Finding the right person and a working way to reach them is half of B2B prospecting. These are the tools and techniques for finding business contacts, including how a B2B OSINT lead researcher works with public information.
Techniques
- Company website: team, about, contact and press pages; footers often list emails.
- LinkedIn: search the company's people by title.
- Email patterns: once you know one email (first@company.com), others follow the same pattern; verify before sending.
- Google Maps and directories: phone numbers and websites for local businesses.
- Business registries: officers and directors in public company records.
- Press releases and podcasts: names and roles of decision makers.
- Social profiles: bios often list business contact details.
What a B2B OSINT lead researcher does
OSINT (open-source intelligence) lead research means building a picture of a company and its decision makers from public sources only: websites, registries, news, social posts, job listings. Good researchers document sources, respect privacy laws and never use deceptive methods.
Tools
| Tool type | Finds |
|---|---|
| Email finders | Likely email addresses by name and domain |
| Email verifiers | Whether an address accepts mail |
| Phone checkers | Working, mobile or landline |
| Maps scrapers | Local business phones and websites |
| B2B databases | Contacts by title and company |
Ethics and compliance
- Use business contact data for relevant business purposes only.
- Follow GDPR, CAN-SPAM and local laws; see GDPR legitimate interest vs consent.
- Always offer an easy opt-out.
- Never use pretexting or impersonation to get information.
Find local business contacts with the LIVE Lead Scraper, then check emails and phone numbers before outreach.
Start free — no card neededor claim up to 3,000 FREE credits with a paid planContact finding and checking tools:
Basic
$9.99/month
11,500 credits a month
+ 1,000 FREE credits
- About 261 done-for-you leads
- or 88 AI website previews
- All features included
Pro
$39/month
50,000 credits a month
+ 1,500 FREE credits
- About 1,136 done-for-you leads
- or 384 AI website previews
- All features included
Premium
$79/month
105,000 credits a month
+ 3,000 FREE credits
- About 2,386 done-for-you leads
- or 807 AI website previews
- All features included
Frequently asked questions
How can I find a company's decision maker contact?
Check the company website and LinkedIn for the right role, infer the email pattern from a known address, and verify it before sending.
Is OSINT lead research legal?
Researching publicly available business information is generally legal, but how you store and use personal data must comply with privacy laws like GDPR, and deceptive methods are never acceptable.