# How to Find and Merge Duplicates From Prospecting Tools > Prospecting and enrichment tools add contacts and companies you already have. Find and merge them automatically, and keep your CRM's values safe. - URL: https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/prospecting-and-enrichment-tools-without-duplicates - Section: knowledge-base - Site index: https://dedupe.ly/llms.txt - Any page: append `.md` to its URL for this plain-text form --- ## Prospecting and Enrichment Tools Without Duplicates By [Gaby Salinas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbyslns) Updated October 28, 2026 Keep sales and enrichment tools from filling your CRM with second copies of your contacts and companies. Prospecting, sequencing and enrichment tools push contacts and companies into your CRM all day. When a person already exists under a different email, or a company under a different domain, the tool creates a new record instead of updating the old one. In Dedupely, you handle this with searches built for tool-created duplicates, Merge Rules that protect your CRM's values, and Auto Merge on the "As soon as possible" schedule, so new duplicates are merged soon after they reach Dedupely. ### Before you start - **A connected and synced CRM** with Contacts and Companies turned on. See [Connect your CRM](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/connect-your-crm). ### How do these tools create duplicates? | What happens | Example | | --- | --- | | **A different email for the same person** | The tool finds ana.lopez@acme.com; your CRM has ana@acme.com. | | **A different domain for the same company** | acme.com, acme.co.uk or a subdomain like eu.acme.com. | | **A different company name** | "Acme Inc." in the tool, "Acme" in your CRM. | | **A contact the tool doesn't know you have** | It wasn't synced back to the tool, so it creates it again. | Most tools match on one exact value, usually email or domain. Anything that isn't written the same way becomes a new record. ### Which searches catch tool-created duplicates? Build one search for each pattern: | Search | Fields | Use it for | | --- | --- | --- | | **Contacts · Same person, new email** | First Name: Similar Words (Any Order) with **Match nicknames** · Last Name: Exact · Company: Similar Words (Any Order), with Ignored terms *Inc.*, *LLC*, *Ltd.* | A person added again under another email | | **Contacts · Same email** | First Name: Exact · Last Name: Exact · Email: Exact | Records the tool created twice | | **Companies · Same domain** | Company Name: Similar Words (Any Order), with Ignored terms *Inc.*, *LLC*, *Ltd.* · Website: Domain Root | acme.com, eu.acme.com and acme.co.uk | Domain Root matches the core domain, so subdomains and country domains of one company match. Companies from these tools often have no country or city, and blank values never match. So don't match on them at first: add Country and City to **Visible Fields**, see what the search finds, then decide whether to add one to the match to keep branches apart. The "Same email" search finds records a tool created twice with the same address. In HubSpot, contacts with the exact same email are usually caught by HubSpot itself, so this search finds the most in other CRMs. See [How to Dedupe Companies and Accounts](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/how-to-dedupe-companies-and-accounts). ### How do you keep your CRM's values safe? Enrichment tools often bring thinner or older data than what your team has entered. Set [Merge Rules](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/merge-rules) so your team's values win: - **Primary Record: Oldest Record.** If you choose it, your team's original record wins, and the associations from the other records move to it. - **Owner and other fields your team manages:** keep the Primary Record's value. - **Lifecycle stage:** choose what fits your process, for example the most advanced stage. - **Phone:** if the tool brings newer numbers, keep the newest with a Win Rule on Create Date. Blank values never overwrite existing data, so an empty field from the tool won't erase yours. ### How to merge new duplicates automatically - **Test each search by hand.** Merge 1–2 matches, check them in your CRM, then bulk merge 1–2 pages. - **Turn on Auto Match** on the "Same person, new email" and company searches, so someone reviews them first. - **Turn on Auto Merge** on a search once it has run for a few weeks without false matches, with the **As soon as possible** schedule. New records usually reach Dedupely within 1–5 minutes. See [Auto Merge](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/auto-merge). See [Auto Match](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/auto-match). - **Check the tool's own settings.** If your tool can look up existing records before creating new ones, turn it on and use it alongside Dedupely. Dedupely doesn't block records from being created. It merges new duplicates after they reach Dedupely. ### Example setup An SDR team of six uses a prospecting tool and a sequencing tool with HubSpot. Each week, about 400 new contacts come in. - **Contacts · Same person, new email:** Auto Match, alert at 10 matches, reviewed by the RevOps lead on Mondays. - **Companies · Same domain:** Company Name on Similar Words (Any Order), Website on Domain Root. Country and City as Visible Fields. Auto Match. - **Merge Rules:** Primary Record set to Oldest Record; Owner keeps the Primary Record's value. - **After a month without false matches:** the company search moves to Auto Merge, As soon as possible. ### Common mistakes - **Letting the tool's records win.** The tool's data can be older or thinner. Keep your team's record as the Primary Record. - **Matching companies on name alone.** Use the domain too, and keep Country and City visible to spot branches. - **Auto Merge before testing.** Review a search with Auto Match first, and move it to Auto Merge once it finds only real duplicates. - **Deduping once.** These tools keep adding records. Automate, or check every week. ### FAQs about prospecting tools and duplicates - **Why does my prospecting tool create duplicates?** It usually matches on one exact email or domain. A person with another email, or a company with another domain, becomes a new record. - **Can Dedupely stop the tool from creating duplicates?** No. Dedupely merges new duplicates soon after they reach Dedupely, usually within minutes, with Auto Merge on the "As soon as possible" schedule. - **Will merging overwrite my team's data with the tool's data?** Not if you set Merge Rules. Keep the oldest record as the Primary Record, and blank values never overwrite existing data. - **Does this work with subdomains?** Yes. Domain Root matches the core domain, like acme.com and eu.acme.com. ### Next up [Auto Merge Merge new duplicates from your tools soon after they arrive.](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/auto-merge) ### Still stuck? Our team helps on every plan and during the free trial, by chat, email or Zoom. - Need help? [Talk to support](https://dedupe.ly/contact) - Questions about plans? [Book a Zoom with sales](https://meetings.dedupe.ly/meetings/gaby-salinas/talk-to-sales) - Reading this with a model? [Read this page as Markdown](https://dedupe.ly/knowledge-base/prospecting-and-enrichment-tools-without-duplicates.md) - Feeding it the whole site? [Read llms.txt](https://dedupe.ly/llms.txt) Behind the article ### Gaby Salinas Marketing Assistant at Dedupely Gaby Salinas came to CRM data from marketing and advertising, so she looks at duplicates from two sides: the match and merge logic behind them, and what they do to the people using the CRM, like the rep who calls a customer twice, the admin who gets blamed and the cleanup nobody wants to start. As Marketing Assistant at Dedupely, she follows how RevOps teams, end users, consultants and technical teams actually work with their data: the records they stop trusting, the workarounds they build and the moment they finally decide to clean up. What she finds shapes most of what Dedupely publishes. [Connect with Gaby on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbyslns) ### Get started for free 20 free trial merges and as much free support as you need to get your duplicates under control. [Talk to sales](https://meetings.dedupe.ly/meetings/gaby-salinas/talk-to-sales)[Try for free](https://v2.app.dedupe.ly/signup) [Or sign up with Google](https://v2.app.dedupe.ly/signup/google) Running CRM cleanup for clients? [See the Partner Program](https://dedupe.ly/become-a-partner) Skip to content