> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.bizmachine.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.bizmachine.com/en/security-and-gdpr/contact-sources.md).

# Where do the contacts in Prospector come from?

How the Contact Aggregator in Prospector works: where contact data comes from, how it is verified and what the last check date means.

*Updated: 7 October 2026*

The contact details in Prospector come from publicly available sources. BizMachine finds them automatically, connects them and verifies them regularly. This page explains how it all works.

### Where does BizMachine look for contacts?

BizMachine goes through publicly available sources and looks for contact information in them:

* Company websites (the "contact", "team" and "about us" sections)
* Public registers (the Commercial Register, the Trade Register)
* Online company lists and directories
* Professional social networks (LinkedIn)
* Map services
* Job ads

In each source, BizMachine finds the publicly available details (phone numbers, emails, names, positions) and assigns them to the right company.

### Where are the contacts in a company profile?

In a company profile in Prospector, you can find the contact details in the Contacts panel. It shows the phone numbers and emails that appear most often across the different sources.

![Company profile in Prospector with the Contacts panel and the More contacts link highlighted](https://247275268-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYkl7SJ14Nk0vzhVx7upl%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-d98d41f1d95670fc2f5d10324bc9beba4ca39f59%2Fzdroje-kontaktu-profil-firmy.png?alt=media)

Click **More contacts** to open the **Contact Aggregator**, where you can see all contacts found in all sources.

### How are contacts verified?

For every contact, you can see where it comes from and when it was last verified. The icons next to a contact show the source: web, LinkedIn, directory. When you hover over a source icon, you see the date of the last check.

![A phone number in the Contacts panel with the Last check tooltip shown on hover over the source icon](https://247275268-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYkl7SJ14Nk0vzhVx7upl%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8e94d48172229bfd9194bddd7d4bdeeaefe21fc8%2Fzdroje-kontaktu-posledni-kontrola.png?alt=media)

**What this means in practice:**

* **The date of the last check** tells you when BizMachine last verified that the contact is still available in the source.
* **Different contacts can have different dates.** Email and phone can come from different sources and have different verification dates.
* **When a contact disappears from its source**, for example when a company removes a phone number from its website, BizMachine also removes the contact from Prospector within set time limits.

How often the checks repeat depends on the type of source. Data from company websites is checked more often than, for example, data from directories.

### How does Prospector find contacts for specific people?

Besides company contacts (general emails and phone numbers), Prospector also finds contacts for specific people. From publicly available sources, it connects the name, position and contact details into one record for each person.

![The Personal contacts tab with the Name, Position, Available contacts, Last check and Source columns](https://247275268-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYkl7SJ14Nk0vzhVx7upl%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7336ac656acf08a0b2bd3f9ec335c12726f35ae1%2Fzdroje-kontaktu-osobni-kontakty.png?alt=media)

For each person, you see:

* **Name and position** in the company
* **Available contacts**: email, phone, LinkedIn profile
* **Date of the last check** for each contact detail separately
* **Source**: where the data comes from (company website, LinkedIn, directory)

One person can have contacts from several sources. For example, an email can come from the company website and a LinkedIn profile from LinkedIn, each with its own verification date.

### What next?

* **The downloaded XLSX file includes the source and the date.** For each contact detail, it shows the source URL and the date of the last check.
* **The API returns the same.** The endpoint for personal contacts returns the source URL and the date of the last verification. You can use this to build an automated process in your CRM.
* **The legal side** (how to process contacts, what to tell your lawyer and how all of this relates to GDPR) is described in detail in the article [GDPR and using data from Prospector](/en/security-and-gdpr/gdpr-and-using-prospector-data.md).