Too few businesses from keyword collection? Three settings to change

If you collected fewer businesses than you expected, first look at which details you marked “Required” in step 4, where you choose which businesses to save. “Required” means a business without that detail is not saved at all. If you leave only one detail as “Required” and switch the others to get-if-available, the count usually goes back up, and if it's still low, look at the area you chose in step 2, and then at the keywords in step 1, in that order.

This post follows the four questions on the Outreach collection screen — step 1, what kind of business to find; step 2, where to look; step 3, how many businesses to collect; and step 4, which businesses to save — and explains what lowers the number of results and how to change it, using the names on the screen. One example runs from start to finish: "you want to email 100 cafés in Gangnam-gu, Seoul."

Why do I get so few results?

There are three places to check: the save conditions, the area and the keywords.

1. Save conditions — Businesses that don't have a detail you marked “Required” are not saved. If you require two or more details, only businesses that have all of them are left.
2. Area — When you choose a country and an area, only businesses that are clearly in that area are saved. Businesses from other areas don't get mixed in, but the count goes down.
3. Keywords and public sources — If your industry word is narrow, or that area and industry don't appear much in public sources, there simply aren't many businesses to find.

On top of that, posts that aren't businesses, businesses in another region and businesses in another industry are filtered out automatically during collection. Filtered-out businesses don't stay in your results, and no credits are charged for them. Fewer results also means fewer credits used.

Can I see why there were so few after collection ends?

Yes. The Recent collection history section on the project screen gives the reason in one line. These are the notes you'll see most often:

• A note that only businesses with the required email were saved, and that switching to get-if-available would find more — this means some businesses were left out because of the save conditions. See the section on “Required” below.
• A note that no more businesses match these conditions — this means your current area, keywords and save conditions have found everything they can. You need to widen one of the three to get more.
• A note that a problem came up while searching and some searches were stopped — collecting again picks up the rest that's missing.
• A note that collection took too long and stopped there — collecting again carries on filling it up.

Collection also stops when your credits run out. Before you start, the collection screen tells you that it will collect until your credits run out and then stop, and it shows how many businesses your current balance can cover. In that case, top up and collect again.

How many details should I mark “Required”?

We recommend just one. In step 4, where you choose which businesses to save, each detail has its own row, and you pick one of three options for it.

If you mark two or more as “Required”, the screen warns you that only businesses with two or more kinds of contact details will be collected, and adds that such businesses are uncommon, so the number collected drops sharply, because most businesses publish only one kind of contact detail. It then suggests marking only one as “Required” to collect more. If you want 100 cafés in Gangnam-gu but mark both email and phone number as “Required”, only cafés that publish both are left, and you may end up well short of 100.

If you plan to send email, mark only email as “Required” and set phone number to get-if-available. That's also why, when you first open the collection screen, only email is set to “Required”. If phone sales matter more to you, do the opposite: mark phone number as “Required” and set email to get-if-available.

A detail set to get-if-available uses 1 credit only for businesses that actually have it. Setting details you don't need to don't-get lowers your cost, and if you need them later, you can click a hidden detail in the collection results list and reveal it right there. Before you click, the screen shows how many businesses it covers and how many credits it will use, so you can decide based on that number.

Why does choosing an area reduce the count?

Because only businesses confirmed to be in that area are saved. When you choose a country and area in step 2, where you decide where to look, businesses from other areas are not saved even if they come up. If you're looking for cafés in Gangnam-gu, only cafés whose address confirms they are in Gangnam-gu are kept. Your results don't get mixed, but the count goes down.

If you have too few results, try a wider area.

• South Korea — In the area picker, choose one more district, or widen it to a whole city or province. If you choose nothing, the search covers all of South Korea.
• Other countries — In the area picker, choose more states or provinces, or leave it empty.

You can choose from 193 countries. For 15 of them — South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Japan — we know the local language and the industry terms, so the search is more accurate. For the remaining countries, we search based on English, so results may be less accurate. Where a business lists its contact details also depends on the country: in Germany it's the Impressum page, and in English-speaking countries it's usually a Contact page. Businesses outside Korea are found in public sources such as public map data, so areas or industries that aren't in those sources may return few or no results. There's more on this in how to find overseas buyers.

