Key takeaways
- Industry codes are too broad for most niches; descriptions are where the detail lives.
- Use the words companies use about themselves, not the words you use about them.
- Exclude keywords remove look-alikes that share a term but not the business.
- Read a sample of results before searching for people at any of them.
Why do industry codes miss niche companies
Industry codes miss niche companies because they group firms into broad buckets: a company that builds scheduling software for vets sits under software or veterinary services, beside thousands that do something else entirely.
The detail you need is in how the company describes itself. Its own words name the product, the customer and sometimes the problem, which is exactly what a niche search should match.
How do you search companies by description
Search companies by description using the nouns they would put on their own home page: the product, the service or the customer they serve. Then narrow with country or region and headcount, so the keyword does the one job no filter can.
Test synonyms one at a time. Fleet tracking, vehicle telematics and van tracking can describe the same business, and each brings in a slightly different set of firms.
How do you use exclude keywords in a company search
Use exclude keywords to drop firms that share your term but not your buyer's business. In an illustrative search for payroll software companies, excluding recruitment and jobs removes the agencies that mention payroll in their services.
Add exclusions only after reading results. Guessing them in advance tends to remove good companies along with the noise.
How do you check results before searching for people
Check results by opening a sample, around ten companies, and reading what each one does. If most fit, move on to people; if many do not, the keyword or the exclusions need another pass.
This check is cheaper than the alternative: finding contacts and writing to people at companies that were never a fit.
How to find companies that do one specific thing, step by step
Treat the first search as a draft and expect to refine it.
- Describe the niche in the words the companies would use on their own websites.
- List synonyms and related terms, and the words that describe look-alikes you do not want.
- Run a keyword search with your country or region and headcount filters, and read a sample of the results.
- Refine the keywords and exclusions until most of the sample truly fits.
- Search for people only at the companies that passed, by role and location.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsCompany search in the Marketing and Strategy assistants matches a keyword with country or region, industry and headcount, 25 results by default and up to 50 a search. Find fresh leads adds keywords and exclude keywords when you look for people at up to ten companies.
- CapabilityResearch & analysisWhen a result is unclear, ask an assistant to read the company's website and say what it does, with numbered citations.
Common questions
How many keywords should one search use?
Start with one precise term, then add synonyms one at a time, so you can see which word brings in the wrong companies.
Why do keyword searches return irrelevant companies?
Descriptions mention things a company sells, uses or works near. Exclude keywords and a quick sample check remove most of them.
Can I search for companies that use a specific tool?
Not reliably by keyword, because few companies list their tools in a description. Job adverts and a tool's partner pages are better places to look.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
