Best Intent Data Providers for B2B Teams in 2026

TL;DR: The 2026 Signal Stack

In 2026, the best intent data providers are modular rather than "all-in-one." High-performance B2B teams use the following stack to turn signals into revenue:

• Core Orchestration: HubSpot (First-party web signals) + Clay (Third-party data waterfalls)
• Marketplace Intent: G2 (Competitive research and category surging)
• Dark Social: Common Room (Slack, Discord, and community mentions)
• Identity Resolution: Vector (De-anonymizing website visitors to fuel Allbound outreach )
• LinkedIn Intent: Fibbler (Mapping organic and paid LinkedIn engagement to HubSpot) 
• Execution: OutboundSync (CRM connectivity) and Octave (AI research and outreach)
  

The Shift to Signal-Based Selling

Have you ever reached out to a perfect prospect only to find out they signed a contract with your competitor yesterday?

If so, then you’ve felt the cost of bad timing.

In 2026, the real advantage for any sales team comes down to how well they can lean into buying signals to make sure their timing is right. This is why 99% of large companies have now integrated intent data into their go-to-market motion. When you reach out at the exact moment a prospect is facing a problem, you stop being just another notification and start being the solution they’ve been looking for. This shift is why the most successful teams have moved away from working through static lists and are instead focusing on reacting to these signals in real time.

A common struggle with many legacy b2b intent data providers is that the information often feels stale by the time it lands on your desk. To stay ahead of the curve, you need an intent data provider that flags interest while it’s actually happening.

Top-performing teams rarely rely on one giant platform to do everything anymore. Instead, they find success by stacking specialized intent providers like G2 for competitor research and Common Room to keep an eye on community chatter. This strategic shift is backed by the fact that 98% of B2B marketers now say intent data is essential for demand generation. This kind of approach gives you a full, clear view of who your buyers are and what they actually need.

Whether you’re hunting for your first intent provider or you’re ready to upgrade your current buying signals software, the goal remains the same: you want to stop wondering who to talk to and start using a buying signals tool that lets you join the conversations that are already happening.

This guide is designed to show you which intent providers are actually worth your time this year and how you can build a system that turns those raw signals into real conversations. This is particularly critical for frontline teams, as 60% of B2B organizations now use intent data specifically for sales functions rather than just marketing awareness.

HubSpot and Clay working together

If you’re just buying a list of names and hoping for the best, you’re doing it wrong. You need to build a system that connects what’s happening on your website with the rest of the web. Using HubSpot and Clay together is the most effective way to do this because it bridges the gap between seeing a signal and knowing how to act on it.

1. Spotting interest with HubSpot

HubSpot has changed the way it handles data with the Breeze Intelligence feature. It now acts as a primary intent data provider by identifying which companies are visiting your site in real time. This is important because first-party signals are the most reliable indicators of interest. This visibility is a major driver for growth, as 90% of B2B teams report they have successfully used intent data to increase their overall lead volume. If a company is spending time on your pricing page, you don't need a third-party report to tell you they’re exploring a purchase.

The real advantage is how this information lives directly inside your CRM. Instead of checking a separate dashboard, your team gets alerts exactly where they already work.

Here are a few ways you can use this to make things easier for your potential customers.

• Shorten your website forms by hiding fields like company size or industry if HubSpot already knows who the visitor is. This removes friction for the buyer and helps you get more leads.
• Alert your sales reps immediately when a high-value account looks at your security docs or a specific case study so they can reach out while the interest is fresh.
• Prioritize your daily outreach by looking at a live feed of which target accounts are most active on the site today rather than just working through an alphabetical list.

2. Finding context with Clay

Knowing a company is on your site is only the first step. To have a real conversation, you need to know why they’re there right now. This is where Clay becomes essential. It’s a powerful buying signals software that does the heavy lifting of research for you by acting like a bridge to over 75 different intent providers and pulling the most relevant details together into one view.

The system works best when you connect these two tools so they share information automatically. When HubSpot flags a visitor, Clay can immediately start a research play to find the specific context your team needs.

Here are a few examples of how this looks in practice.

• The Hiring Signal If HubSpot sees a visit from a tech company and Clay finds they just posted a job for a new Head of Growth, you have a perfect reason to reach out and offer to help that new hire.
• The Competitor Signal Clay can check if a visiting company recently stopped using a competitor's product or if they just installed a tool that happens to integrate perfectly with yours.
• The Growth Signal If a visitor’s company just closed a new round of funding or opened a new office, Clay pulls that news into your CRM so your message can acknowledge their specific success.

Finding clues in other places

Most sales tools only look at your own website. To get a full picture, you also need to see what your prospects are doing on other sites and in private groups. These tools act as extra eyes that find the clues other platforms might miss.

1. Catching buyers on G2

G2 is much more than just a review site, it’s a powerful intent provider because it tracks what people do when they’re actually ready to buy. When a company starts comparing your product to a competitor on G2, they’re usually in the final stages of making a decision.

