> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.8call.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Generate leads

> Define your ideal customer and locations, then build an audience of prospects to call or export.

<Info>
  Lead generation finds businesses that match your ideal customer in the locations you choose. The result is an **audience** — a reusable list you can run [campaigns](/guides/campaigns) against or export to CSV.
</Info>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the lead generation page">
    From the dashboard, go to `/lead-generation`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create an audience">
    Click **Create new audience** and set:

    * <strong>Audience name</strong> — e.g. "NYC Pediatric Dentists"
    * <strong>Ideal customer description</strong> — who you're targeting
    * <strong>Country</strong> — currently United States
    * <strong>Cities</strong> — pick the cities (and ZIPs) to search

    <Check>
      The new audience is selected and ready to run.
    </Check>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run lead generation">
    Click **Run lead generation**, confirm the details, set a **Max leads** limit (up to 1000), and click **Run**. Matching businesses stream into the results table with contact details and a match score.

    <Tip>
      You can **Stop** a run in progress — results already found are kept.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use your leads">
    Filter the table by audience, and click **Export CSV** to download. To call the audience automatically, build a [campaign](/guides/campaigns) on top of it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Reading the results

Each row shows the business name, address, email and phone (with verification checkmarks where confirmed), website, social links, and a **match score** ring showing how well it fits your ideal customer.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The Run button is disabled">
    Select an audience that has a description and at least one city or location before running.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="No leads were found">
    Try a broader ideal-customer description or add more cities. Very specific niches in small areas return fewer matches.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Some contacts have no verified phone">
    Verification isn't always possible. Campaigns only call contacts with verified numbers, so a larger run gives you more callable leads.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>