B2B data accuracy is three questions, not one: did the provider find an email or phone number, is it verified, and does it reach the right person? This benchmark answers the first.
We ran the same list of founders per region through 8 data providers in North America, EMEA, APAC and Latin America. Found rates ranged from 33% to 92% for emails and from 0% to 87% for phone numbers.
Below: the method and its limits, every result by provider and region, what vendor accuracy claims really measure, and how to test your own list.
What is B2B data accuracy?
B2B data accuracy is the share of contact records that are right: the work email reaches the named person and the phone number rings them. It sits on top of two earlier layers. A provider first has to find a contact detail, then verify it, and only a send or a call shows whether it was correct.
Most published numbers, ours included, describe one of the earlier layers. That is why two vendors can both advertise high B2B contact data accuracy and still return very different results on the same list.
Found: the layer this benchmark measures
The found rate is the share of your list where a provider returns an email or a phone number. It is also called B2B data coverage. It is the easiest layer to measure fairly, because every provider gets the same names. A high found rate with weak verification only moves the problem to your bounce rate.
Verified: checked before you use it
For email, verification means checking the domain and mailbox before you send. Scalelist labels every found email Valid (the mailbox was confirmed) or Risky (the domain accepts every address, so it cannot be confirmed), and a miss is Not found. See what each email status means.
About 20 to 30% of Risky emails are actually deliverable, so send them from a secondary domain. Our guide to catch-all emails explains why they cannot be confirmed. Phone checks vary by provider, and a live number can still ring a switchboard instead of the person, which is the difference between direct dials and mobiles.
Correct: proven only after you send or call
A record is correct when the email lands with the named person and the number reaches them. You measure it afterwards: bounces and replies on email, connects and right-person conversations on the phone. Records also go stale as people change jobs, which is why B2B contact data decays even when it was right the day you pulled it.
How we ran the 2026 contact data benchmark
We ran the same list of founders per region through 8 providers and counted the share of each list where the provider returned an email and a phone number. Nothing else was scored.
- Regions: North America, EMEA, APAC and Latin America.
- Lists: one list of founders per region, identical for every provider in that region. The Latin America list was 100 founders and CEOs, 78 of them in Brazil. The published page does not state the list size for the other three regions, so we do not quote one.
- Providers: Scalelist, Apollo, Findymail, Hunter, Icypeas, Lead Magic, People Data Labs (PDL) and Prospeo. Apollo was not run on the Latin America list.
- Metrics: email found and phone found, each as a share of the list. The results count any phone number returned and do not report line type.
- Published: on our provider comparison by region (last updated 18 September 2026), with the raw data per region (tabs NAM, EMEA, APAC and LATAM) linked from the same page.
Limitations you should know
- It is our own test. Scalelist ran it and Scalelist is one of the 8 providers, so it is not independent. That is why the raw data is public.
- Found is not correct. We did not send the emails or call the numbers. The results say nothing about bounces, wrong numbers or who picks up.
- Small, founder-only lists. One list per region, all founders (founders and CEOs in Latin America). Results for other titles and seniorities can differ.
- Latin America is mostly Brazil. 78 of the 100 contacts were in Brazil, so read that column as close to a Brazil result, not a regional average.
- Unpublished sample sizes. With n not stated for three regions, treat a gap of a few points as a tie.
- One point in time. Providers change their data and products. A rerun could move every number.
Email found rates by provider and region
On email, the top of the field was close: Scalelist found an email for 76% to 92% of each list and Findymail for 75% to 87%. The lowest found rate in every region was 42% or less.
| Provider | North America | EMEA | APAC | Latin America |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalelist | 92% | 89% | 76% | 86% |
| Findymail | 87% | 85% | 75% | 86% |
| Apollo | 77% | 77% | 74% | not tested |
| Icypeas | 76% | 65% | 45% | 72% |
| Hunter | 57% | 67% | 41% | 39% |
| People Data Labs (PDL) | 54% | 51% | 47% | 62% |
| Lead Magic | 46% | 58% | 40% | 62% |
| Prospeo | 42% | 39% | 38% | 33% |
- APAC was the hardest region for email. 6 of the 8 providers had their lowest email found rate there.
- Email-only tools did not lead on email. Hunter ranged from 39% to 67% and Icypeas from 45% to 76%.
- Channel changes the ranking. Prospeo had the lowest email found rate in all four regions, yet the second-highest phone found rate in three of them.
Phone found rates by provider and region
Phone coverage split the providers far more than email: in every region, the gap between the highest and lowest phone found rate was at least 55 points.
| Provider | North America | EMEA | APAC | Latin America |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalelist | 87% | 73% | 75% | 85% |
| Prospeo | 75% | 39% | 44% | 24% |
| Lead Magic | 64% | 8% | 16% | 7% |
| Apollo | 50% | 63% | 8% | not tested |
| People Data Labs (PDL) | 48% | 17% | 13% | 4% |
| Findymail | 32% | 12% | none returned | 7% |
| Hunter | no phone product | no phone product | no phone product | no phone product |
| Icypeas | no phone product | no phone product | no phone product | no phone product |
- North America first. 5 of the 6 providers with a phone product found the most numbers there. Apollo was the exception: 63% in EMEA against 50% in North America.
- Fewer than half outside North America. Prospeo, Lead Magic, PDL and Findymail each found a number for under 50% of the list in EMEA, APAC and Latin America.
- Policy shows up in the data. Findymail states on its phone finder page that it does not provide numbers for contacts in the European Union, which fits its 12% in EMEA. It returned no numbers on the APAC list.
