--- title: How to Automatically Associate Contacts to Companies Using Fuzzy Matching in HubSpot description: Learn how to use fuzzy matching and Koalify to automatically associate contacts to the right companies in HubSpot without relying on email domains or manual cleanup. image: https://koalify.io/hubfs/How%20to%20Automatically%20Associate%20Contacts%20to%20Companies%20Using%20Fuzzy%20Matching%20in%20HubSpot.png --- [Skip to content](https://koalify.io/blog/associate-contacts-to-companies-fuzzy-matching-hubspot#main-content) [![rectangle\_long\_koala\_with\_name\_bold\_200\_125\_white](https://koalify.io/hubfs/rectangle_long_koala_with_name_bold_200_125_white.png)](https://koalify.io) - Products Show submenu for Products - [Deduplication](https://koalify.io) - [Email Validation](https://koalify.io/hubspot-email-validation) - Pricing Show submenu for Pricing - [Deduplication](https://koalify.io/pricing) - [Email Validation](https://koalify.io/hubspot-email-validation-pricing-koalify) - [Partners](https://koalify.io/partners) - [Blog](https://koalify.io/blog) - Knowledge base Show submenu for Knowledge base - [Deduplication](https://koalify.io/knowledge-base) - [Email Validation](https://koalify.io/email-validation-knowledge-base) - Products Show submenu for Products - [Deduplication](https://koalify.io) - [Email Validation](https://koalify.io/hubspot-email-validation) - Pricing Show submenu for Pricing - [Deduplication](https://koalify.io/pricing) - [Email Validation](https://koalify.io/hubspot-email-validation-pricing-koalify) - [Partners](https://koalify.io/partners) - [Blog](https://koalify.io/blog) - Knowledge base Show submenu for Knowledge base - [Deduplication](https://koalify.io/knowledge-base) - [Email Validation](https://koalify.io/email-validation-knowledge-base) ![menu-toggle](https://21645388.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/21645388/menu-toggle.svg) ![menu-close](https://21645388.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/21645388/menu-close.svg) [Get Started Free](https://api.koalify.io/hubspot/install?utm_source=koalify&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=navigation) # How to Automatically Associate Contacts to Companies Using Fuzzy Matching in HubSpot [By \- Jonas,](https://koalify.io/blog/author/jonas) Dec 29, 2026 ![ Featured Image](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/How%20to%20Automatically%20Associate%20Contacts%20to%20Companies%20Using%20Fuzzy%20Matching%20in%20HubSpot.png?width=1536&height=1024&name=How%20to%20Automatically%20Associate%20Contacts%20to%20Companies%20Using%20Fuzzy%20Matching%20in%20HubSpot.png) Getting contacts associated with the right company in HubSpot sounds simple, but in practice, it often isn’t. Automatic association based on email domain works well for small businesses. But as soon as you’re dealing with: - enterprise accounts - shared or generic email domains - multiple subsidiaries or regions - contacts without a clear domain match …that logic quickly breaks down. The result? Contacts that clearly work at the same company remain unassociated, creating gaps in reporting, segmentation, and lifecycle automation. With Koalify, you can take a more flexible approach, using fuzzy matching on company names to identify likely colleagues and automatically associate them to the correct company. ![Koalify helps it can identify likely relationships](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Koalify%20helps%20it%20can%20identify%20likely%20relationships.png?width=1200&height=356&name=Koalify%20helps%20it%20can%20identify%20likely%20relationships.png) ## The challenge: associations depend on domain name matches HubSpot can automatically associate contacts with companies by matching the **email domain** to a company’s domain. In many cases, this works well and helps reduce manual effort. However, this default behavior has some important limitations, especially for B2B teams with more complex data models. Fuzzy matches like: - “Acme Inc.” vs “Acme Corporation” - slightly different addresses - missing or generic domains aren’t enough on their own. That’s where [**Koalify’s fuzzy matching rules**](https://koalify.io/knowledge-base/how-to-configure-fuzzy-rules-to-improve-duplicate-detection-in-hubspot) come in. Koalify can identify likely relationships even when the data isn’t an exact match, you just need one additional step to turn that insight into a reliable association. ![Koalify identifies likely relations with Fuzzy Rules.](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Koalify%20identifies%20likely%20relations%20with%20Fuzzy%20Rules..png?width=800&height=494&name=Koalify%20identifies%20likely%20relations%20with%20Fuzzy%20Rules..png)   ## The idea: identify colleagues first, then reuse that context Instead of trying to associate contacts to companies directly, the approach is: 1. Use Koalify to identify contacts that likely work at the same company 2. Treat those contacts as *colleagues* 3. Reuse the company association from one colleague to associate the other colleague with the same company. This keeps everything accurate, explainable, and fully automated. ## Step 1: Create a Koalify rule to identify colleagues Start by creating a **Koalify duplicate rule** for contacts that: - Do **not** match on first name, last name or phone number - **Do** have a similar company name / street address / email domain (using fuzzy matching) For example: - Company name is a close or fuzzy match - First name and last name are different This rule doesn’t say “these are the same person.” It says: **"these people likely work at the same company"**. Koalify will group these contacts together and mark them consistently. ![Create a Koalify rule to identify colleagues in HubSpot](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Create%20a%20Koalify%20rule%20to%20identify%20colleagues%20in%20HubSpot.png?width=800&height=472&name=Create%20a%20Koalify%20rule%20to%20identify%20colleagues%20in%20HubSpot.png)   ## Step 2: Use the Koalify rule to associate contacts as colleagues Once Koalify flags these contacts, you can use HubSpot workflows to: - Detect contacts that belong to the same Koalify group - Automatically associate them as *colleagues* At this point, you’ve created a reliable relationship between contacts, without merging them and without needing exact matches. ![Use the Koalify rule to associate contacts as colleagues](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Use%20the%20Koalify%20rule%20to%20associate%20contacts%20as%20colleagues.png?width=800&height=655&name=Use%20the%20Koalify%20rule%20to%20associate%20contacts%20as%20colleagues.png) ## Step 3: Create 2 custom properties to pass the associated company In many cases, one contact is already correctly associated with a company, while the other is not. To reuse that association, you’ll need two custom contact properties: 1. **Primary company record ID** Stores the record ID of the contact’s associated primary company ![Create a custom property for the Record ID of the primary company of a contact in HubSpot](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Create%20a%20custom%20property%20for%20the%20Record%20ID%20of%20the%20primary%20company%20of%20a%20contact%20in%20HubSpot.png?width=600&height=650&name=Create%20a%20custom%20property%20for%20the%20Record%20ID%20of%20the%20primary%20company%20of%20a%20contact%20in%20HubSpot.png) 2. **Colleague’s primary company record ID** Used to temporarily store the company ID copied from an associated colleague ![Create a custom property for the Rimary Company ID of a colleague in HubSpot](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Create%20a%20custom%20property%20for%20the%20Rimary%20Company%20ID%20of%20a%20colleague%20in%20HubSpot.png?width=600&height=349&name=Create%20a%20custom%20property%20for%20the%20Rimary%20Company%20ID%20of%20a%20colleague%20in%20HubSpot.png) Because associations themselves can’t be copied directly, these properties act as a safe and controlled handoff mechanism. ## Step 4: Create a workflow to set the the contact → company association Now you can bring everything together with a workflow. Enroll contacts that: - Don’t have a primary company association - Are associated with a colleague who *does* have one In the workflow: 1. Copy the primary company record ID from the colleague 2. Store it in the custom “colleague company ID” property ![Contact Workflow - Set Association with Primary Company of Colleague](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Contact%20Workflow%20-%20Set%20Association%20with%20Primary%20Company%20of%20Colleague.png?width=1200&height=858&name=Contact%20Workflow%20-%20Set%20Association%20with%20Primary%20Company%20of%20Colleague.png) 3. (Optional) Add a short delay to ensure the property is populated 4. Use a standard HubSpot workflow action to associate the contact to a company using that "Primary Company ID of Colleague" ![associate the contact to the company using that Primary Company ID of Colleague](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/associate%20the%20contact%20to%20the%20company%20using%20that%20Primary%20Company%20ID%20of%20Colleague.png?width=1200&height=850&name=associate%20the%20contact%20to%20the%20company%20using%20that%20Primary%20Company%20ID%20of%20Colleague.png) At