B2B intent data is a signal that a company is researching a topic linked to what you sell: reading articles, comparing vendors, visiting your pricing page. It can tell you which accounts might be in market this month. It does not tell you who the buyer is or how to reach them.
This guide covers the three types of intent data, how surge scores are built, what the main vendors publish about price, and a simple test for when you need intent data and when a tight ICP plus direct mobile numbers will do more.
What is B2B intent data?
B2B intent data is behavioral data that shows which companies are actively researching a topic, a product category or a vendor. It is collected from website visits, content consumption and review-site activity, then matched to a company and scored against that company’s normal level of research.
Sales and marketing teams use intent data to decide which accounts to contact first and when, alongside other buying signals data such as hiring and funding. It answers “who is looking now?”, which firmographic data (who could buy) and technographic data (what they run) cannot. It does not answer who to call.
The 3 types of intent data
Intent data comes in three types, defined by where the research happens: on your own properties (first-party), on another company’s platform (second-party) or across a network of publishers (third-party).
First-party intent: your own website and product
First-party intent is activity you can see yourself: visits to your pricing page, demo requests, product signups, email clicks. Website visitor identification tools match anonymous traffic to companies. Leadfeeder says it can “identify up to 45% of companies visiting your website”, and Bombora notes that “on average, 97% of website visitors are anonymous”.
Second-party intent: research on someone else’s platform
Second-party intent comes from a platform where buyers research, shared by that platform. G2 Buyer Intent shows software vendors which companies research their product, category or competitors on G2, Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp. G2 says the data is “collected at the organization level”, with no personal data.
Third-party intent: research across a publisher network
Third-party intent aggregates reading across many websites. Bombora’s Company Surge data reflects research “across 16B+ monthly events and 5M+ company domains” on a cooperative of publisher sites, covering “21,600+ Intent topics”. Bombora says partners such as 6sense, Apollo and AdRoll embed its Company Surge data in their own products.
How intent data works: from a page view to a surge score
Intent data turns anonymous research into an account-level score in four steps: capture the activity, match it to a company, compare it with that company’s baseline, and flag a surge on a topic.
Bombora describes the comparison step precisely: its scoring “compares the most recent three weeks of activity against a 12-week historical baseline”. A surge means a company is researching a topic more than it usually does. That is useful, and it is also why intent goes stale fast: a three-week window closes before a slow team acts.
What intent data costs
Most intent data is priced on a custom quote, so you cannot compare vendors on price before a sales call. Here is what each vendor publishes, as of September 2026.
| Vendor | Type of intent | Entry price | Contacts included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombora | Third-party (publisher co-op) | Not published | No, account-level only |
| G2 Buyer Intent | Second-party (review sites) | Add-on to Professional or Enterprise; not published | No, account-level only |
| 6sense | Intent plus predictive scoring | Not published; free plan closed on 12 August 2026 | Emails and phones through data credits |
| Demandbase | Intent inside an ABM platform | Not published | Yes, contact data product |
| Leadfeeder (Dealfront) | First-party website visitors | Free Lite; Discover from 79 EUR a month, billed annually | Limited contact enrichment with credits |
Three vendors let you look before you buy: G2 offers a one-off retroactive view of the past 30 days, Demandbase runs a free lookup of accounts researching your keywords over the last 7 days, and Leadfeeder’s Lite plan shows the last 100 companies from the past 7 days. For a full comparison, see our guide to intent data providers.
When you do not need intent data (and when you do)
You do not need intent data when your team can reach every account in your ICP within a quarter. Intent data ranks a list that is too long to work; if your list is not too long, ranking it adds cost and delay without adding meetings.
You probably do not need it if
- Your market is small enough to cover. 4,451 sales leaders at US software companies with 51 to 500 employees is a list two reps can work in a quarter, at about 35 new people per rep per working day.
- Your buyers may not research where intent is tracked. If you sell to plant managers or clinic owners, ask the vendor for real surges from your ICP before you pay.
- You cannot act within a week. A surge built on a three-week window is old news by the time a monthly campaign goes out.
- You have no direct line to act with. A surging account with no named person and no phone number is a lead for your ads team, not for your reps.
It is probably worth it if
- Your ICP holds more accounts than your team can reach in a year.
- Your buyers compare vendors online, as software buyers do on review sites such as G2.
- You already run account-based advertising and need to decide where to spend (see account-based marketing tools).
- Your team can route a signal to a named rep and act on it within days.
Example: fit plus timing instead of an intent subscription
The alternative to intent data is fit plus a timing signal you can see yourself, plus a direct line. Here is how that looks for one team.
Callpath is a fictional sales coaching tool in Chicago. Its best customers are US software companies with 51 to 500 employees, and the buyer is the head of sales. Two reps, no marketing budget.
- Fit: Scalelist matches 4,451 sales leaders (head, VP or C-level) at US software companies with 51 to 500 employees (people count, 27 September 2026).
- Timing: 133 of them started their current role in roughly the last 3 months. A new sales leader is a classic trigger: they are building a plan and have not committed to the old tools yet. See how to find new executives in their first 90 days.
- Direct line: the reps call those 133 first, on verified mobiles, then work the rest of the 4,451 over the quarter.
