Company identity on signals (coming soon)

Coming soon. This page previews an update to every signal. Nothing is removed: all current fields stay the same.

What is changing

The API already returns a company object on every signal: name, domain, LinkedIn, and industry, headcount and revenue when we have them. The update adds two things:

hq_country on the company object: the country where the company is based.
A new identity object that answers three questions:
- Who is this signal really about? The whole company, a subsidiary, or one site?
- How did we connect it to the company?
- How sure are we?

The new fields at a glance

{
  "company": {                           // already in the API today
    "name": "Northwind Group",
    "domain": "northwind.com",
    "linkedin_url": "linkedin.com/company/northwind",
    "industries": ["Professional Services"],
    "employee_count_low": 5001,
    "employee_count_high": 10000,
    "revenue": "1 Billion and Over",
    "hq_country": "US"                   // new: where the company is based
  },
  "identity": {                          // new object
    "level": "subsidiary",               // company, subsidiary or site
    "name_as_found": "Northwind Australia", // the name exactly as the source shows it
    "location": {                        // where that subsidiary or site is based
      "country": "AU"
    },
    "method": "name_match",              // how we connected it (see below)
    "confidence": "medium",              // high, medium or low
    "source_id": null,                   // an ID from the source, when there is one
    "flags": []                          // anything to check before you use it
  }
}

level tells you what the signal is about:

Value	Meaning	Example
`company`	The whole company	"Northwind Group raises $40M"
`subsidiary`	A subsidiary, division, country unit or legal entity	"Northwind Australia cuts 300 roles"
`site`	One office, store, branch, plant or hotel	"Staff review of Northwind Inn Austin Downtown"

method tells you how we connected the signal to the company:

Value	Meaning
`source_native`	The source is the company itself: its website, its filing, its registration
`verified_id`	We matched on an account or ID the company controls
`name_match`	The source mentions the company by name, and we matched the name

Examples

1. The whole company

Scenario: Northwind Group files a Form D with the SEC for a $40M raise. The filing is the company's own document, and it carries the company's SEC ID (CIK). There is no doubt about who the signal is about.

{
  "company": {
    "name": "Northwind Group",
    "domain": "northwind.com",
    "hq_country": "US"
  },
  "identity": {
    "level": "company",                  // about the whole company
    "name_as_found": "Northwind Group, Inc.",
    "location": {
      "city": "Boston",
      "region": "MA",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "method": "source_native",           // the company's own filing
    "confidence": "high",
    "source_id": {
      "type": "cik",                     // the SEC's ID for the company
      "value": "0001234567"
    }
  }
}

What to do: attach it to your Northwind Group record. You can also match on the CIK if you store it.

2. A subsidiary or country unit

Scenario: an Australian business news site reports "Northwind Australia cuts 300 roles." The article is about the Australian unit, not the US parent. Northwind Australia has no website of its own, so we connect the signal to northwind.com and keep the unit's name and country.

{
  "company": {
    "name": "Northwind Group",           // stays on the parent company
    "domain": "northwind.com",
    "hq_country": "US"
  },
  "identity": {
    "level": "subsidiary",               // about one part of the company
    "name_as_found": "Northwind Australia", // which part
    "location": {
      "country": "AU"                    // where that part is based
    },
    "method": "name_match",              // matched from the article text
    "confidence": "medium"
  }
}

What to do: if you keep Northwind Australia as its own record, attach the signal there. If not, attach it to Northwind Group.

3. One branch, office, store or hotel

Scenario: Northwind Hotels runs 400 hotels. Staff at one hotel, "Northwind Inn Austin Downtown," post reviews about long shifts. The reviews are about that one hotel, not the whole chain. We matched on the hotel's own employer page on the review site.

{
  "company": {
    "name": "Northwind Hotels",          // the chain
    "domain": "northwindhotels.com",
    "hq_country": "US"
  },
  "identity": {
    "level": "site",                     // about one hotel, not the chain
    "name_as_found": "Northwind Inn Austin Downtown",
    "location": {
      "city": "Austin",
      "region": "TX",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "method": "verified_id",             // matched on the hotel's employer page
    "confidence": "high",
    "source_id": {
      "type": "employer_id",             // the review site's ID for the hotel
      "value": "123456"
    }
  }
}

What to do: attach it to the site if you track sites. If not, attach it to the chain. Do not apply one site's reviews or headcount to the whole chain.

4. A legal entity with a filing number

Scenario: Northwind Group registers a new company, "Northwind Services LLC," with the state of Colorado. The state record gives the exact legal name, the address and a filing number. This often comes before a new office or a new line of business.

{
  "company": {
    "name": "Northwind Group",
    "domain": "northwind.com",
    "hq_country": "US"
  },
  "identity": {
    "level": "subsidiary",               // a separate legal entity
    "name_as_found": "Northwind Services LLC", // the exact legal name
    "location": {
      "city": "Denver",
      "region": "CO",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "method": "source_native",           // the state registration itself
    "confidence": "high",
    "source_id": {
      "type": "state_filing_number",     // the state's ID for the entity
      "value": "20261234567"
    }
  }
}

What to do: use the filing number and address to match the exact legal entity. If you do not keep legal entities, attach it to Northwind Group.

5. A signal to check first

Scenario: a larger company acquired Contoso Labs last year. contosolabs.com now redirects to the acquirer's website. We found a product page change, but the page is on the acquirer's site, not on contosolabs.com. The change can be about the acquirer and not about Contoso Labs.

{
  "company": {
    "name": "Contoso Labs",
    "domain": "contosolabs.com",
    "hq_country": "US"
  },
  "identity": {
    "level": "company",
    "method": "source_native",
    "confidence": "low",                 // lowered because of the flag
    "flags": ["source_off_domain"]       // the page is not on contosolabs.com
  }
}

What to do: treat it as about the acquirer, or skip it.

How to match, in four steps

Join on company.domain.
Confirm with company.name, industries, the employee count and hq_country.
If you keep subsidiaries or sites, use identity.level, name_as_found and location to pick the right record.
Filter on identity.confidence. For example, use high and medium, and review low.

Where you will see it

Bulk delivery (GCS / S3): the new fields on every record.
REST API: the new fields on every signal.
MCP server: the same fields, plus an optional minimum-confidence filter.

Questions

Will my integration break? No. Every change is a new field. Current fields keep their names and values.

Does every signal get these fields? Every signal gets level, method and confidence. name_as_found, source_id and location appear when the source has them.

Can you match signals to my own company IDs? Yes, on request. Contact your Autobound team.