Clay

Clay Benchmark Data Request: what Clay needs to hand us, by buyer scenario and competitor.

Every comparison page and listicle we can build today runs on public numbers, and most of those numbers belong to ZoomInfo, Apollo, Cognism, and 6sense. This request breaks out the specific figures Clay can supply, cell by cell, so each buyer scenario can be worked in parallel and turned into owned, citable content.

Prepared September 22, 2026Revised September 23, 2026Data as of Sep 22, 20269 buyer scenarios4 competitors14 data asks20 circulating claims156 public case-study outcomes

Why this request exists

Three findings from the consolidated report, stated as they were measured.

No vendor-owned page holds the citation slot.

On the exact question "Clay vs ZoomInfo vs Apollo", the pages AI engines cite are third-party comparison blogs (formanorden.com, choosemystack.com, managedoutbound.com, biltai.io, thecounterbrief.com, gtmeagency.com, lead411.com). Not one of them is clay.com, zoominfo.com, or apollo.io.

Roughly 2 opposing claims for every 1 supporting claim.

Model Council v2, 25 prompts, 2,368 claims extracted from ChatGPT (887 claims) and Claude (1,481 claims): 23.6% of claims support choosing Clay, 47.3% argue for a competitor, 16.9% are neutral, 12.1% other.

The numbers AI engines quote are competitors' numbers.

Circulating opposing claim: "ZoomInfo had a 61% direct-dial rate in independent 2026 tests." ZoomInfo's own article names Sendoso (70% reduction, $4.9M pipeline) and ConnectWise (40,000+ records). Clay's public FAQ line, "We often double or triple data coverage rates at a 1/5th or less of the cost of ZoomInfo," has no published methodology behind it.

Head-to-head claims, Model Council v2

Position arguedShare of claims
Use Clay (custom data)23.6%
Choose ZoomInfo (enterprise)24.1%
Start with Apollo23.3%
Match tool to job14.5%
Combine Apollo + Clay2.4%
Totals: Supported (use Clay) 23.6%; Opposing (use a competitor) 47.3%; Neutral 16.9%; Other 12.1%. Question "Clay vs Zoominfo vs Apollo", 25 prompts, 2,368 claims (ChatGPT 887, Claude 1,481).

Top cited domains, whole category

DomainShare
pipeline.zoominfo.com32.2%
apollo.io22.6%
clay.com (owned)20.7%
cognism.com16.1%
ftc.gov13.7%
Top cited domains, whole category. Only 3.3% of all category citations are Clay-owned.

How to use this document

Each matrix cell is one specific figure Clay can supply. Rows are buyer scenarios, the way prospects actually phrase the question to ChatGPT and Claude. Columns are the competitor that scenario defaults to. The cell names the Clay data point needed and the competitor figure it must be comparable to. TPC turns each supplied figure into owned, citable content on clay.com.
Every Clay value carries one of three statuses. TO PROVIDE (no public figure), Partially available (a clay.com case study covers part of the metric and the remainder stays TO PROVIDE) or Publicly available (the case study answers the metric definition). 40 TO PROVIDE placeholders remain after the Sep 22, 2026 public-evidence pass, down from 42. The Sep 23, 2026 revision adds two Claygent-specific asks (A13, A14) and promotes A6 to P2 and A12 to P1; the two new asks are listed separately and are not counted in that 40. Nothing in this document guesses a Clay number; public figures are quoted verbatim with customer and URL. Competitor figures are quoted as they appear in the sources and are labeled as they were measured (SoV, visibility score, claims, citations). Metric definitions are stated so the Clay figure and the competitor figure can be read side by side without relabeling.

What Clay has already published

Public case studies on clay.com, scraped Sep 22, 2026: 40 pages fetched (31 /customers/ stories, 9 /blog/ case studies), 156 quantified outcome records across 38 pages. Quotes below are verbatim from the page; nothing is rounded, recomputed or paraphrased. Where a case study answers part of an ask, the ask is marked Partially available and the remainder stays TO PROVIDE.

1 ask publicly available

A5. The clay.com case studies already state named customer, use case, baseline, post-Clay figure and time window.

8 asks partially available

A1, A3, A4, A6, A7, A8, A9, A11. A case study covers part of the metric; the head-to-head or by-field remainder is still needed from Clay.

3 asks with no public evidence

A2, A10, A12. No clay.com case study publishes these figures. 40 TO PROVIDE placeholders remain across the matrix and asks, down from 42 in the first issue. Two further asks added Sep 23, 2026 (A13, A14) also start with no public evidence and are tracked below.

Status by ask

AskData askStatusPublic case studies cited
A1Match rate and accuracy by field after the Clay waterfallPARTIALLY AVAILABLEAnthropic, Hex, Legora, OpenAI, Verkada (EMEA), depthfirst
A2Direct-dial connect rate, North America enterprise ICPTO PROVIDENo public case study evidence
A3EMEA / APAC phone and email accuracyPARTIALLY AVAILABLEVerkada (EMEA)
A4Cost per enriched record at 1k / 10k / 100kPARTIALLY AVAILABLEA-LIGN, IntroCRM, Terrapinn, Verkada (EMEA)
A5Named customer outcomes with before/after numbersPUBLICLY AVAILABLEA-LIGN, OpenAI, Pump, Saviynt, Sendoso, Terrapinn, Verkada (EMEA)
A6Time-to-first-workflow for a non-technical userPARTIALLY AVAILABLEA-LIGN, AlertMedia, Merge, ServiceBell
A7Bounce-rate benchmark by plan tierPARTIALLY AVAILABLEVerkada (EMEA)
A8Incremental fill rate on an existing ZoomInfo or Apollo seatPARTIALLY AVAILABLEA-LIGN, Anthropic, Hex, OpenAI, Verkada (EMEA)
A9Signup and trial enrichment: match rate and latencyPARTIALLY AVAILABLEAnthropic, ElevenLabs, Recharge
A10Agency multi-workspace proofTO PROVIDENo public case study evidence
A11Technographic and intent coveragePARTIALLY AVAILABLEA-LIGN, Coverflex, Oyster, Pump, depthfirst
A12Claygent accuracy and template gallery with setup timesTO PROVIDENo public case study evidence
A13Claygent accuracy benchmark against a manual researcher on a defined task set (new, Sep 23 revision)TO PROVIDENo public case study evidence
A14"Under 10 minutes" time-to-first-workflow claim, to confirm before use (new, Sep 23 revision)TO PROVIDEMerge (single practitioner quote; not a measured cohort)

