The Retrieval Moat: Why Embedding Infrastructure Decides Agency AI Margins

Clients now buy AI features whose quality is capped by retrieval, not by the model. Agencies that own embedding storage and query design control accuracy, latency, and cost per answer, while shops that bolt a chatbot onto a generic API inherit every failure the index causes. The strategic question is not which engine to pick but who carries the operational burden of the index once the retainer renews.