this point, the contact is correctly associated with a company, without relying on email domain logic or manual intervention. ## Why this approach works HubSpot’s association logic is intentionally strict and that’s a good thing. It ensures data consistency and prevents accidental mis-associations. But in real-world B2B data, exact matches aren’t always available. This approach bridges that gap. By using **Koalify’s fuzzy matching** to identify likely colleagues first, and then relying on **HubSpot-native record IDs** to create the actual association, you get the best of both worlds: - Flexible, real-world matching that reflects how companies actually appear in data - Deterministic, reliable associations built on stable record IDs It also scales naturally: - Works for enterprise and multi-entity organizations - Handles subsidiaries, regions, and naming variations - Applies anywhere context matters more than exact matches The result is a contact-to-company association process that’s both **accurate and automated** and a CRM that models your business the way it really works.    ![associate the contact to the company using that Primary Company ID of Colleague-2](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/associate%20the%20contact%20to%20the%20company%20using%20that%20Primary%20Company%20ID%20of%20Colleague-2.png?width=940&height=268&name=associate%20the%20contact%20to%20the%20company%20using%20that%20Primary%20Company%20ID%20of%20Colleague-2.png)   ###### Category - [HubSpot Data Quality](https://koalify.io/blog/tag/hubspot-data-quality) - [HubSpot Email Validation](https://koalify.io/blog/tag/hubspot-email-validation) - [HubSpot Revenue Operations](https://koalify.io/blog/tag/hubspot-revenue-operations) - [HubSpot Integration Duplicates](https://koalify.io/blog/tag/hubspot-integration-duplicates) - [HubSpot Associations](https://koalify.io/blog/tag/hubspot-associations) - [HubSpot Deduplication](https://koalify.io/blog/tag/hubspot-deduplication) ###### Popular Post - [HubSpot best practices for contacts that leave a company](https://koalify.io/blog/hubspot-best-practices-for-contacts-that-leave-a-company) - [How to Bulk Merge HubSpot Duplicates: Contacts, Companies, Deals and More](https://koalify.io/blog/how-to-bulk-merge-hubspot-duplicates-contacts-companies-more) - [How to Merge Companies in HubSpot (Safely, Manually or in Bulk)](https://koalify.io/blog/how-to-merge-companies-in-hubspot-manual-or-in-bulk) - [HubSpot Deduplication: How to Find, Manage, and Remove Duplicates in HubSpot](https://koalify.io/blog/hubspot-deduplication-the-ultimate-guide-to-zero-duplicates-in-hubspot) - [How to Merge Duplicate Contacts in HubSpot Without Losing Data](https://koalify.io/blog/how-to-merge-contacts-in-hubspot-manual-or-in-bulk) ### Similar Blogs ![How The Insight Studio Fixed 2,000+ Duplicates in HubSpot’s Commercial Real Estate Data (with Koalify)](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/How%20The%20Insight%20Studio%20Fixed%202%2c000%2B%20Duplicates%20in%20HubSpot%E2%80%99s%20Commercial%20Real%20Estate%20Data%20%28with%20Koalify%29.png?width=352&name=How%20The%20Insight%20Studio%20Fixed%202%2c000%2B%20Duplicates%20in%20HubSpot%E2%80%99s%20Commercial%20Real%20Estate%20Data%20%28with%20Koalify%29.png) #### [How The Insight Studio Fixed 2,000+ Duplicates in HubSpot’s Commercial Real Estate Data (with Koalify)](https://koalify.io/blog/how-the-insight-studio-fixed-2000-duplicates-in-hubspots-commercial-real-estate-data-with-koalify) By [Jonas](https://koalify.io/blog/author/jonas) 10 October 2025 **When contact ownership equals commission, duplicates can cost real money.** [READ MORE](https://koalify.io/blog/how-the-insight-studio-fixed-2000-duplicates-in-hubspots-commercial-real-estate-data-with-koalify) ![How Pyxis Growth Partners Cleaned 300,000 Duplicate HubSpot Contacts from 3 Phone Integrations](https://koalify.io/hs-fs/hubfs/How%20Pyxis%20Growth%20Partners%20Cleaned%20300%2c000%20Duplicate%20HubSpot%20Contacts%20from%203%20Phone%20Integrations.png?width=352&name=How%20Pyxis%20Growth%20Partners%20Cleaned%20300%2c000%20Duplicate%20HubSpot%20Contacts%20from%203%20Phone%20Integrations.png) #### [How Pyxis Growth Partners Cleaned 300,000 Duplicate HubSpot Contacts from 3 Phone Integrations](https://koalify.io/blog/how-pyxis-growth-partners-cleaned-300000-duplicate-hubspot-contacts-from-3-phone-integrations) By [Jonas](https://koalify.io/blog/author/jonas) 29 October 2025 When three different phone systems, two call tracking tools, and over 20 brands all push leads into... 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