The whole priority list costs about 2,900 credits if every lead, email and mobile is found (133 people × 22 credits), which fits the Scaler 5K plan at 199 USD a month. Here is the opener the reps use:
Other timing signals work the same way: companies that are hiring for your buyer’s team, fresh funding, or your own pricing-page visitors. Our list of B2B buying signals groups them by what they tell you.
Common intent data problems (and the fix)
Intent data has four known weak spots. Each has a fix, and most of the fixes are about people, not data.
It names a company, not a buyer
Intent is account-level: G2 collects at the organization level, and Bombora’s site describes no email or phone data product. Gartner research puts the typical buying group for a complex B2B purchase at six to 10 decision makers (Gartner, B2B buying journey). Fix: map the buying group at each surging account before a rep calls.
Research is not always buying
A surge can come from a student, a job seeker, a consultant or a competitor reading the same topic. Fix: treat intent as a reason to call a qualified account sooner, never as proof of a project.
Signals go stale fast
A three-week window leaves little time. Fix: route surges to a named rep daily or weekly, not in a monthly report. Our guide to real-time buying signals explains what “real time” means for each signal type.
Coverage stops where the network stops
Third-party intent only sees research on its member sites, and second-party intent only sees its own platform. Fix: check that your category’s buyers actually research there, by asking the vendor for sample accounts in your ICP.
Best practices for using intent data
Intent data works best as the last step on a qualified list, not the first. These habits keep it honest.
- Fit first. Only score accounts that already match your ideal customer profile, or the traits of your best customers (lookalike companies).
- Start with first-party. Your own pricing-page visitors and demo requests are the strongest intent you will ever get, and they are free.
- Measure against a control. Compare meetings booked from surging accounts with a matched group of non-surging accounts before you renew.
What to look for in an intent data provider
A good intent data provider tells you where its signals come from and what you get per account. Look for:
- The collection method and consent model (Bombora, for example, describes a “consent-driven tag” on its co-op sites).
- Topics that match your category in the words your buyers use.
- The scoring window and how often scores refresh.
- Delivery into the CRM, ad platform or data warehouse you already use.
- A free preview on your own ICP before you sign.
- A plan for the person layer: who at the account, and how you reach them.
How Scalelist helps (and what it does not do)
Scalelist, an AI Lead Finder, does not sell intent data. It covers what intent data leaves out: the named people inside the accounts, with verified work emails and mobile numbers, and a timing signal you can describe in a sentence.
You describe the buyer, including industry, company size, location, seniority and time in role. Scalelist’s Lead Finder shows what it understood and how many people match before you spend a credit. If you already buy intent data, bring the surging accounts’ domains and find the buying group at each one through Scalelist’s people search API.
Credits are charged only when something is found: 1 per lead, 1 per email and 20 per mobile number. A miss costs 0, and new accounts get 20 free credits (see Scalelist pricing).
Describe your buyer and the timing signal in one sentence, and see how many match before you spend a credit.
Describe your buyer in one sentenceFAQ
What is B2B intent data?
B2B intent data is behavioral data showing which companies are researching a topic, product category or vendor. It comes from website visits, content reading and review-site activity, matched to a company and scored against its normal research level. Teams use it to decide which accounts to contact first. It is usually account-level, not person-level.
What are the types of intent data?
There are three. First-party intent is activity on your own website and product. Second-party intent comes from another company’s platform, such as G2 Buyer Intent for software review sites. Third-party intent aggregates research across a network of publisher sites, such as Bombora’s Company Surge data.
Is intent data worth it for small sales teams?
Usually not at first. If two or three reps can work every account in your ICP within a quarter, intent data ranks a list you will cover anyway. Start with fit, free first-party signals and timing triggers such as new leaders or hiring, then consider intent when your ICP outgrows your team’s capacity.
How much does B2B intent data cost?
Most vendors do not publish prices. Bombora, 6sense and Demandbase sell on custom quotes, and G2 Buyer Intent is an add-on to its Professional or Enterprise packages. Leadfeeder, a first-party website visitor tool, has a free Lite plan and paid plans from 79 EUR a month billed annually, as of September 2026.
Does intent data include contact details?
Usually not. Bombora and G2 Buyer Intent deliver account-level signals with no emails or phone numbers. Platforms such as 6sense and Demandbase sell contact data separately through credits or licenses. To act on a signal, you still need the people in the buying group and a way to reach them.
How accurate is intent data?
Vendors do not publish a standard accuracy rate. A surge shows that a company researched a topic more than usual, which can come from a real project or from a student, job seeker or competitor. Treat intent as a reason to call a qualified account sooner, and test it against a control group.
Does Scalelist sell intent data?
No. Scalelist is an AI Lead Finder: you describe your buyer in one sentence, including industry, company size, location, seniority and time in role, and get matching people with verified work emails and mobile numbers. You can combine it with an intent provider by finding the buying group at the accounts that provider flags.
Sources
- Bombora: Company Surge intent data
- Bombora: home page (Co-op and event figures)
- Bombora: identity and enrichment
- G2: plans
- G2: Buyer Intent documentation
- 6sense: Sales Intelligence
- 6sense RevCity: Sales Intelligence free plan discontinuation
- Demandbase: pricing
- Demandbase: free intent lookup
- Leadfeeder: pricing
- Gartner: The B2B Buying Journey (archived page)
- Scalelist people count (POST /api/v1/people/count), queried 27 September 2026, 0 credits.
