How to Run a Contact Search (Web App)

Olivia Austin

Updated 08 April 2026 22:41

Learn how to run a contact search in Cognism using the web app to find relevant people and build targeted prospect lists.

This article explains how to run a contact search in the Cognism Sales Intelligence Platform using the web app.

You will learn how to apply contact and company filters, review results, and take action on your contact list.

Before you begin

You must have access to the Cognism Sales Intelligence Platform web app.
Some filters require an active CRM integration.

Run a contact search

Open the contact search

Log in to the Cognism web app.
Click Search in the left-hand navigation.
Select the Contacts tab.

You can now apply filters to build your search.

Apply filters to refine your results

Use the filters panel to narrow your results.

You can combine contact and company filters to create a targeted prospect list.

Use contact filters

Contact filters help you define who you want to target within an organisation.

Company name

Search for contacts at a specific company.

Use this to:

Find decision-makers at a target account
Expand coverage within existing accounts

Persona

Filter by saved personas you have created.

Use this to:

Align searches to your ideal customer profile
Standardise targeting across your team

Job title, seniority, and department

Filter by role-specific criteria.

Use this to:

Target decision-makers or influencers
Focus on specific functional teams

Location

Filter contacts by geographic criteria.

Use this to:

Align outreach to territories
Focus on priority regions

Contact data quality

Filter by available data types, such as verified mobiles or verified emails.

Use this to:

Prioritise direct dials for calling campaigns
Focus on email-verified contacts for outreach
Exclude records that do not meet your data requirements

Use company filters within contact search

You can refine your contact search using company-level filters.

This allows you to combine individual targeting with firmographic criteria.

Account ownership

Filter contacts based on company assignment status.

Use this to:

Focus on accounts assigned to you
Identify unassigned opportunities
Review team ownership

Company attributes

Filter by criteria such as:

Company name or domain (including CSV upload)
Location
Headcount
Revenue
Industry or industry classification codes (SIC, ISIC, NAICS)
Technology usage
Intent data
Company events

Intent filters are powered by Bombora and highlight companies showing increased research activity on selected topics.

Use this to:

Align contacts to your ideal customer profile
Prioritise in-market accounts
Build territory or vertical-specific lists

CRM filters

If integrated, you can filter using CRM data from:

Salesforce
HubSpot

Use this to:

Avoid duplicate outreach
Identify existing leads or customers
Align searches with CRM records

Review search results

The total number of matching contacts appears in the Contacts tab.

Matching results display in the table below.

Adjust your filters at any time to refine your list.

To remove all filters, click Clear all.

Take action on your contacts

Once you are satisfied with your search, you can take action on selected contacts.

Select contacts

Select individual contacts
Use the top-left checkbox to select up to 100 contacts per page

Add contacts to a list

Add selected contacts to an existing list
Create a new list
Set a limit for the number of contacts per company

Use lists to organise prospects for campaigns or team workflows.

Export contacts

Export selected contacts as a CSV file
Export contacts directly to your CRM

View and manage individual profiles

Click a contact’s name to open their profile.

From the profile view, you can:

Review detailed information
Add the contact to a list
Export the contact

Expected result

You create a targeted list of contacts that match your selected criteria.

You can organise them into lists, export them, or sync them to your CRM for outreach.