• See who is comparing you to rivals so you can send them a guide that explains why your solution is the better choice for their specific needs.
• Find companies in your category who are looking for a tool like yours but haven't visited your website yet.
• Watch for current customers who might leave by getting alerts when they start researching other options in your category.

2. Seeing hidden conversations with Common Room

Many b2b intent data providers miss the conversations that happen in places like Slack, Discord, and GitHub. This is often where buyers go to ask their peers for honest advice before they ever talk to a salesperson.

Common Room is a great intent provider for seeing these hidden signals. It brings all that chatter into one place so you can see when a prospect is asking about your product in a community you don't even own.

• Find recommendations as they happen when someone in a professional Slack group asks for a tool that solves the exact problem you handle.
• Watch what developers are doing by seeing which companies are interacting with your technical projects or documentation on GitHub.
• Connect social signals to your sales list so you know exactly which of your target accounts are talking about your industry online.

3. Identifying the actual person with Vector

While most b2b intent data providers stop at the company name, Vector is a specialized identity resolution engine that de-anonymizes your website traffic at the person-level. This tool acts as a critical buying signals software for your "Allbound" motion, allowing you to see which specific stakeholders are engaging with your content so you can move from cold outreach to warm conversations. 

• Stop guessing who was on your site by seeing the actual person who was looking at your pages rather than just a generic company name.
• Get alerts in Slack the second a high-value prospect from your target list lands on your website.
• Make your message personal because you already know the job title and background of the person who was just researching your solution.

4. Capturing LinkedIn intent with Fibbler 

In 2026, LinkedIn is where B2B buyers live, but most of that data is "dark" to your CRM. Fibbler is a powerful intent provider that bridges this gap by tracking both organic and paid ad engagement and pushing it directly into HubSpot. As a specialized buying signals tool, it ensures your marketing spend is actually reaching the right people.

• Connect paid spend to real people by seeing which specific stakeholders at your target accounts are clicking on your LinkedIn ads.
• Track organic engagement to see which prospects are interacting with your team’s posts, providing a "warm" reason for your sales reps to reach out.
• Optimize your ad spend by focusing your budget on the accounts that are actually showing behavioral signals rather than just broad job titles.

5. Taking action with OutboundSync and Octave

Once you have these signals, you need to act on them quickly. This is the final part of your system. OutboundSync is a helpful buying signals tool that ensures the data from all your different providers moves into your email or LinkedIn tools in seconds without any manual work.

To make the outreach even better, you can use Octave. This is an intent data provider that doesn't just give you a signal but actually helps you write the message. It researches the reason behind the signal and drafts a personalized note for your sales team. This way, your reps are sending thoughtful messages that are much more likely to get a reply.

Frequently asked questions about intent data

Choosing the right tools can be confusing because many of them sound like they do the same thing. Here are some of the most common questions people ask when they’re trying to build their own system.

What is the best intent data provider for B2B?

The best approach for most teams in 2026 is a combination of two different sources. You should use G2 to see which companies are researching your competitors and HubSpot to see which companies are visiting your own website. This gives you a clear view of both the people who know you and the people who are still shopping around in your category.

Can Clay work as my only intent provider?

Clay is better described as a place where you organize your data rather than a place that owns it. It acts as a bridge that connects you to over 75 different intent providers so you can run all your research in one place. While it doesn't provide its own list of "in-market" companies, it’s the best tool for taking a simple signal and turning it into a deep research report.

What is a buying signals tool?

A buying signals tool is any software that identifies specific actions that show a prospect might be ready to buy. These signals are usually real-time triggers like someone visiting your pricing page, a company hiring for a new role, or a prospect asking for recommendations in a Slack group. The goal of these tools is to help you move away from cold calling and toward having conversations with people who actually have a need right now.

How do I know if the data is accurate?

The most accurate data always comes from your own sources, which is why first-party tools like HubSpot are so important. For third-party data, accuracy usually depends on how often the provider updates their records. In 2026, you should look for tools that offer daily updates or real-time alerts. If the information is even a few days old, your competitors might have already reached out to that prospect.

How to choose your first intent provider

Building a full stack all at once can be overwhelming, but the data shows that the investment pays off quickly. Organizations implementing intent-driven strategies typically see 25–35% higher conversion rates and 30–40% shorter sales cycles within the first year. To get those results, you don't need every tool on this list to start seeing results. Start by looking at your current team size and goals:

• If you’re a solo founder or a small team: Start with HubSpot and Vector. This combination is the most efficient way to de-anonymize your website traffic and get LinkedIn profiles delivered directly to your team in real-time. It’s the fastest way to bridge the gap between anonymous web visits and actual "Allbound" conversations. 
• If you have a growing sales team: Add Clay to the mix. Once you have more leads than you can manually research, you need Clay to automate the background check on every visitor. This ensures your reps spend their time talking to prospects instead of searching LinkedIn.
• If you’re competing in a crowded market: Prioritize G2 Intent. If people are already comparing you to your competitors, you need to know about it immediately. G2 gives you the chance to jump into a conversation while the prospect is still weighing their options.
• If you have a community or open-source product: Common Room is your best bet. It will help you find the people talking about you where traditional trackers can't reach.