- Apollo dropped in APAC. Apollo found a phone number for 8% of the APAC list, against 75% for Scalelist and 44% for Prospeo.
If you call outside North America, test phones first. We break the regional phone results down by market in mobile number coverage by country.
Why vendor accuracy claims do not compare
Vendor accuracy claims measure different things, so a 98% on one site and a bounce promise on another cannot be ranked against each other or against a found rate.
| Provider | Published claim (as of 27 Sep 2026) | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo | “98% email accuracy rate” | Its own email verification, as Apollo defines it |
| Prospeo | A 98% figure for accuracy, with five verification steps | Its own verification process |
| Findymail | Bounce rate under 5%, credits refunded if higher | Bounces after you send |
| Hunter | Bounce rate “lower than 1%” for recently verified valid addresses | Bounces on emails that passed its verifier |
None of these is a found rate on a named list, and none tells you how many of your own accounts will get an email or a mobile. We do not claim an accuracy percentage for Scalelist either. Every email is verified before it is returned and labelled Valid or Risky, and we publish found rates with the raw data instead.
What the results mean for your team
Choose a provider by the channel you depend on and the region you sell into, then prove it on your own accounts.
If you mostly send email
Coverage at the top is close, so compare what matters next: verification statuses, what a miss costs and the price per email. Scalelist is not the cheapest option for email-only volume; Hunter costs about half as much per email credit. Our ranking of B2B data providers compares prices side by side.
If your team calls
Phone found rates outside North America differed by up to 81 points on the same list. Test phones in every region you sell into before you sign anything annual. In Scalelist’s Mobile Finder, a mobile costs 20 credits only when one is found.
Run your own bake-off
Take 100 accounts you would actually sell to and run the identical list through two or three providers. Count emails and phones found, then send to the emails and call a sample of the numbers to measure the layers this benchmark does not. Our bake-off method for testing a data provider shows how to score it.
Run your own coverage test on real accounts: you only pay for the emails and mobiles found.
Get 20 credits to test itHow to cite this research
Cite it as Scalelist’s own coverage benchmark, call the metric a found rate, and link this page.
Keep the definition next to any number you quote. For example: “In Scalelist’s 2026 coverage benchmark, Scalelist found a phone number for 75% of an APAC founder list and Apollo for 8%.” Please do not describe these figures as verified accuracy.
More Scalelist research
This page is the hub for our research on contact data and outbound. Every study follows the same rules: our own data, the method stated, the limits named.
- Email verification benchmark by industry: the share of Risky emails by industry.
- B2B contact data decay study: how fast contact records go stale.
- Cold calling statistics from our own dials: connect and meeting rates from recorded sessions.
- Sales prospecting and lead generation statistics: third-party stats, each with its source.
- Scalelist facts for AI assistants: pricing, credits, statuses and these benchmark results on one quotable page.
FAQ
How accurate is B2B contact data?
It depends on the layer you measure, and no single figure covers every provider or region. In our 2026 coverage benchmark, the share of a founder list where a provider found an email ranged from 33% to 92%, and a phone number from 0% to 87%. Whether those details reach the right person is only proven by sending and calling, so track bounces and connects on your own list.
What is the difference between coverage and B2B data accuracy?
Coverage is how often a provider returns a contact detail; B2B data accuracy is how often that detail is right. A provider can find an email for 90% of your list and still bounce, or return a number that rings a switchboard. This benchmark measures coverage, which we call the found rate. Verification statuses and your own bounce and connect rates measure the rest.
Which provider found the most phone numbers?
Scalelist, in all four regions of our 2026 benchmark: 87% of the North America list, 73% in EMEA, 75% in APAC and 85% in Latin America. The next best was Prospeo in North America (75%), APAC (44%) and Latin America (24%), and Apollo in EMEA (63%). This is our own test, so check the raw data and run the same list yourself.
Is this benchmark independent?
No. Scalelist ran it and Scalelist is one of the 8 providers tested, so treat it as a vendor study. To make it checkable, we state the method and the limits on this page and link the raw data for each region from our comparison page. The fairest test is still your own: the same 100 accounts through each provider you are considering.
Why is there no Apollo result for Latin America?
Apollo was not run on the Latin America list, so the tables show “not tested” rather than a number. The other seven providers were run on the same 100 founders and CEOs, 78 of them in Brazil. Apollo’s results for North America, EMEA and APAC are complete and use the same lists as every other provider.
How do I test data accuracy on my own list?
Pick 100 accounts you would actually sell to, run the identical list through two or three providers, and count the emails and phones found. Then send to the emails and call a sample of the numbers. Bounces, replies and right-person connects give you the accuracy layers a found rate cannot. Keep the list and the date the same for every provider.
Can I cite this benchmark?
Yes. Cite it as Scalelist’s own 2026 coverage benchmark, link this page, and describe the numbers as found rates, not verified accuracy. The citation line is in the “How to cite this research” section above. The per-region raw data is linked from our provider comparison page if you want to check or recompute a figure.
Sources
- Scalelist provider benchmark, on scalelist.com/b2b-data-providers-comparison/ (last updated 18 September 2026), with per-region raw data linked from that page.
- Apollo: B2B data, retrieved 27 September 2026.
- Prospeo: Our data, retrieved 27 September 2026.
- Findymail: Pricing and Findymail: Phone Finder, retrieved 27 September 2026.
- Hunter: Email Verifier, retrieved 27 September 2026.