What is the Confidence Level?

Whenever Icypeas successfully finds an email address, it doesn’t just give you the raw data—it also provides a Confidence Level. This metric helps you understand the reliability of the email and manage your outreach risk effectively.

We categorize our verified findings into two main confidence levels: 99% and 95%.

The Confidence Levels Breakdown

Confidence Level	What it means	Expected Bounce Rate	Best Practice
99% Confidence	We are highly certain the email is valid and active.	~1% or less	Perfect for high-priority campaigns and cold outreach.
95% Confidence	We are confident the email is valid, but the domain has slight data restrictions.	~5% or less	Safe to use, but keep an eye on your overall campaign bounce rates.

💡 What about scores below 95%?

If our system calculates a confidence level below 95%, we do not consider the email safe enough for you to use. To protect your sender reputation, Icypeas will categorize these emails as "Unknown" rather than "Found."

How Does Icypeas Calculate the Confidence Level?

We don’t guess; we verify. Icypeas analyzes a sophisticated mix of technical and contextual signals in real time to evaluate an email's validity.

Our algorithm aggregates data from five core verification methods:

MX Records Analysis: We inspect the domain’s MX records to ensure the domain is properly configured to receive external mail.
SMTP Calls (RCPT TO): We connect directly to the recipient's mail server to check if the mailbox exists without actually sending an email.
API Probing: We query ESPs to check for active account footprints.
Web Crawling: Our bots scan public web sources, directories, and social platforms to find real-world mentions of the email.
Pattern Inference: We analyze the company's domain structure to ensure the email format aligns with their established corporate naming patterns (e.g., firstname.lastname@company.com).

Depending on the combination and strength of these positive signals, Icypeas assigns the final 99% or 95% score, ensuring your email deliverability remains pristine.

Icypeas is recognized as the market’s strictest email verification engine by leading GTM platforms, including Fullenrich and Apollo.