Top 15 citable public outcomes

CustomerVerbatim textCategorySource
OpenAIMore than doubled enrichment coverage from low 40% to high 80%Data coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/open-ai
Anthropic“We've had a 3x better match rate by using a combination of providers through Clay than we had with just our single provider before.”Data coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/anthropic
HexHex saw Clay fill 88% of the data gap left by their previous enrichment provider, and a 7% improvement in total account coverage.Data coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/hex
Verkada (EMEA)Enrich accounts using 150+ regional data sources gets 62% better enrichment rate than large incumbent vendorData coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/verkada-emea
Verkada (EMEA)By consolidating vendor relationships through Clay's 150+ data source ecosystem, Verkada saw their data coverage increase from 50% to over 80%, even within niche geographies.Data coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/verkada-emea
Verkada (EMEA)“Our previous flow relied on a single vendor and 15% of the ‘validated’ emails still resulted in bounced emails.”Otherclay.com/customers/verkada-emea
depthfirstFill rates on key firmographic and technographic fields climbed from 50% to over 95%.Data coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/depthfirst
A-LIGNThe data quality impact: Clay found 4,500 new LinkedIn URLs that standard providers missed (41% lift).Data coverage or match rateclay.com/customers/a-lign
A-LIGNThe result: $6.8M in displacement pipeline (with $3.3M closed), 83% reduction in research costs, significant cost savings, 108% net revenue retention, contribution to 40%+ year-over-year pipeline growth, and an organization that now defaults to asking "Can we automate this?" instead of accepting manual processes as inevitable.Cost savedclay.com/customers/a-lign
A-LIGNThe cost: The Clay contract cost $10K less than the manual research contract.Cost savedclay.com/customers/a-lign
Regency SupplyRegency built a Clay-powered workflow that tracks over 5,000 contacts, automatically updates records when one of them changes roles, and alerts sales reps in real time.Volume or scaleclay.com/customers/regency-supply
Coverflex“With Clay, N8N, and Postgres, we’ve created an internal Zoominfo that generates more than 200 demos a month,” says Pedro.Pipeline or revenueclay.com/customers/coverflex
RootlyConsolidated tech stack and reduced operational costs from using multiple vendors (Apollo, UserGems, 6sense) to one Clay-centered workflowCost savedclay.com/customers/rootly
IntroCRMHow IntroCRM cut its prospecting data budget by 65% and built better lead lists lists with ClayCost savedclay.com/blog/how-introcrm-cut-its-prospecting-data-budget-by-65-and-built-better-lead-lists-lists-with-clay
Mistral AIAt past jobs, I spent $500k on data integration consultants and platforms, and I spend zero money on this with Clay.Cost savedclay.com/customers/mistral-ai
Which pages name ZoomInfo or Apollo, and what they do not say.Four pages name a competitor explicitly: clay.com/customers/regency-supply (ZoomInfo and Apollo could not find local electrical contractors), clay.com/customers/coverflex (built an "internal Zoominfo"), clay.com/customers/rootly (consolidated Apollo, UserGems and 6sense into one Clay workflow) and clay.com/blog/how-candid-used-clay-to-massively-cut-sdr-research-time-and-boost-accuracy (Apollo named as a data provider used inside Clay; the page has no quantified outcome). None of the 40 pages publishes a head-to-head match rate or a cost-per-record number against ZoomInfo or Apollo. Where a comparison is quantified (OpenAI, Anthropic, Hex, Verkada EMEA, A-LIGN), the incumbent is described only as a single provider, previous enrichment provider, large incumbent vendor or standard providers.

Buyer scenarios

Derived from the head-to-head prompt battery and the opportunity map. The default answer is what AI engines say today; the evidence is the source finding behind it.

S1

Enterprise seats, cold-call heavy, North America

Today: ZoomInfo is the default answer

24.1% of head-to-head claims say "Choose ZoomInfo (enterprise)". Representative opposing claim: "For a team with no vendor loyalty, ZoomInfo is only the right default if the team is enterprise-scale, cold-call-heavy, and operating primarily in North America."

S2

Bootstrapped startup, cheap and fast to start

Today: Apollo is the default answer

23.3% of head-to-head claims say "Start with Apollo". Apollo: 230M+ contacts, free tier, public tiers, built-in sequencing.

S3

Mid-market team with ops capacity, needs custom workflows

Today: Clay's target middle

14.5% of head-to-head claims say "Match tool to job". Supporting claim: "Clay offers transparent wholesale rates that name every data provider your enrichment pulls from."

S4

PLG trial and signup enrichment

Today: No owner of the narrative yet

Derived from the head-to-head prompt battery framing. No Clay figure exists in any source for signup enrichment match rate or latency.

S5

Lead-gen agency, multi-workspace

Today: Inconsistent answers, nobody owns it

Agency and Multi-Workspace: our SoV 19.7%. Model Council: 10 agreements / 5 disagreements. Confirmed by three independent sources.

S6

Selling into EMEA / APAC

Today: Cognism is the default answer

Cognism: phone-verified mobile numbers, GDPR-by-design sourcing, strongest in EMEA coverage. Clay's product context says it "dramatically improves EMEA phone number accuracy" with no public number.

