Clearbit

Overview

Clearbit (now part of HubSpot) is a B2B data enrichment and visitor identification platform. Its web-facing component, Clearbit Reveal, performs real-time reverse IP lookup to identify which companies are visiting a website without requiring visitors to fill out forms. The identified company data — including firmographic attributes like industry, size, revenue, and technology stack — is used for website personalization, lead prioritization, and account-based marketing. Clearbit's acquisition by HubSpot in 2023 has integrated its data enrichment capabilities into HubSpot's CRM platform.

What This Script Does

Clearbit deploys a visitor identification and enrichment script on B2B websites.

• Scripts loaded: The Clearbit Reveal script loads from reveal.clearbit.com or Clearbit's CDN, initializing IP-based visitor identification
• Reverse IP identification: On each page view, the script sends the visitor's IP address to Clearbit's API, which matches it against a database of company IP ranges. The API returns firmographic data (company name, domain, industry, employee count, estimated revenue, technologies used) for the identified company.
• Website personalization: The identified company data can trigger real-time website personalization — showing industry-specific messaging, displaying relevant case studies, or adjusting pricing page content based on the visitor's company size.
• Cookies set: Clearbit sets first-party cookies for visitor session management and cross-visit identification. The _clearbit_session cookie links page views to the identified company.
• Data collected: IP address (for company identification), page URLs visited, visit frequency, browser metadata, and referrer. This is enriched with Clearbit's firmographic database to produce company-level profiles.
• CRM integration: Identified company visits are pushed to HubSpot, Salesforce, or other CRM systems as anonymous company activity, informing sales teams about which target accounts are actively visiting the website.

Consent & Compliance

Clearbit falls under both analytics and marketing consent categories.

Under GDPR and ePrivacy, Clearbit's IP-based company identification processes personal data under GDPR (IP addresses are personal data). The persistent cookies for cross-session tracking require consent under the ePrivacy Directive. The reverse IP deanonymization raises transparency concerns, as visitors are profiled at the company level without explicit notice. Website personalization based on identified company attributes constitutes profiling under GDPR Article 22.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the IP-based identification, firmographic enrichment, and sharing of visitor data with CRM systems constitute processing and potentially "sharing" of personal information for marketing purposes.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. Clearbit's Reveal script performs IP-based visitor identification, sets tracking cookies, and enriches visitor profiles with firmographic data for sales and marketing purposes. Block the script until the user grants consent for analytics and marketing.