# Search Intent

> Discover companies exhibiting buyer intent signals across ZoomInfo's database. Free to use.

**Date:** 2026-08-07  
**Source:** https://gtm.ai/docs/mcp/tools/search-intent

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## Overview

Find the companies researching what you sell before they contact anyone. Search Intent takes a set of topics or keywords and returns the accounts currently reading about them, ranked by how strong the signal is. These are net-new companies entering a buying cycle, surfaced while there is still time to shape the evaluation.

## What You'll Get

A ranked list of accounts showing intent. Each result carries:

- Company name and basic profile
- The intent topics that account is researching
- A composite signal score

## Best For

- Top-of-funnel account prioritization
- Timing outbound to when a buying cycle starts
- Finding accounts evaluating a competitor
- Feeding a campaign list with in-market companies

Already know the account and want its signals? Use [Enrich Company Signals](/docs/mcp/tools/enrich-company-signals). To discover companies by a real-world event rather than research behavior, use [Search Scoops](/docs/mcp/tools/search-scoops).

## How It Works

**ZoomInfo Data**

Intent is behavioral, derived from search and content consumption across the web. Narrow the result set with:

- Signal strength
- Industry
- Company size
- Geography

## Technical Details

### Credits

Free. Search Intent consumes no bulk data credits, so exploring topics costs nothing. See [Credits & Billing](/docs/mcp/credits).

### Automatic Tool Selection

The AI reaches for Search Intent when you ask which companies are researching a subject. It may chain into [Enrich Company Signals](/docs/mcp/tools/enrich-company-signals) for deeper detail on one account, or into [Search Contacts](/docs/mcp/tools/search-contacts) to find the right people at high-intent accounts.

## Example Prompts

> *"Which companies are showing intent signals for data enrichment solutions?"*

> *"Find mid-market SaaS companies in the US researching AI-powered sales tools."*

> *"What accounts are currently in-market for competitor products like Lusha or Apollo?"*

> *"Rank my territory by intent strength this week."*