S7

Enterprise ABM, intent, competitive displacement and technographic targeting

Today: 6sense and ZoomInfo lead

Competitive Displacement Targeting: our SoV 20.9%, Clay rank #14 of 20, behind 6sense, ZoomInfo, HG Insights, BuiltWith, and Apollo. This is the category pipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools competes in.

S8

Non-technical team, first workflow

Today: Complexity narrative works against Clay

Negative narrative "seen" counts: Ease of use 12.8k, Pricing 10.3k, Setup complexity 3.4k, Learning curve 1.9k, Operational complexity 1.2k, Workflow complexity 700. Brand Sentiment Score 65/100.

S9

Layering Clay on an existing ZoomInfo or Apollo seat

Today: Combine story barely appears

2.4% of head-to-head claims say "Combine Apollo + Clay". ZoomInfo claims a parallel waterfall across 25+ providers with the highest-confidence result.

Matrix: scenario by competitor

Read across a row to see every competitor figure Clay must be comparable to in that scenario. Read down a column to see the full ask list for one competitor. n/a marks cells where that competitor is not the relevant benchmark.

Buyer scenario ZoomInfo Apollo Cognism 6sense
S1. Enterprise seats, cold-call heavy, North AmericaToday: ZoomInfo is the default answer
TO PROVIDEDirect-dial connect rate and mobile match rate, North America enterprise ICPComparable to: "61% direct-dial rate in independent 2026 tests"; 135M+ verified phone numbers; 500M+ contactsAsks A2, A1, A5
n/a
TO PROVIDEPhone-verified mobile match rate, North America sampleComparable to: Cognism phone-verified mobile numbersAsks A1
n/a
S2. Bootstrapped startup, cheap and fast to startToday: Apollo is the default answer n/a
TO PROVIDECost per enriched record at 1k volume on the $0 tier, and time from signup to first enriched listComparable to: Apollo free tier, public tiers, 230M+ contacts, built-in sequencingAsks A4, A6
n/a n/a
S3. Mid-market team with ops capacity, needs custom workflowsToday: Clay's target middle
TO PROVIDEMatch rate by field after the waterfall (email, direct dial, mobile), plus one named mid-market customer outcomeComparable to: 500M+ contacts; parallel waterfall across 25+ providers; Sendoso (70% reduction, $4.9M pipeline)PUBLIC (PARTIAL)Hex: Hex saw Clay fill 88% of the data gap left by their previous enrichment provider, and a 7% improvement in total account coverage. clay.com/customers/hex Merge: SDRs got 10+ hours back every week, and response rates climbed 20% because outreach was tailored from the first touch. clay.com/customers/merge Still needed: Named outcomes exist; the match-rate table by field is still needed.Asks A1, A5, A7
TO PROVIDESame match-rate table with Apollo as the baseline provider; cost per enriched record at 10kComparable to: 230M+ contacts; free tier; built-in sequencingAsks A1, A4
n/a n/a
S4. PLG trial and signup enrichmentToday: No owner of the narrative yet
TO PROVIDESignup enrichment match rate (work vs personal email) and median latency per recordComparable to: 500M+ contacts; 100M+ companiesPUBLIC (PARTIAL)Anthropic: 3x’d data enrichment coverage on contact information, firmographics, and more clay.com/customers/anthropic Still needed: Coverage figure only; no signup match rate or latency published.Asks A9, A7
TO PROVIDECost per enriched signup at 10k volumeComparable to: Apollo free tier, public tiersAsks A9, A4
n/a n/a
S5. Lead-gen agency, multi-workspaceToday: Inconsistent answers, nobody owns it
TO PROVIDEAgency-plan cost per enriched record at 100k volumeComparable to: Consumption-credit, quote-based at scaleAsks A4, A10
TO PROVIDECost per enriched record at 10k and 100k across client workspaces; workspaces per agency accountComparable to: Apollo public tiersAsks A4, A10, A5
n/a n/a
S6. Selling into EMEA / APACToday: Cognism is the default answer
TO PROVIDEEMEA / APAC phone and email accuracy by countryComparable to: 135M+ verified phone numbersPUBLIC (PARTIAL)Verkada (EMEA): By consolidating vendor relationships through Clay's 150+ data source ecosystem, Verkada saw their data coverage increase from 50% to over 80%, even within niche geographies. clay.com/customers/verkada-emea Verkada (EMEA): "We're getting address data with 95% accuracy," clay.com/customers/verkada-emea Still needed: EMEA coverage and address accuracy only; no APAC, phone or email figure.Asks A3
n/a
TO PROVIDEEMEA mobile accuracy on a phone-verified sample, with GDPR sourcing basisComparable to: Phone-verified mobile numbers; GDPR-by-design; strongest in EMEAAsks A3
n/a
S7. Enterprise ABM, intent, competitive displacement and technographic targetingToday: 6sense and ZoomInfo lead
TO PROVIDETechnographic coverage: % of target accounts with a confirmed competitor install, accuracy vs verified sampleComparable to: pipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (32.2% of category citations); 100M+ companiesPUBLIC (PARTIAL)depthfirst: Fill rates on key firmographic and technographic fields climbed from 50% to over 95%. clay.com/customers/depthfirst Still needed: Fill rate only; no confirmed-install share or accuracy figure.Asks A11, A5
TO PROVIDESame technographic coverage table. Apollo ranks ahead of Clay on this topic in our SoV tracking; no Apollo figure in sourcesComparable to: Ranked ahead of Clay on Competitive Displacement Targeting (Clay rank #14 of 20)PUBLIC (PARTIAL)depthfirst: Fill rates on key firmographic and technographic fields climbed from 50% to over 95%. clay.com/customers/depthfirst Still needed: Fill rate only; no confirmed-install share or accuracy figure.Asks A11
n/a
TO PROVIDEIntent-signal coverage and one displacement campaign outcome with a named accountComparable to: Predictive intent; ABM orchestration across display, LinkedIn, and emailPUBLIC (PARTIAL)A-LIGN: The result: $6.8M in displacement pipeline (with $3.3M closed), 83% reduction in research costs, significant cost savings, 108% net revenue retention, contribution to 40%+ year-over-year pipeline growth, and an organization that now defaults to asking "Can we automate this?" instead of accepting manual processes as inevitable. clay.com/customers/a-lign Oyster: The results were immediate — within just one month, they saw $34K+ in new pipeline generated from these previously untapped accounts. clay.com/customers/oyster Still needed: Displacement outcome exists; intent-signal coverage still needed.Asks A11, A5
S8. Non-technical team, first workflowToday: Complexity narrative works against Clay
TO PROVIDEMeasured time-to-first-workflow for a non-technical user; template gallery with setup timesComparable to: GTM Studio, provider-managed automatically; "managed platform with no workflow configuration at all"PUBLIC (PARTIAL)AlertMedia: "It only takes about 30 minutes to set up a new workflow." clay.com/customers/alertmedia Still needed: Practitioner estimate only; no measured non-technical cohort or template times.Asks A6, A12, A13, A14
TO PROVIDESame measured onboarding time, compared to an all-in-one setupComparable to: Data and engagement under one login; free tierPUBLIC (PARTIAL)AlertMedia: "It only takes about 30 minutes to set up a new workflow." clay.com/customers/alertmedia Merge: With Clay I can connect all of it, add a layer of AI, and build a system driving real impact for the team in 10 minutes," he says. clay.com/customers/merge Still needed: Practitioner estimates only; no measured onboarding time.Asks A6, A12, A13, A14
n/a n/a
S9. Layering Clay on an existing ZoomInfo or Apollo seatToday: Combine story barely appears
TO PROVIDEIncremental fill rate by field when Clay runs after a ZoomInfo missComparable to: Parallel waterfall across 25+ providers, highest-confidence resultPUBLIC (PARTIAL)Hex: Hex saw Clay fill 88% of the data gap left by their previous enrichment provider, and a 7% improvement in total account coverage. clay.com/customers/hex Verkada (EMEA): Enrich accounts using 150+ regional data sources gets 62% better enrichment rate than large incumbent vendor clay.com/customers/verkada-emea Still needed: Incumbent unnamed; no per-field split.Asks A8, A1
TO PROVIDEIncremental fill rate by field when Clay runs after an Apollo missComparable to: 230M+ contacts; "Combine Apollo + Clay" appears in 2.4% of head-to-head claimsPUBLIC (PARTIAL)OpenAI: More than doubled enrichment coverage from low 40% to high 80% clay.com/customers/open-ai Anthropic: “We've had a 3x better match rate by using a combination of providers through Clay than we had with just our single provider before.” clay.com/customers/anthropic Still needed: Incumbent unnamed; no per-field split.Asks A8, A1
n/a n/a
Competitor figures are public claims from pipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools and the listicle entries in the content plan, plus circulating claims captured by Model Council v2. Source labels are preserved in the Circulating claims section.

