Resolving identity

Resolve which real-world company each CRM account represents

Resolving which real-world company a CRM account represents is one of the most complex steps in the cleaning process. Accounts often carry inconsistent names, outdated or conflicting URLs, and signals scattered across both structured and unstructured content.

How Kernel resolves identity

To resolve identity, Kernel draws on a broad set of sources for each account:

• Website data — primary domains, alternative URLs, redirect chains, and active status checks

• Name data — legal names, trading names, historical names, and variations

• LinkedIn — verified company pages used to confirm digital identity

• Unstructured data — website content, job descriptions, PDFs, and other raw sources that carry signals not captured in standard CRM fields

• Domain hints — employee email domains, billing addresses, and associated web properties

Each match is assigned a confidence score of Low, Medium, or High, based on the coherence and volume of available signals.

Identity modes

The Account identity mode setting controls which source of truth is prioritised when Kernel detects a conflict between a company's name and its website URL. The key question is: what would your rep consider the identity to be if they only had the URL and Name?

• Bias towards URL (default) Kernel prioritises the company's website URL.

  • Best when website domains are generally reliable.

  • Ensures the live domain is trusted over variations in naming.

• Bias towards Name Kernel prioritises the company's name.

  • Uses the name to infer the correct URL.

  • Best when names are standardised in your CRM and domains may vary.

• Name only Kernel relies entirely on the company's name.

  • Ignores other signals and uses only the inferred URL from the account name.

  • Recommended only for very clean and consistent naming conventions.

Most teams should leave this on the default Bias towards URL. Only switch to Bias towards Name or Name only if you're certain your naming conventions are stronger than your URL data.

Identity viewer

The identity viewer in the Kernel app gives you direct visibility into the resolution process. For each account, you can inspect what Kernel has resolved the identity to and the reasoning behind it — helping you verify the match before taking any action.