Issue with Clay's Find People Search Returning Low Result Counts

Joe H. · 2026-01-06T02:22:15.601Z

Clay's Find People Search seems to be glitching to return dramatically lower result count than should be I had a search that had thousands of results but when I went to edit the inputs, the results are a fraction of the original. I didn't change anything else about the inputs. What could be causing this?

Issue with Clay's Find People Search Returning Low Result Counts | Clay

15 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Clay Support
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If your Find People Search returns fewer results after editing the inputs—even if you didn’t change anything—it’s likely due to filters or limits being applied, such as a cap on results per company or a maximum number of results per search (up to 50,000). The preview may show a higher count, but the actual import or table will reflect these limits. Also, editing the source after running the search won’t retroactively update previous results; you’d need to re-run the step to see changes. Check your filter settings and limits to ensure you’re not unintentionally restricting the results. [1] [2] [3]
Clay Support
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Is that what you were looking for?
Joe H.
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Here is an example. Job title contains "VP of Marketing" contains only 10 results, across 25,000 companies. How is this possible?
Clay Support
APP
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A "VP of Marketing" search only returning 10 results—even across 25,000 companies—usually means your filters are too restrictive. The job title filter requires the exact phrase (ignoring capitalization and special characters), so variations like "VP Marketing" or "Marketing VP" won’t match unless you add them as separate terms. Also, if you have a per-company limit set (like 1 result per company), the total could be capped at 10, even if more people exist. Check your job title filter and per-company limits to see if they’re unintentionally restricting results. Broadening your keywords or adjusting limits can help you find more prospects [1] [2] [3] .
Clay Support
APP
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Did that answer your question?
Joe H.
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No - that's not it. I know there is an error on Clay's side because the search previously returned several hundred results.
Clay Support
APP
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I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're experiencing. I'll connect you to a human agent who can look into this further for you.
Clay Support
APP
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Our support team has got your message and we'll get back to you soon! We're currently outside of our standard office hours (9 AM to 9 PM EST, Monday through Friday), so it may take a little longer for us to respond.

If you’re dealing with a specific table, drop the URL below so we can help you quicker. Otherwise, someone from our team will be in touch soon!

image.png(93 kB)
Mayato (.
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Hi Joe, thank you for your feedback. I’m happy to share your points with our engineering team working on the search feature. Do you have any concrete examples of search filters, such as a Clay table URL, that I can pass along to them? Thanks!
Joe H.
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Hi Mayato (. it returned to normal just now. If it appears again I'll share a link, though. Thanks :)
Joe H.
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Ok, here is an example Mayato (. Table link: https://app.clay.com/workspaces/192229/workbooks/wb_0t87zvsoD6MyFhxNz8r/tables/t_0t8cshkoc8qaefiJB36/views/gv_0t8cshlbnnYHxY8Kryb Table Interface, and Search Interface when you select "Edit Inputs":
Joe H.
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As you can tell, there is a wild discrepancy in the results, which prevents me from editing the search criteria
Kashif J.
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Hi Joe, If you go to edit a search from a table, the results in the preview don't include rows that you've already imported into your table. Since you've already got 10,000 rows in your table, could this explain the discrepancy you're seeing, or do you think there may be a different issue at play here?
Joe H.
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Kashif J. Ah ok, that makes sense then. Let me review this
Kashif J.
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For sure Joe, I'll tentatively mark this as closed for the moment, but keep in touch if you hit other roadblocks!

Clay Support
APP
·
·
If your Find People Search returns fewer results after editing the inputs—even if you didn’t change anything—it’s likely due to filters or limits being applied, such as a cap on results per company or a maximum number of results per search (up to 50,000). The preview may show a higher count, but the actual import or table will reflect these limits. Also, editing the source after running the search won’t retroactively update previous results; you’d need to re-run the step to see changes. Check your filter settings and limits to ensure you’re not unintentionally restricting the results. [1] [2] [3]
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Is that what you were looking for?
Joe H.
·
·
Here is an example. Job title contains "VP of Marketing" contains only 10 results, across 25,000 companies. How is this possible?
Clay Support
APP
·
·
A "VP of Marketing" search only returning 10 results—even across 25,000 companies—usually means your filters are too restrictive. The job title filter requires the exact phrase (ignoring capitalization and special characters), so variations like "VP Marketing" or "Marketing VP" won’t match unless you add them as separate terms. Also, if you have a per-company limit set (like 1 result per company), the total could be capped at 10, even if more people exist. Check your job title filter and per-company limits to see if they’re unintentionally restricting results. Broadening your keywords or adjusting limits can help you find more prospects [1] [2] [3] .
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Did that answer your question?
Joe H.
·
·
No - that's not it. I know there is an error on Clay's side because the search previously returned several hundred results.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're experiencing. I'll connect you to a human agent who can look into this further for you.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Our support team has got your message and we'll get back to you soon! We're currently outside of our standard office hours (9 AM to 9 PM EST, Monday through Friday), so it may take a little longer for us to respond.

If you’re dealing with a specific table, drop the URL below so we can help you quicker. Otherwise, someone from our team will be in touch soon!

image.png(93 kB)
Mayato (.
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Hi Joe, thank you for your feedback. I’m happy to share your points with our engineering team working on the search feature. Do you have any concrete examples of search filters, such as a Clay table URL, that I can pass along to them? Thanks!
Joe H.
·
·
Hi Mayato (. it returned to normal just now. If it appears again I'll share a link, though. Thanks :)
Joe H.
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·
Ok, here is an example Mayato (. Table link: https://app.clay.com/workspaces/192229/workbooks/wb_0t87zvsoD6MyFhxNz8r/tables/t_0t8cshkoc8qaefiJB36/views/gv_0t8cshlbnnYHxY8Kryb Table Interface, and Search Interface when you select "Edit Inputs":
Joe H.
·
·
As you can tell, there is a wild discrepancy in the results, which prevents me from editing the search criteria
Kashif J.
·
·
Hi Joe, If you go to edit a search from a table, the results in the preview don't include rows that you've already imported into your table. Since you've already got 10,000 rows in your table, could this explain the discrepancy you're seeing, or do you think there may be a different issue at play here?
Joe H.
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Kashif J. Ah ok, that makes sense then. Let me review this
Kashif J.
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For sure Joe, I'll tentatively mark this as closed for the moment, but keep in touch if you hit other roadblocks!