Custom List Matching lets you upload your own company list, match it against the Gazelle database, and save the matched companies to a folder for prospecting and prioritization.
Use Custom List Matching to:
Prioritize an existing company list. Match companies you already follow to Gazelle to access Gazelle data and identify which ones to prioritize for outreach.
Act quickly on new opportunities. Upload companies from an event, conference, featured list, news source, or other timely source and immediately start prospecting them in Gazelle.
1. Open Custom List Matching
Go to My Folders and click Custom List Matching in the top-right corner, next to New Folder.
2. Prepare and Upload Your List
Download and use the Custom List Upload Template, then click Upload List.
Your file must:
Be a .csv or .xlsx file.
Contain no more than 1,000 records.
Contain no 100% duplicates.
Include at least one company identifier: Company Name, URL, or Domain.
Include at least one location identifier: City or Country.
For Country, you can use a 2-letter code (US), 3-letter code (USA), or full country name (United States).
If Gazelle does not recognize the pattern of your uploaded file, you will see an alert so you can correct it and upload again.
3. Choose How to Match
Choose Exact Match or Partial Match. You can toggle between the two after uploading to compare your results.
Exact Match
All populated fields in your uploaded row must match.
Gazelle lightly standardizes your data before matching so common formatting differences don't prevent a match. For example:
Extra spaces are removed.
Common company suffixes such as Inc, Ltd, LLC, Corp, and L.L.C. are ignored.
Domains are matched with or without www. and regardless of capitalization.
URLs treat http and https as equivalent and ignore www., tracking parameters, and trailing slashes.
City capitalization is ignored.
Recognized 2-letter, 3-letter, and full country names are treated as the same country.
Gazelle does not correct typos or change your original file.
Partial Match
At least one company identifier and one location identifier must match.
For example, if your row contains Company Name, Domain, City, and Country, a matching Company Name + City can be enough to produce a result.
Gazelle selects the best matching company based on:
Number of matching fields — more matching fields rank higher.
Location type — headquarters rank above other locations.
Profile completeness — the more complete Gazelle profile ranks higher.
Gazelle does not return every possible match. If multiple companies are tied after all three criteria are applied, all tied companies are returned.
Tip: Start with Exact Match for the strictest results and save those. Switch to Partial Match if you want to broaden your results and add them to the same saved folders. It won’t create duplicates.
4. Review Your Matches
Results appear below the upload area. Each Gazelle company appears only once, even if multiple rows in your uploaded file match the same company. Click any company to review its Gazelle profile. Use your browser's Back button to return to your matching results.
Companies that cannot be matched are not shown in the results and are not automatically added to Gazelle. If you expected a company to be in Gazelle, you can submit a support ticket and ask our team to review it.
Note: Gazelle focuses on companies that fit our coverage criteria, so not every company on an uploaded list will necessarily be available in Gazelle.
5. Save Your Companies
Select all results or choose individual companies, then Save Companies just as you would from Company Finder. You can save them to an existing folder or type a name to create a new folder. A company cannot appear twice in the same folder.
What happens to my uploaded list?
Your spreadsheet is used only to run the match. It is not stored as a client list in Gazelle. When you select Save Companies, only the matched Gazelle companies you selected are added to your folder—not your original spreadsheet or unmatched companies.
Gazelle does not label a folder or company as originating from a custom upload, so use a descriptive folder name if you want to identify it later. If you want to rerun your list in the future—for example, after Gazelle's data has been updated—upload your original file again and repeat the matching process.
Important: Your upload and match results are not retained if you leave the matching workflow. Keep your original file if you may want to run it again.