How should I write keywords?

Write only the industry, and leave the area out of your keywords. In step 1, where you say what kind of business to find, enter the industry you're looking for, such as café, butcher or interior design. The area is added to the search automatically once you choose it in step 2, so there's no need to type it into your keywords again.

If you enter several keywords, Outreach searches for all of them. If the same kind of business goes by more than one name, enter them together. For cafés in Gangnam-gu, entering "café", "coffee shop" and "dessert café" together finds more places than "café" alone.

On the other hand, broad words that pull in businesses from other industries help less. Businesses from other industries are filtered out automatically, so even if you enter something as broad as "shop", you won't get more cafés just because the word is broader.

How do I search for a different industry or area at the same time?

Add another search with the option to also search other businesses or areas. For example, if you want 30 bakeries in Busan as well as 100 cafés in Gangnam-gu, don't mix them in one search; split them into two. Each search has its own number in step 3, how many businesses to collect, so you can decide how many to collect in each area.

Once you have two or more searches, search tabs appear at the top of the collection screen so you can switch between them. Step 4, which businesses to save, applies to all searches. If you want different save conditions for each search, it makes more sense to split them into separate projects.

What number should I set for how many businesses to collect?

Start small, look at the results, then raise it. The number you set is a target, and Outreach never saves more than that. If fewer businesses match your conditions, it saves only as many as it finds.

Before you start, the collection screen shows the maximum cost worked out from the number you set and the details you chose, and explains that only details actually received are charged, so the real total is usually lower. Businesses already in your list cost nothing if they turn up again, so even if you start small and then raise the number and collect again, you're never charged twice for the same business. The credit math, with examples, is in how much does it cost to collect business contacts?.

If I collect the same businesses again, am I charged again?

No. Details you already received aren't charged again. If you change the conditions and collect again in the same project, businesses that were already in your list cost nothing. If a business you already received in another of your projects turns up again, the list marks it as also being in another project, and the details you received back then aren't charged again this time. So even if you loosen “Required” or widen the area and collect several more times, you only pay for details from the businesses that are new.

The Gangnam-gu café example, all in one place

Say you start with these settings: café in step 1, Gangnam-gu, Seoul in step 2, 100 businesses in step 3, and in step 4 both email and phone number marked “Required”.

1. Collection ends short of 100, and Recent collection history notes that only businesses with the required email and phone number were saved — switch phone number to get-if-available and collect again. Businesses you already have aren't charged again.
2. Still short, and the note says no more businesses match these conditions — add coffee shop and dessert café in step 1 and collect again.
3. Still short — choose one more nearby district in step 2. If you really need Gangnam-gu only, skip this step and start with the businesses you have.

Changing one thing at a time like this means Recent collection history tells you straight away what made the count go up.

Do I have to wait if collection takes a long time?

No, you don't have to wait. You can use other screens while a collection runs, and as long as you don't close the browser, the collection keeps going. You can write the email you plan to send in the meantime. If you want to stop partway through, press Stop, and the businesses collected up to that point stay in your list.

How do I get the businesses I collected?

View them in the collection results list, or download them as a spreadsheet. Press “Download to Excel” above the list, and whatever filters you have set are applied as they are. For example, if you filtered for businesses without a phone number, only those businesses are downloaded. Downloading to Excel costs no credits.

The order of changes, in one list

When you get too few results, change one thing at a time in the order below and collect again. Changing one thing at a time is the only way to know which change made the difference.

1. Step 4, which businesses to save — leave only one detail as “Required” and set the rest to get-if-available.
2. Step 2, where to look — choose more districts or widen it to a city or province, and if needed, leave it empty to search the whole country.
3. Step 1, what kind of business to find — industry words only, plus other names for the same kind of business.
4. The option to also search other businesses or areas — split a different area or industry into its own search.
5. Before you press “Start collecting” — check the maximum cost and your balance.

If you're new to Outreach, read how to use Outreach first to see the full order of the project screen, and you'll find every screen name in this post right away. If you still get stuck, ask us through the question mark (the help bot) in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Last updated: November 3, 2026