Dataset Verification | ApexVerify Documentation

Dataset verification is about more than validity checks — it’s about understanding your contacts in context. ApexVerify’s targeting parameters let you tell the system who you’re targeting and why, enabling more accurate scoring and better-quality results.

When to use dataset verification

CRM hygiene

Periodically verify your CRM contacts to remove invalid records before they cause deliverability issues, wasted ad spend, or inflated pipeline numbers.

Marketing list cleaning

Clean subscriber lists before sending campaigns. Reduce bounce rates, protect your sender reputation, and ensure your data complies with email marketing regulations.

Lead generation validation

Verify incoming leads from forms, ad platforms, or data providers before they enter your CRM. Stop paying to enrich or engage bad data.

Data provider enrichment

Validate data purchased from third-party providers. Understand exactly what percentage is deliverable before committing to a full integration.

Dataset preparation checklist

Choose the correct verification type

Decide whether you’re verifying emails or phone numbers. Each batch handles one type. If you have both, create two separate batches.

Normalize your data

Before exporting:

Trim whitespace from all values
Lowercase all email addresses
Format phone numbers in E.164 (+[country code][number])
Remove empty rows

Export as a TXT file

Export your cleaned data as a plain .txt file — one entry per line, UTF-8 encoded. Most CRMs and spreadsheet tools can export a single column directly.

Set targeting parameters

Targeting parameters aren’t required, but they give the verification engine important context. The more accurately you describe your audience, the better the scoring signal.

Targeting parameters explained

Targeting parameters are set via PUT /v1/batch/{uuid} after upload. Only type and target_country are required.

type — Verification type (required)

Value	Description
`email`	Verify email addresses
`phone`	Verify phone numbers

target_country — Target country (required)

An ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code representing the country your audience is based in. Examples: US, GB, SG, AU, DE, FR.

This helps the engine apply country-specific routing rules, carrier lookups, and domain heuristics.

target_audience — Audience role (optional)

Describe the professional role of your target audience. Pass the corresponding integer value:

Code	Audience
1	Agency / Consultants
2	Creators & Influencers
3	Customer Support & Success
4	Developers & Technical Leads
5	E-commerce & Retail Managers
6	Enterprise Decision-Makers
7	Finance & Operations Professionals
8	Founders & C-Level Executives
9	Freelancers & Solopreneurs
10	Government & Public Sector Employees
11	HR & Talent Acquisition
12	Healthcare Professionals
13	Hobbyists & Enthusiasts
14	Investors & VCs
15	Job Seekers
16	Legal Professionals
17	Marketing & Sales Professionals
18	Non-Profit Leaders & Staff
19	Parents & Families
20	Product & Project Managers
21	Real Estate Professionals
22	Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) Owners
23	Students & Educators

target_market_industry — Industry vertical (optional)

The industry of your target market. Pass the corresponding integer:

Code	Industry
1	Accommodation
5	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
15	Chemical Manufacturing
17	Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
18	Construction
23	Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services
25	Educational Services
29	Finance and Insurance
42	Health Care and Social Assistance
46	Information
54	Manufacturing
83	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
86	Real Estate
91	Retail Trade
101	Telecommunications
109	Utilities

The full list of 115 industry codes is available in the API Reference.

target_objective — Campaign objective (optional)

The goal of the outreach campaign for which this data will be used:

Code	Objective
1	App Installs / Downloads
2	Audience Building (Email/Community)
3	Brand Awareness & Recall
4	Customer Acquisition / Sales
5	Free Trial or Freemium Signups
6	Lead Generation (Top/Mid-Funnel)
7	Loyalty & Referral Program Growth
8	Market & Customer Research
9	New Market Entry
10	Partner & Affiliate Recruitment
11	Product Engagement & Feature Adoption
12	Sales-Ready Leads (Bottom-Funnel)
13	Upsell / Cross-sell Revenue
14	User Retention & Churn Reduction
15	Waitlist / Pre-order Signups
16	Website / App Traffic Acquisition

Cache settings (optional)

Control how aggressively the system reuses prior verification results.

Parameter	Default	Description
`use_account_cache`	`true`	Reuse your own previous results
`max_account_cache_backoff`	`30` days	How far back to look in your account cache (1–180)
`use_global_cache`	`true`	Reuse anonymized results from other accounts
`max_global_cache_backoff`	`30` days	How far back to look in the global cache (1–180)

Both caches deliver a 50% credit refund for cache-hit records. Account cache is checked first.

Email vs. phone datasets

Email datasets

Phone datasets

What email verification checks

Syntax — RFC 5321/5322 compliance
Domain — MX record existence and validity
SMTP — Mailbox existence probe
Provider flags — Free provider (Gmail, Yahoo…), role address (info@, admin@…), disposable, catch-all

Key result fields

Field	What it means
`quality: "good"`	Safe to send — deliverable and not flagged
`quality: "risky"`	May deliver but has risk signals (catch-all, role, free)
`quality: "bad"`	Do not send — invalid or known bad
`is_catch_all: true`	Domain accepts all addresses — individual deliverability unknown
`is_disposable: true`	One-time inbox service — likely low engagement