Sets the gate a list must pass before sending: verified in the last 30 days, expected bounces under 2%, suppressions applied. It sorts verifier results into send, remove and hold, gives three safe options for catch-all addresses, estimates bounce risk with the sum and names the one change that would make a failed list pass.
Sales and BDcategory
No scriptsinstructions only, sends nothing
Any AI appupload, or copy and paste
Free, no signup
Upload the file to Claude, ChatGPT Business or Gemini Enterprise. On ChatGPT Plus, the free Gemini app or Grok, copy and paste it instead.
Nothing hidden: this is the whole file. Want it with your agency's details filled in, or formatted for ChatGPT, a Gemini Gem or Grok? Use the copy tool on the Cold Email Pack page.
---
name: list-verification-gate
description: "Sets and checks the verification gate a recruitment agency's cold email list must pass before sending, reading the verifier's results, deciding what to do with valid, risky, catch-all and invalid addresses, and estimating bounce risk. Use when a recruiter asks \"do I need to verify my list\", \"what do I do with catch-all emails\", \"my verifier says risky\", \"is this list safe to send\", \"bounce rate too high\", or \"how old can verification be\"."
license: MIT
metadata:
author: Work Insiders
version: "1.0"
pack: cold-email-pack
---
# List verification gate
No list is sent until it passes this gate. The thresholds are practitioner rules of thumb, not published standards. Bounces are the fastest way to damage a sending domain, and even "verified" addresses from data tools bounce once people change jobs, which in recruiting is the whole point.
If `references/agency-profile.md` exists, read the Cold email lines first.
## The gate
A list passes when:
- Every address was verified within the **last 30 days**, either by an email verifier the agency already uses or by a data tool that verifies at export (say which; there is no need to pay twice).
- Expected hard bounce rate is **under 2%**, and never above 3%.
- Suppressions from lead-list-builder are applied.
## Reading verifier results
Ask the recruiter to export the verifier's result column. Then sort every row:
| Result | What to do |
|---|---|
| Valid / deliverable / safe | Send |
| Invalid / undeliverable | Remove. Never retry |
| Disposable, role-based, spam trap, abuse | Remove |
| Catch-all / accept-all | The server accepts everything, so the verifier cannot tell. Hold back. Options below |
| Unknown / risky / timeout | Re-verify once. If still unknown, treat as catch-all |
## Catch-all addresses
Many company domains are catch-all, so dropping them all can cut a recruiting list sharply. Choose one:
1. Run them through a verifier that checks catch-alls specifically, if the agency has one, and keep only those it marks valid.
2. Send them as a separate, small campaign from one healthy mailbox, a few a day, and stop at the first sign of bounces.
3. Leave them out and find another contact at that company.
Never mix unchecked catch-alls into the main campaign.
## Read the list's health from the results
- As a rough rule of thumb, catch-alls around 10 to 25% of a B2B list is normal; 25 to 50% suggests a stale or scraped source; over 50% means the source is poor.
- Invalid over about 30% means stop and question where the list came from, not just clean it.
## Estimate the bounce risk
Show the sum: (invalid not removed + expected bounces from catch-alls and unknowns kept) / rows to send. If it is over 2%, say which group to cut to get under it.
## Before every send, not once
- Re-verify if more than 30 days pass before the rows are sent.
- Pull hard bounces from every campaign weekly and add them to the suppression list.
- Live bounces: target under 2%. Over 2%: check the list. Over 3% on 100+ sends, or over 5% at any point after 50 sends: pause and run deliverability-check.
Work Insiders' free email verification cost calculator (workinsiders.com/free-tools/email-verification-cost-calculator/) shows what a list size costs with each verifier.
## Output
The counts by result, the rows to send, the rows held back and why, the bounce estimate with the sum, and a pass or fail. If it fails, the one change that would make it pass.
## Rules
- Never call a list verified because a data tool says so, unless that tool checked each address at export within the last 30 days.
- Never suggest sending an invalid address "to see what happens".
- Verifying an address only confirms it exists; it does not make it legal or wise to email. That is cold-email-compliance-check's job.
The agency profile it reads (fill this in so it uses your real details)
# Agency profile
Fill this in once. Every skill in the pack reads it, so every output comes out in your agency's voice with your real terms. Delete any line you do not want the AI to use. Leave a line blank rather than guessing.
## Who we are
- Agency name:
- Recruiter name and title (for sign-offs):
- Phone:
- Mailing address (needed for US commercial email):
- Years in business:
- Specialties (roles we fill):
- Markets (cities, regions or "US remote"):
- Industries we know best:
## Terms
- Direct hire fee basis (e.g. % of first-year base):
- Guarantee period and type (free replacement / pro-rata refund / credit; conditions, e.g. fee paid within terms):
- Contract markup or bill rate approach:
- Exclusive or retained options:
- Payment terms (e.g. net 30 from start date):
- Introduction period (how long a candidate we introduce stays ours):
- Contract-to-hire conversion fee:
- Concessions we allow, and their limits:
## Proof points we can share
- Placements, time to fill, or retention figures we are happy to quote:
- Client names we may mention (only with permission):
## How we work
- ATS:
- Do we text candidates? (yes/no):
- Name the client in first candidate messages? (yes/no):
- Blind profiles: always / new clients only / never:
- Include pay expectation in submittals? (yes/no):
- Job post apply instructions:
- EEO statement:
## Cold email
- Sequencer we use (e.g. Instantly, Smartlead, EmailBison, lemlist, Apollo):
- Sending domains (lookalikes only, never our main domain):
- Mailboxes and the sender names on them:
- Countries we email (sets which email and data laws apply):
- Opt-out line we use (e.g. "Reply 'no' and I won't email again."):
- Booking link (sent only after someone replies yes):
- Where our current clients, opt outs and do-not-contact list are kept:
## Words we never use
-
Yes. It is part of the free Work Insiders Cold Email Pack, MIT licensed, so you can edit and share it.
Does List Verification Gate work in Gemini?
Yes. Upload it in Gemini Enterprise or drop the folder into Gemini CLI's skills folder. In the regular Gemini app, paste its instructions into a Gem.
Can I trust it with my data?
It has no scripts and sends nothing anywhere. Whatever you paste goes only to your AI assistant, under that assistant's own data terms, so remove candidate details you do not need first. It can still steer how the assistant answers, so read it before you use it.
Written by Work Insiders for agency recruiters. Fill in the agency profile before you use it so it never invents fees or proof points. How we make money.
