/apify-verified-email-finder

name: apify-verified-email-finder
description: Builds a list of verified business emails from Google Maps, Google SERPs, or a user-supplied URL list. Verification happens inside the same Apify run — no third-party verifier needed. Use when user asks to find verified emails, build a leads list, scrape emails from Maps or SERP, verify emails for a URL list, or find an Apollo / Hunter alternative.
author: Daniela Ryplová
author_url: https://github.com/danielarypl
metadata:
  keywords: "email, verification, leads, contacts, verified-emails, google-maps, serp, apify, apollo-alternative, hunter-alternative"

Verified Email Finder

Return a list of verified business emails by routing the user's input to the right Apify Actor and turning on the leads enrichment + email verification add-ons in a single run. No third-party verifier (Hunter, NeverBounce, Apollo) needed — verification happens inside the same Actor run.

Prerequisites

(No need to check it upfront)

The skill supports two execution paths. Pick the one that matches your environment — Steps 4 and 5 show commands for both.

**MCP path (default in Claude sessions, recommended).** If the Apify MCP server is connected, no setup is needed — auth runs through the user's Apify account. Use the `call-actor` and `get-dataset-items` MCP tools.

**Script path (CLI / scheduled / non-Claude execution).** Requires:

• `.env` file with `APIFY_TOKEN`
• Node.js 20.6+ (for native `--env-file` support)

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track progress:

Task Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Collect the six required anchor inputs
- [ ] Step 2: Route to the correct Actor (confirm if ambiguous)
- [ ] Step 3: Build the Actor input (verification always ON)
- [ ] Step 4: Run the Actor and wait
- [ ] Step 5: Apply the result-scope filter, deduplicate, and render

Step 1: Collect the Six Required Anchor Inputs

Ask all six as one block before any Actor call. Don't bundle Actor-specific optional fields (country code, language, max pages) into this round — surface those as follow-ups.

1. **What do you have to start with?** — `location query` / `SERP keyword` / `URL list`. This drives the routing decision. 2. **The actual input** — the location string, the keyword(s), or the URLs themselves. 3. **Department filter** — one or more of: `c_suite`, `product`, `engineering_technical`, `design`, `education`, `finance`, `human_resources`, `information_technology`, `legal`, `marketing`, `medical_health`, `operations`, `sales`, `consulting`. Default is `any` (leave the array empty), but ask every time. 4. **Max contacts per domain / business** — passed as `maximumLeadsEnrichmentRecords`. Default `3`, but ask every time. 5. **Output format** — `CSV` or `JSON`. Ask every time. 6. **Result scope** — which leads to keep in the deliverable. The Actor always runs the same way (verification always on); this only controls post-run filtering. Pick one:

• `verified-only` (default) — only leads with `emailVerification.result == "ok"`. Safest for cold email.
• `verified-plus-catchall` — `ok` plus `catch_all`. Catch-all is often deliverable but unprovable.
• `all-emails` — any lead with a non-empty `email`, regardless of verification.
• `with-phone` — any lead with a non-empty phone number, regardless of email status. Use for call campaigns.
• `everything` — every lead the Actor returned, even incomplete ones.

Step 2: Route to the Correct Actor

Inspect anchor #1 and pick the Actor.

| User has to start with | Actor ID | Use when | |---|---|---| | Location + business type ("dentists in Berlin") | `compass/crawler-google-places` | Local leads list from Maps listings; best when user wants address / phone / hours too | | Keyword / search query ("best CRM software") | `apify/google-search-scraper` | Contacts from whichever sites Google ranks for a topic | | Pre-existing URL list (pasted, file path) | `vdrmota/contact-info-scraper` | User already has domains; cheapest route since no discovery step |

All three Actors share the same three add-on fields, so verification behavior is identical across routes.

**Decision examples**

| User says | Route | |---|---| | "Dentists in Munich" / "Lawyers in Prague" | Maps | | "Marketing contacts at the top results for 'AI agent builder'" | Search | | "Find emails for these 5 URLs: acme-co.example, demo-co.example..." | URL list | | "Find HR contacts at Fortune 500 companies" | **Ask:** SERP for "Fortune 500 HR" or a URL list? | | "Find contacts at SaaS companies in Berlin" | **Ask:** Maps for "SaaS companies in Berlin" or SERP for "SaaS companies Berlin"? Maps works best when businesses are Google-Maps-listed. | | (User pastes both a SERP keyword AND a URL list) | **Ask:** run one route, the other, or both as separate deliverables? |

**Ambiguity rule:** if anchor #1 is unclear, ask **one** follow-up before running. Never burn Actor compute on a guessed route.

**Mixed deliverables:** if the user explicitly asks for two routes in one deliverable, run both Actors and concatenate. The `Source` column makes the mix clear; dedupe by email across the combined output.

Step 3: Build the Actor Input

Always set these three fields, regardless of which Actor is selected.

| Field | Value | |---|---| | `maximumLeadsEnrichmentRecords` | anchor #4 (default `3`, min `1`) | | `leadsEnrichmentDepartments` | anchor #3 as array, or `[]` if "any" | | `verifyLeadsEnrichmentEmails` | `true` (always) — guard rail, never set to `false` |

Full per-Actor input parameters and example payloads are in [reference/apify-actor-usage.md](reference/apify-actor-usage.md).

**URL-list pre-validation:** before submitting URLs to `vdrmota/contact-info-scraper`, parse each one and check it is http/https and parseable. Skipped entries must appear in the output as `skipped — invalid URL`, never silently dropped.

Step 4: Run the Actor

Maps and SERP runs with leads enrichment can take several minutes per query. Raise the timeout for large jobs.