Per-competitor breakout: exact asks

Each ask states the metric definition, how to segment it, the competitor claim it counters, and the format needed. Owners are Clay roles, not names.

Asks by competitor: ZoomInfo A1 to A14 (14) · Apollo A1, A4, A6 to A14 (11) · Cognism A3 (1) · 6sense A5, A11 (2)

A1Match rate and accuracy by field after the Clay waterfall (email, direct dial, mobile)

P1
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE
  • OpenAI: More than doubled enrichment coverage from low 40% to high 80% clay.com/customers/open-ai
  • Anthropic: “We've had a 3x better match rate by using a combination of providers through Clay than we had with just our single provider before.” clay.com/customers/anthropic
  • Hex: Hex saw Clay fill 88% of the data gap left by their previous enrichment provider, and a 7% improvement in total account coverage. clay.com/customers/hex
  • Verkada (EMEA): Enrich accounts using 150+ regional data sources gets 62% better enrichment rate than large incumbent vendor clay.com/customers/verkada-emea
  • depthfirst: Fill rates on key firmographic and technographic fields climbed from 50% to over 95%. clay.com/customers/depthfirst
  • Legora: Legora now achieves a 80-90% match rate for contact-based audiences, allowing them to ship pipeline-generating campaigns 70% faster. clay.com/customers/legora

TO PROVIDE Head-to-head match rate vs ZoomInfo and Apollo by field (email, direct dial, mobile) with sample size, ICP, region and provider chain. No case study names the incumbent provider, and none publishes an email or phone match rate by field.

Metric definition
% of input records with a valid value returned per field. State sample size, ICP definition (segment, region, company size), date range, and provider chain used. Accuracy = % of returned values verified valid on a hold-out sample.
Segment by
Field (email, direct dial, mobile) x region (North America, EMEA, APAC) x company size
Counters
ZoomInfo "500M+ contacts" and "100M+ companies" scale claims; Apollo "230M+ contacts". Also the methodology behind Clay's own FAQ line "We often double or triple data coverage rates".
Scenarios
S1, S3, S4, S9
Why it matters
Match rate after the waterfall is Clay's actual differentiator, but the underlying test methodology and sample size behind the FAQ quote are not public (Content Plan, ask 1).
Format needed
Table by field and region, plus a one-page methodology note
Owner at Clay
Data

A2Direct-dial connect rate, North America enterprise ICP

P1
Competitors: ZoomInfo
Clay figure
TO PROVIDE

No public case study reports a dial connect rate or a direct-dial or mobile match rate. The full ask stands.

