconds, compared to the 2-3 hours of manual folder-by-folder searching that legacy VDRs require.
Does auto-indexing power other AI features?
Yes. Peony's Auto-Indexing is the foundation that powers every AI feature in the platform. AI Extraction uses the index to deliver cited answers across documents. Smart Q&A uses it to draft responses to counterparty questions. AI Rooms uses it to classify files during setup. Better indexing means better search, better Q&A, and faster document discovery across every workflow.
How much does auto-indexing cost in a data room?
Peony includes Auto-Indexing on every plan at no extra cost: Free ($0, 2 GB storage), Pro ($20/admin/month, 200 GB), and Business ($40/admin/month, 1 TB). Full-text search, AI classification, OCR, and smart tagging are all included — no per-document fees or AI add-ons, and no per-viewer, per-page, or per-link limits on any plan. Competitors like Datasite charge enterprise pricing, while Ideals, Firmex, and Digify require manual tagging with no AI search capabilities.
What file formats does auto-indexing support?
Peony's Auto-Indexing supports every common business document format: PDF, Word (.doc/.docx), Excel (.xls/.xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx), and scanned image files via OCR. All formats are indexed identically — a keyword search returns results from spreadsheets, contracts, and slide decks in the same query. This cross-format search eliminates the need to open and search files individually, which is still required on legacy VDRs.
Related features
Smart Q&A
Let counterparties submit questions and get AI-drafted answers your team reviews before sending.
AI Rooms
Set up deal rooms faster with AI-powered folder templates, missing document detection, and completeness scoring.
Page Analytics
Track exactly who viewed your documents, which pages they read, and how long they spent.