# Why do some leads in my export not match my filters?

**Sales Navigator returns leads that do not actually match the filters you set.** On a typical search, **20% to 30% of results do not match** the filters that produced them.

Evaboot re-checks every lead against your Sales Navigator filters and flags the ones that genuinely match. Those are your filtered leads.

![Two columns in the export: whether each lead matches your filters, and the reason if not. 20%-30% of leads usually do not match. Available for searches, not lists](https://help.evaboot.com/images/illustrations/filtered-leads.png)

## Where to find it

The verdict is in the **export file**, not in the dashboard. Download the export and look at the first two columns:

- The **first column** says whether the lead matched your search filters.
- The **second column** gives the reason when it did not.

Download from [dash.evaboot.com/dash/exports/](https://dash.evaboot.com/dash/exports/) using the **Download** button on the export's row, in CSV or XLSX.

![The download menu on an export row, offering CSV and XLSX](https://help.evaboot.com/images/flows/exports-download/02-download-menu.png)

The file contains every lead that was exported. Sort or filter on the first column in your spreadsheet to work with the matches alone.

## Why the rate is what it is

A low match rate is usually Sales Navigator's doing rather than yours. Its filters are looser than they look:

- **Job-title filters match past titles**, so people who have moved on still appear.
- **Company filters catch former employees** the same way.
- **Keyword searches match anywhere in the profile**, including a description of someone's clients rather than their own role.
- **Location is based on the profile's stated region**, which people do not update when they move.

## How to get more matches

Tighten the search rather than the export:

1. **Use "Current" job title and company** instead of the versions that include past roles.
2. **Prefer Sales Navigator's structured filters** — industry, headcount, seniority — over free-text keywords.
3. **Include a lead or account list in your search** rather than stacking more filters.
   - For example, include an account list in your lead search: see [How to Find Decision Makers in a Company with Sales Navigator?](https://help.evaboot.com/public/best-practices/how-to-find-decision-makers-in-a-company-with-sales-navigator/).
   - Excluding a list also works, but needs Sales Navigator Advanced or Advanced Plus: see [How Do I Avoid Exporting the Same Leads Twice?](https://help.evaboot.com/public/best-practices/how-to-exclude-leads-account-from-search-results/).
4. **Read the second column.** The stated reasons tell you which filter is leaking, which is faster than guessing.

## Why can't I see the number of filtered leads in my list?

The check only runs on **searches**. A lead list you assembled by hand has no filters to compare against, so no match column is produced. If you expected the column, check on [dash.evaboot.com/dash/exports/](https://dash.evaboot.com/dash/exports/) whether the export came from a saved list or a search: from a list, no match column is the expected result.

Everything else is the same. A list export is cleaned, enriched and email-verified exactly like a search export. To get the check, run the equivalent **search** in Sales Navigator and export that.

## Related articles

- [How Do I Avoid Exporting the Same Leads Twice?](https://help.evaboot.com/public/best-practices/how-to-exclude-leads-account-from-search-results/)
- [How Do I Export a Sales Navigator Search with Evaboot?](https://help.evaboot.com/public/data-export/how-does-the-sales-navigator-export-work/)