Metric definition
Connected dials / dials attempted, on numbers returned by Clay. State sample size, ICP, date range, region, and how "connected" was defined (live human answer vs any pickup).
Segment by
Region (North America first) x seniority band x company size
Counters
"ZoomInfo had a 61% direct-dial rate in independent 2026 tests." ZoomInfo "135M+ verified phone numbers".
Scenarios
S1
Why it matters
This exact competitor number is already circulating in AI answers as a representative opposing claim (Clay vs. the Field, Model Council v2). Without a same-definition Clay figure there is nothing to cite against it.
Format needed
Single figure with methodology note; ideally a third-party or customer-run test
Owner at Clay
RevOps

A3EMEA / APAC phone and email accuracy

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Cognism
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE
  • Verkada (EMEA): By consolidating vendor relationships through Clay's 150+ data source ecosystem, Verkada saw their data coverage increase from 50% to over 80%, even within niche geographies. clay.com/customers/verkada-emea
  • Verkada (EMEA): Enrich accounts using 150+ regional data sources gets 62% better enrichment rate than large incumbent vendor clay.com/customers/verkada-emea
  • Verkada (EMEA): "We're getting address data with 95% accuracy," clay.com/customers/verkada-emea

TO PROVIDE APAC entirely (no public case study has an APAC figure); mobile and direct-dial accuracy by country; email deliverability by region; GDPR sourcing basis. Public evidence is EMEA only, from one customer, and covers account coverage and postal address accuracy rather than phone or email.

Metric definition
% of records with a valid mobile or direct dial and a deliverable email, by region. State sample size, countries covered, verification method, and GDPR sourcing basis.
Segment by
Region (UK, DACH, Nordics, France, Benelux, APAC) x field (mobile, direct dial, email)
Counters
Cognism: phone-verified mobile numbers, GDPR-by-design, strongest in EMEA. ZoomInfo: 135M+ verified phone numbers.
Scenarios
S6
Why it matters
Referenced qualitatively in Clay's product context ("dramatically improves EMEA phone number accuracy") with no public number (Content Plan, ask 2).
Format needed
Table by region and field, plus sourcing and compliance note
Owner at Clay
Data

A4Cost per enriched record at 1k / 10k / 100k record volumes

P1
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE
  • A-LIGN: The cost: The Clay contract cost $10K less than the manual research contract. clay.com/customers/a-lign
  • A-LIGN: The result: $6.8M in displacement pipeline (with $3.3M closed), 83% reduction in research costs, significant cost savings, 108% net revenue retention, contribution to 40%+ year-over-year pipeline growth, and an organization that now defaults to asking "Can we automate this?" instead of accepting manual processes as inevitable. clay.com/customers/a-lign
  • IntroCRM: How IntroCRM cut its prospecting data budget by 65% and built better lead lists lists with Clay clay.com/blog/how-introcrm-cut-its-prospecting-data-budget-by-65-and-built-better-lead-lists-lists-with-clay
  • Verkada (EMEA): What required manual research per contact now happens automatically at scale. That improvement in data quality and coverage directly impacted the pipeline generated, doubling the pipeline-to-cost ratio of their high-ROI marketing activities and saving over £80,000 per year. clay.com/customers/verkada-emea
  • Terrapinn: Prospect acquisition costs are down 90%. clay.com/customers/terrapinn

TO PROVIDE The cost-per-enriched-record curve itself at 1k, 10k and 100k per plan tier. No case study publishes a cost per record, and every public savings figure is measured against manual research, a data broker, consultants or an unnamed single vendor, not against a named ZoomInfo or Apollo contract.

Metric definition
Total spend (plan fee plus credits) divided by records successfully enriched, at each volume, per plan tier. State which fields were enriched and which providers were in the waterfall.
Segment by
Volume (1k, 10k, 100k) x plan tier ($0 to $495/mo+) x field bundle
Counters
Pricing negative narrative (10,340 "seen"; 10.3k in the narrative chart). ZoomInfo consumption-credit, quote-based pricing at scale. Apollo free tier. Also substantiates Clay's FAQ line "at a 1/5th or less of the cost of ZoomInfo".
Scenarios
S2, S3, S5
Why it matters
The single most repeated negative theme in Clay's own sentiment tracking. A published cost curve gives AI engines a concrete number to cite instead of "can get expensive" (Content Plan, ask 3).
Format needed
Cost curve table with worked examples, publishable on clay.com
Owner at Clay
RevOps

A5Named customer outcomes with before/after numbers (2 to 3 customers)

P1
Competitors: ZoomInfo · 6sense
Clay figure
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
  • Pump: This allowed Pump to scale from $1M to $25M in 18-months using Clay as their GTM foundation. clay.com/customers/pump
  • Saviynt: Thanks to Clay's MCP for reps, Savyint has seen 60% of reps book more qualified meetings with a $32.2M increase in pipeline. clay.com/customers/saviynt
  • A-LIGN: $6.8M in total pipeline generated or identified ($4.2M created, $2.6M tagged) clay.com/customers/a-lign
  • A-LIGN: $3.3M closed revenue ($2.2M created, $1.1M tagged) clay.com/customers/a-lign
  • OpenAI: More than doubled enrichment coverage from low 40% to high 80% clay.com/customers/open-ai
  • Verkada (EMEA): Since implementing Clay, Verkada has seen their outbound reply rate double since using this workflow in Clay. clay.com/customers/verkada-emea
  • Sendoso: With just a few hours of work, Sendoso booked 16 meetings, generated 23 leads, and closed a deal within two weeks of launching the campaign, all at a 75% open rate and 11% response rate. clay.com/customers/sendoso
  • Terrapinn: Across 150 reps, that's translated to a 19% increase in revenue per employee and a 90% reduction in prospect acquisition cost since using Clay. clay.com/customers/terrapinn

Note: clay.com case studies already state named customer, use case, baseline, post-Clay figure and time window for several customers. What TPC still needs from Clay is confirmation of which named customers may be reused in comparison content. No public outcome is measured against a ZoomInfo or Apollo baseline.

