# Why did enrichment change data I did not want changed?

> Enrichment replaced data you had: which fields your keep-existing choice protects, why company records are always overwritten, and how contacts move company.

**The "keep existing data" choice protects contact fields only. Company records are always overwritten, with no option to keep what was there, and if enrichment returns a different employer, the contact is moved to a different company altogether, or a new company record is created for it. Two smaller surprises: placeholder email addresses count as empty and are always replaced, and job title comes from current work experience rather than the profile headline.**

_Status: Reviewed – written against Reply's product documentation on 2026-09-22, not yet confirmed against the running product._

## Quick fix

1. Check whether the field that changed belongs to the **contact** or to the **company**. Only contact fields obey your choice.
2. If a company detail changed, that is expected; company records are always overwritten.
3. If the contact is now filed under a different company, enrichment found a different employer. Move it back manually if the old one was right.
4. If the old email address looked like a generated placeholder, it was treated as empty and replaced. That is intended.
5. To avoid a repeat, set enrichment to keep existing data before the next run.

Didn't work? [Contact Reply support](https://support.reply.io/); the team can check your account directly.

## Symptom

After an enrichment run, a contact's job title, company, location or email address is different from what you had. In some cases the contact has also moved to a different company in your account, or a near-duplicate company has appeared alongside the original.

## Which fields your choice protects

| What changed | Does "keep existing data" protect it? |
| --- | --- |
| Contact job title, company name, industry, location | **Yes** – filled only if empty |
| Contact email address | **Yes**, with one exception below |
| Contact phone number | **Yes** |
| **Company record fields** | **No – always overwritten** |
| **Which company a contact belongs to** | **No** – can be reassigned |

The single most common misunderstanding on this page is that the choice covers everything. It covers the contact. It does not cover the company behind the contact.

## The four reasons data changed

### 1. Company records are always overwritten

There is no "keep existing" option at the company level. Whatever enrichment returns about a company replaces what you had: name, industry, size, location, and the rest.

**How to recognize it:** the contact's own fields are intact, but the company card next to them looks different.

**What to do:** if you maintain company data by hand, enrich contacts rather than companies, and expect company fields to be provider-owned. There is currently no way to protect them.

### 2. The contact was moved to a different company

If enrichment reports a different employer than the one on file, the contact is re-linked to that company. If no matching company exists in your account, a new one is created.

This is usually right; people change jobs. It is wrong when the provider's data is stale or when your own company record used a different name for the same business.

**How to recognize it:** the contact no longer appears under the company you expect, and may appear under one you have never seen.

**What to do:** move the contact back manually. If the two company records are the same business under different names, merge them so the next run matches correctly.

### 3. A near-duplicate company appeared

When enrichment looks for an existing company to attach a contact to, it searches the companies owned by the person who owns the contact. A company a teammate created is outside that scope, so a second record is created for the same business.

**How to recognize it:** two company records with the same or almost the same name, owned by different people on your team.

**What to do:** merge the two company records. Nothing in your setup causes this, and merging is the complete fix.

### 4. A placeholder email address was replaced

When Reply cannot find a real address for a contact, it can store a generated placeholder. Those placeholders count as empty. "Keep existing data" will still replace one with a real address when enrichment finds it.

**How to recognize it:** the address that disappeared was not one you recognize, and the new one is a plausible work address.

**What to do:** nothing; this is intended, and it is almost always the result you want.

## Why the job title does not match the LinkedIn headline

Job title is taken from the contact's **current work experience entry**, not from the headline at the top of their profile. Someone whose headline reads "Helping teams sell better | Ex-Google" will be enriched with their actual current role, not that line.

This is deliberate and usually more accurate, but it surprises people who compare the two side by side.

## What never overwrites

**A LinkedIn step in a sequence does not overwrite email or phone.** When a sequence step visits a contact's profile and collects data along the way, existing addresses and numbers are left alone. The one exception is the placeholder case above.

If the address it finds already belongs to a different contact in your account, it is skipped silently and nothing changes.

## FAQ

### Can I protect company fields the way I protect contact fields?

Not today. The keep-existing choice exists only at contact level.

### Does importing a CSV follow the same rules?

No. A CSV import has its own overwrite setting, and it defaults to overwriting. Check it before importing over a list you have curated.

### Will re-running enrichment undo the change?

Only if the provider now returns the older value, which is unlikely. Correct the field by hand.

## Still stuck? Contact Reply support

If these steps didn't solve the problem, the Reply support team can look at your
account directly. Open the [Reply Help Center](https://support.reply.io/) and send
the team a message.

To get an answer faster, include:

- which field changed, and what it was before
- whether the field belongs to the contact or the company
- which enrichment action you ran and whether keep-existing was selected
- roughly when it ran, and your timezone

Don't send passwords, API keys, or access tokens.

## Related

- [Why did enrichment use credits but find nothing?](/troubleshooting/enrichment-used-credits-but-found-nothing/)
- [Why was a contact duplicated?](/troubleshooting/contact-was-duplicated/) – including duplicate company records
- [Why were contacts not imported?](/troubleshooting/contacts-were-not-imported/) – the CSV overwrite setting

## Build with Reply

- MCP: [docs.reply.io/mcp](https://docs.reply.io/mcp/overview) – read and change the enrichment overwrite setting from an assistant