Indexia

INDEXIA BLOG

Index vs. Concordance Mode: Choose Your Page Reference Style

Indexia Team•

When Indexia's AI extracts terms from your book, it finds every relevant mention—sometimes dozens for a single concept. But a professional back-of-book index doesn't list every page where a word appears. It curates the most significant references.

Our new Index vs. Concordance mode gives you the best of both worlds: comprehensive data when you need it, curated references when you don't.

Understanding the Two Modes

Index Mode (Default)

Index mode shows curated page references—the mentions the AI determined to be most significant. These are the pages where:

  • The term is substantively discussed
  • Key definitions or explanations appear
  • Important examples or applications are shown

This is the mode you'll typically use for your final, published index. The page counts are manageable, and each reference points to genuinely useful content.

Example in Index Mode: artificial intelligence, 15, 42–45, 89, 127

Concordance Mode

Concordance mode reveals every AI-detected mention, including:

  • Passing references
  • Mentions in lists or tables
  • Repetitive usage across pages
  • Context where the term appears but isn't the focus

This comprehensive view helps you understand the full scope of a term's presence in your book.

Example in Concordance Mode: artificial intelligence, 3, 8, 15, 18, 23, 27, 31, 42–45, 48, 52, 67, 71, 83, 89, 94, 102, 108, 115, 127, 134, 156, 178, 189, 203

Switching Between Modes

Toggle between modes using the display button in the toolbar:

  • Tally marks icon (four lines): Click to switch to Concordance (show all)
  • Tally marks icon (two lines): Click to switch to Index (show curated)

The current mode applies to your entire view—both the index panel and the term detail panel update to reflect your choice.

When to Use Each Mode

Use Index Mode When...

  • Reviewing your final index: See exactly what will be exported
  • Making publication decisions: Ensure page counts are reasonable
  • Presenting to clients: Show the professional, curated result
  • Exporting: Your export uses the currently displayed mode

Use Concordance Mode When...

  • Investigating a term: Understand everywhere it appears
  • Finding missing references: Spot significant pages that weren't curated
  • Quality checking AI decisions: Verify the AI's curation choices
  • Research purposes: Need comprehensive coverage, not selective

How AI Curates References

Indexia's curation considers multiple factors:

  1. Discussion depth: Is the term merely mentioned or substantively discussed?
  2. Definition presence: Does this page define or explain the term?
  3. Contextual importance: Is this a key passage about the concept?
  4. Redundancy: If pages 45-47 all discuss the term, curate to "45-47" rather than "45, 46, 47"

The goal is to create references that genuinely help readers find valuable content, not an exhaustive list of word occurrences.

Promoting Concordance References

Found a mention in Concordance mode that should be in your curated index? You can promote individual page references:

  1. Switch to Concordance mode to see all mentions
  2. Click on a specific page reference to view it
  3. Use the mention tools to mark it as "significant"
  4. Switch back to Index mode—the reference now appears

Export Behavior

When you export your index, the current display mode determines what's included:

  • Export in Index mode: Professional, curated references
  • Export in Concordance mode: Comprehensive references (useful for research indexes)

A warning banner appears before export to confirm which mode you're in.

Best Practices

  1. Do your curation in Index mode: Make editing decisions based on what will actually export
  2. Spot-check in Concordance mode: Periodically verify important terms aren't missing key references
  3. Final review in Index mode: Ensure your exported index looks exactly as intended

See It in Action

Watch the Index vs. Concordance tutorial video for a demonstration of switching modes and understanding when to use each.

Index vs. Concordance mode is one of several new features in our January 2026 release. See the full feature announcement for everything new in Indexia.