Metric definition
Named customer, use case, baseline metric, post-Clay metric, time window. Candidate metrics: bounce rate, time-to-enrich, pipeline generated, records enriched, cost replaced.
Segment by
Scenario (enterprise, mid-market, agency, ABM / displacement) x metric type
Counters
ZoomInfo names Sendoso (70% reduction, $4.9M pipeline) and ConnectWise (40,000+ records).
Scenarios
S1, S3, S5, S7
Why it matters
ZoomInfo cites customers by name with numbers; Clay currently has no equivalent that AI engines can quote (Content Plan, ask 4).
Format needed
Written approval from each named customer plus a one-paragraph case summary per customer
Owner at Clay
Customer Marketing

A6Time-to-first-workflow for a non-technical user

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE

TO PROVIDE A measured figure: minutes from account creation to first enriched table or published workflow on users with no RevOps or engineering title, with sample size, template used and onboarding help stated. The public figures are self-reported by GTM and RevOps practitioners for building a new workflow, not a measured non-technical cohort.

Metric definition
Minutes from account creation to first enriched table or first published workflow, measured on users with no RevOps or engineering title. State sample size, template used, and whether onboarding help was provided.
Segment by
Template (quick-start gallery item) x user profile (non-technical vs RevOps)
Counters
Complexity narrative: Ease of use 12.8k, Setup complexity 3.4k, Learning curve 1.9k, Operational complexity 1.2k, Workflow complexity 700 "seen". ZoomInfo positions GTM Studio as provider-managed with no workflow configuration.
Scenarios
S8, S2
Why it matters
The most consistent negative narrative across every source is complexity. A measured onboarding time is concrete counter-evidence, not a marketing claim (Content Plan, ask 5).
Format needed
Table of templates with measured setup times; product analytics extract
Owner at Clay
Product Marketing

A7Bounce-rate benchmark by plan tier

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE

TO PROVIDE Post-Clay hard-bounce rate by plan tier and verification configuration, with sample size, sending tool and date range. The only public figures come from one customer (Verkada EMEA) and describe the pre-Clay single-vendor bounce rate and the waste removed, not a Clay bounce rate.

Metric definition
Hard bounces / emails sent on Clay-enriched addresses, by plan tier and by verification step used. State sample size, sending tool, and date range.
Segment by
Plan tier x verification configuration (waterfall only vs waterfall plus validation step)
Counters
Unsourced circulating claim about Clay: "10 to 14% bounce rates when configured properly".
Scenarios
S3, S4
Why it matters
This number already circulates in AI answers about Clay but is not traceable to a published source. Publishing it directly turns an unsourced third-party claim into an owned, citable stat (Content Plan, ask 6).
Format needed
Table by plan tier with methodology note
Owner at Clay
Data

A8Incremental fill rate when Clay is layered on an existing ZoomInfo or Apollo seat

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE
  • Hex: Hex saw Clay fill 88% of the data gap left by their previous enrichment provider, and a 7% improvement in total account coverage. clay.com/customers/hex
  • Verkada (EMEA): Enrich accounts using 150+ regional data sources gets 62% better enrichment rate than large incumbent vendor clay.com/customers/verkada-emea
  • OpenAI: More than doubled enrichment coverage from low 40% to high 80% clay.com/customers/open-ai
  • Anthropic: “We've had a 3x better match rate by using a combination of providers through Clay than we had with just our single provider before.” clay.com/customers/anthropic
  • A-LIGN: The data quality impact: Clay found 4,500 new LinkedIn URLs that standard providers missed (41% lift). clay.com/customers/a-lign

TO PROVIDE The incumbent named as ZoomInfo or Apollo, the per-field split (email, direct dial, mobile), sample size, ICP and provider order. Public pages describe the incumbent only as a large incumbent vendor, previous enrichment provider, single provider or standard providers.

Metric definition
% of records where the incumbent provider returned no value for a field and the Clay waterfall then filled it, per field. State incumbent, sample size, ICP, and provider order.
Segment by
Incumbent (ZoomInfo, Apollo) x field (email, direct dial, mobile)
Counters
ZoomInfo: parallel waterfall across 25+ providers, highest-confidence result. Combine story appears in only 2.4% of head-to-head claims.
Scenarios
S9
Why it matters
The "combine" answer is the one Clay can win without displacing anyone, and it is nearly absent from AI answers today (Clay vs. the Field, narrative math).
Format needed
Two tables (ZoomInfo incumbent, Apollo incumbent) with methodology note
Owner at Clay
Data

A9Signup and trial enrichment: match rate and latency on inbound records

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE

TO PROVIDE Signup match rate split by work vs personal email domain, median seconds per record from webhook to enriched row, sample size and date range. No case study publishes a signup-specific match rate or latency; the Anthropic page describes PLG signup enrichment coverage only.

Metric definition
% of new signups enriched with company and title; median seconds per record from webhook to enriched row. Split by work email vs personal email domain. State sample size and date range.
Segment by
Email type (work vs personal domain) x volume tier
Counters
Apollo free tier and public tiers; ZoomInfo 500M+ contacts, 100M+ companies.
Scenarios
S4
Why it matters
No source contains a Clay figure for PLG enrichment; the scenario is derived from the head-to-head prompt battery framing and needs a first owned number.
Format needed
Table plus a short integration note (webhook, CRM, product analytics)
Owner at Clay
Product Marketing

A10Agency multi-workspace proof: workspaces per account and cross-workspace deployment time

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
TO PROVIDE

No public case study covers agency multi-workspace operation. The nearest page, IntroCRM (2023 blog), is a single client list built by an agency-style firm and does not answer workspaces per account or cross-workspace deployment time. The full ask stands.

Metric definition
Number of agency accounts, median client workspaces per agency account, and median time to deploy a template across N workspaces. State date range.
Segment by
Agency size (client count) x deployment method (template, API, manual)
Counters
No competitor figure in sources. Our SoV 19.7% on Agency and Multi-Workspace; Model Council 10 agreements / 5 disagreements shows no one owns the narrative.
Scenarios
S5
Why it matters
Independently flagged in our topic SoV, Clay's own tracked prompts, and the Model Council disagreement count (Clay vs. the Field, Opportunity Map).
Format needed
Table plus one named agency case (ties to A5)
Owner at Clay
Customer Marketing

A11Technographic and intent coverage for displacement targeting

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo · 6sense
Clay figure
PARTIALLY AVAILABLE
  • depthfirst: Fill rates on key firmographic and technographic fields climbed from 50% to over 95%. clay.com/customers/depthfirst
  • A-LIGN: The result: $6.8M in displacement pipeline (with $3.3M closed), 83% reduction in research costs, significant cost savings, 108% net revenue retention, contribution to 40%+ year-over-year pipeline growth, and an organization that now defaults to asking "Can we automate this?" instead of accepting manual processes as inevitable. clay.com/customers/a-lign
  • Oyster: The results were immediate — within just one month, they saw $34K+ in new pipeline generated from these previously untapped accounts. clay.com/customers/oyster
  • Pump: Response rates increased 25% after implementing cloud provider personalization alone. clay.com/customers/pump
  • Coverflex: Automated monitoring buying signals from 3M+ companies to prioritize outreach clay.com/customers/coverflex

TO PROVIDE Number of technologies detectable; % of target accounts with a confirmed install for a named competitor technology; accuracy vs a verified install sample; intent-signal coverage percentage. depthfirst is the only page with a technographic fill rate, and no page publishes an intent-coverage figure.

Metric definition
Number of technologies detectable via Clay providers and Claygent; % of target accounts with a confirmed install for a named competitor technology; accuracy vs a verified install sample. State sample size and date range.
Segment by
Technology category x company size x region
Counters
6sense: predictive intent and ABM orchestration across display, LinkedIn, and email. pipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools holds 32.2% share of category citations.
Scenarios
S7
Why it matters
Clay ranks #14 of 20 on Competitive Displacement Targeting (our SoV 20.9%) despite real capability (waterfall plus Claygent). Nobody is writing "how Clay does this" (Clay vs. the Field, action 3).
Format needed
Coverage table plus one displacement campaign example with outcome
Owner at Clay
Product Marketing

A12No-code / AI-agent workflow proof set: Claygent accuracy and template gallery with setup times

P1
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo
Clay figure
TO PROVIDE

No public case study publishes a Claygent accuracy percentage or a template setup time. Claygent is referenced (Mistral AI, A-LIGN, Coverflex) without an accuracy figure; the Sana +60% data accuracy and Verkada EMEA 95% address accuracy describe enrichment data, not Claygent output. The full ask stands.

Metric definition
% of Claygent outputs verified correct by a human reviewer on a defined research task set; number of published templates; median setup time per template. State task definitions and sample size.
Segment by
Task type (firmographic research, signal detection, personalization) x template
Counters
No competitor figure in sources. No-code / AI-agent workflow building is 28% of use-case mentions with Clay credited in 2% of them.
Scenarios
S3, S8
Why it matters
The single largest volume-to-credit mismatch in the data (Clay vs. the Field, action 1).
Format needed
Accuracy table plus template gallery export
Owner at Clay
Product Marketing

A13Claygent accuracy benchmark against a manual researcher on a defined task set

P1
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo · Added Sep 23, 2026
Clay figure
TO PROVIDE

No public case study compares Claygent output to a human researcher on the same records. The nearest public evidence is A-LIGN, which describes cost and volume rather than graded accuracy: A-LIGN: The cost: The Clay contract cost $10K less than the manual research contract. clay.com/customers/a-lign. The full ask stands.

Metric definition
On one fixed task set (for example, a few hundred target accounts and a short list of research questions per account), the % of Claygent answers graded correct by a blind reviewer, next to the % of a manual researcher's answers graded correct on the same records. Report median minutes per record for both. State task definitions, grader, sample size, date range and Claygent model settings.
Segment by
Task type (firmographic research, signal detection, personalization) x company size
Counters
C18: "a poor fit for teams that want enrichment to just work". ZoomInfo positions GTM Studio as provider-managed with no workflow configuration. Also gives A12 a concrete accuracy number to publish.
Scenarios
S3, S8
Why it matters
A12 currently has no public evidence to work with. A head-to-head against a manual researcher is the fastest route to a Claygent accuracy figure with a methodology attached, and it is the kind of number AI engines quote.
Format needed
Two-column accuracy table (Claygent vs manual researcher) plus a one-page methodology note
Owner at Clay
Product Marketing

A14"Under 10 minutes" time-to-first-workflow claim: confirm before it is used

P2
Competitors: ZoomInfo · Apollo · Added Sep 23, 2026
Clay figure
TO PROVIDE
  • Merge: With Clay I can connect all of it, add a layer of AI, and build a system driving real impact for the team in 10 minutes," he says. clay.com/customers/merge

The only public "10 minutes" is one practitioner quote. TPC will not publish an "under 10 minutes" claim unless Clay's product analytics confirm it. If the data does not support it, the measured median from A6 is published instead and this ask closes.

Metric definition
% of new users with no RevOps or engineering title who publish a first workflow or first enriched table within 10 minutes of account creation, from product analytics. State cohort size, date range, template used and whether onboarding help was provided.
Segment by
Template (quick-start gallery item) x user profile (non-technical vs RevOps) x entry point (no-code builder, Clay CLI or agent plugin)
Counters
Complexity narrative: Ease of use 12.8k, Setup complexity 3.4k, Learning curve 1.9k "seen". Apollo: data and engagement under one login.
Scenarios
S8, S2
Why it matters
A true, measured "under 10 minutes" figure is the sharpest possible counter to the complexity narrative. An unverified one would be quoted back as a marketing claim, so it is gated on the analytics.
Format needed
Single figure with cohort definition, or a written confirmation that the claim cannot be supported
Owner at Clay
Product Marketing

Competitor claims circulating today

What AI engines are already quoting, with the source it was captured from and the ask that answers it.

IDAboutClaimSourceAnswered by
C1ZoomInfo"ZoomInfo had a 61% direct-dial rate in independent 2026 tests."Representative opposing claim, Model Council v2 (Clay vs. the Field)A2
C2ZoomInfo"For a team with no vendor loyalty, ZoomInfo is only the right default if the team is enterprise-scale, cold-call-heavy, and operating primarily in North America."Representative opposing claim, Model Council v2 (Clay vs. the Field)A1, A2, A4
C3ZoomInfo500M+ contactspipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A1
C4ZoomInfo100M+ companiespipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A1, A11
C5ZoomInfo135M+ verified phone numberspipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A2, A3
C6ZoomInfoParallel waterfall across 25+ providers, highest-confidence resultpipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A1, A8
C7ZoomInfoChorus conversation intelligence, built inpipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)None (conceded in the fair best-for-each section)
C8ZoomInfoSendoso: 70% reduction, $4.9M pipelinepipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A5
C9ZoomInfoConnectWise: 40,000+ recordspipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A5
C10ZoomInfoConsumption-credit pricing, quote-based at scalepipeline.zoominfo.com/sales/lead-enrichment-tools (Content Plan)A4
C11ZoomInfopipeline.zoominfo.com holds 32.2% share of top cited domains in the whole categoryapp.promptingco.com citation analytics (Clay vs. the Field)A11
C12Apollo230M+ contactsContent Plan listicle entry (public Apollo claim)A1, A8
C13ApolloFree tier; public tiersContent Plan listicle entry (public Apollo claim)A4, A9
C14ApolloBuilt-in sequencing and AI-drafted outreach in one subscriptionContent Plan listicle entry (public Apollo claim)A6
C15CognismPhone-verified mobile numbers, GDPR-by-design sourcing, strongest in EMEA coverageContent Plan listicle entry (public Cognism claim)A3
C166sensePredictive intent and ABM orchestration across display, LinkedIn, and email, ahead of a form fillContent Plan listicle entry (public 6sense claim)A11
C17About Clay (unsourced)"10 to 14% bounce rates when configured properly"Circulating in AI answers per Clay's sentiment tracking; not traceable to a published source (Content Plan)A7
C18About Clay (Claude)"Clay is a good lead enrichment tool for teams that want to own their enrichment logic, and a poor fit for teams that want enrichment to just work."Claude, Tool Comparison and Selection, Clay's Narrative Intelligence view (Clay vs. the Field)A6, A12, A13, A14
C19Clay's own (needs methodology)"We often double or triple data coverage rates at a 1/5th or less of the cost of ZoomInfo."Clay public FAQ, as cited in ZoomInfo's own Clay vs. ZoomInfo comparison (Content Plan)A1, A4
C20Supporting Clay"Clay offers transparent wholesale rates that name every data provider your enrichment pulls from."Representative supporting claim, Model Council v2 (Clay vs. the Field)A4

Priority tiers and a two-week collection timeline

P1 unblocks the clay.com/compare/clay-vs-zoominfo page. P2 unblocks the listicle and per-scenario pages. Revised Sep 23, 2026: A12 moves to P1 and A6 to P2, and the two new Claygent asks (A13, A14) slot in beside them, so the complexity and cost counter-narrative is now carried inside P1 and P2 rather than a separate P3 tier.

P1

Unblocks the clay.com/compare/clay-vs-zoominfo page

Asks: A1, A2, A4, A5, A12, A13

P2

Unblocks the best-lead-enrichment-tools listicle and per-scenario pages

Asks: A3, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, A14

P3

Complexity and cost counter-narrative thread, now folded into P1 and P2

Asks: None remaining. A6 promoted to P2 and A12 promoted to P1 on Sep 23, 2026.

Suggested timeline

WindowWorkClay owner rolesAsks
Days 1 to 2Kickoff, confirm owners, confirm ICP and sample definitions for A1 and A2; agree the Claygent task set and grader for A12 and A13RevOps, Data, Product MarketingA1, A2, A12, A13
Days 3 to 5Pull match-rate and cost data; shortlist 4 to 6 customers for named outcomesData, RevOps, Customer MarketingA1, A4, A5
Days 6 to 8Run or source the direct-dial connect test; run the Claygent vs manual researcher benchmark; draft methodology notesRevOps, Data, Product MarketingA2, A1, A13, A12
Days 9 to 10Customer approvals in flight; EMEA / APAC and bounce-rate pullsCustomer Marketing, DataA5, A3, A7
Days 11 to 12Incremental fill, signup enrichment, agency, technographic pullsData, Product Marketing, Customer MarketingA8, A9, A10, A11
Days 13 to 14Onboarding time study and template gallery export; pull the under-10-minutes cohort check; review and handoff to TPCProduct MarketingA6, A14, A12

Owner roles (placeholders, not names)

RoleCovers
RevOpsCost curves, direct-dial test coordination, plan-tier data
DataMatch-rate, accuracy, bounce, incremental fill, technographic coverage
Customer MarketingNamed customer approvals and before/after metrics
Product MarketingOnboarding time study, template gallery, Claygent accuracy and the Claygent vs manual researcher benchmark, under-10-minutes cohort check, signup enrichment