Your competitor may be prospecting the same 500 accounts you are. What sets them apart: they know which ones are in an active buying phase this week. B2B intent signals are the observable behaviors that reveal it — a change of decision-maker, a funding round, a public tender, the hiring of a compatible profile. This glossary defines the 30 most actionable signals in 2026, ranked by predictive strength and detection source.

Classifying signals by predictive strength

Strength-5 signals (meeting conversion above 8%): C-level decision-maker change, recent funding round (under 60 days), detected public tender, confirmed expiry of a competitor's contract.

Strength-4 signals (meeting conversion 4-8%): hiring of a profile compatible with your solution, recent negative review of a competitor (G2/Capterra), opening of a new office or subsidiary, press mention of a transformation project.

Strength-3 signals (meeting conversion 2-4%): repeated visits to your audit page (first-party), active research on a comparison platform, publication of content on your topic by a decision-maker.

Strength-2 signals (meeting conversion 1-2%): attendance at a sector trade show or webinar, download of a white paper, sector hashtag used on LinkedIn.

Strength-1 signals (meeting conversion under 1%): LinkedIn follow of your account, like on a post from your team, indirect mention of your sector.

Organizational signals (S5-S4)

Appointment of a new executive or decision-maker (S5): Source: LinkedIn (follow alerts), Infogreffe (registry changes), trade press. Optimal activation window: D0-D60 after taking office. Messaging angle: acknowledge the new role, propose a specific sector issue, no direct pitch.

Funding round (S5): Source: Crunchbase, LinkedIn, BFM Business, TechCrunch France. Window: D0-D90 post-announcement. Angle: commercial scaling, building new capacity, available scope. Golden rule: do not mention the round directly (perceived as opportunistic), contextualize around growth.

Public tender (S5): Source: BOAMP, TED (Europe), DMP.ent. Window: from publication. Angle: a direct response to the tender or an approach to the publishing entity for related needs.

Opening of a new office or country (S4): Source: LinkedIn (company announcements), local press, legal notices. Window: D0-D45. Angle: local acquisition needs, prospecting systems adapted to the new market.

Restructuring or merger-acquisition (S4): Source: BFM, Les Échos, Infogreffe. Window: D30-D90 post-announcement (reorganization period). Angle: process rationalization, new tools for merged teams.

Recruitment signals (S4-S3)

Hiring of a compatible profile (S4): Source: LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, APEC, Welcome to the Jungle. Examples of trigger profiles by solution: for an AI prospecting tool → 'SDR Manager', 'Head of Growth', 'Business Development Director'. For an ERP → 'CIO', 'IT Director', 'ERP Project Manager'. For an HR solution → 'HR Director', 'People Operations Manager'.

High hiring volume (S3): a company posting more than 10 openings in 30 days is in a growth phase. Window: D0-D60. Angle: process scalability (prospecting, onboarding, management).

Sudden hiring freeze (S3): may signal a strategic shift or scope freed up for outsourced solutions. Source: LinkedIn (disappearance of active openings). Angle: outsourcing vs hiring.

Hiring of a strategy consultant (S4): e.g. McKinsey, BCG, Bain on assignment → strategic thinking under way, transformation scope available. Source: LinkedIn (mentions of assignments).

First-party behavioral signals (S3-S2)

Repeated scope-page visit (S3): Source: first-party analytics (HubSpot, GA4). Definition: more than 2 visits in 14 days from the same IP or the same identified user. Automatically triggers a priority outbound sequence in the Lead-Gene system.

Download of premium content (S3): white paper, guide, ROI calculator. Source: CRM (form submitted). Trigger: 24-48h post-download. Angle: reference the downloaded content from the first message.

Repeated email opens (S2): more than 3 opens of the same email without a reply. A curiosity signal without a trigger. Triggers a follow-up variant with a different angle.

Visit to the 'Careers' page + product page (S3): a double signal: growth (careers) + product interest. Window: 48h post-visit.

Third-party and technographic signals (S3-S2)

Active research on a comparison platform (S3): Source: Bombora, 6sense, G2 Buyer Intent. Definition: an account that has viewed your listing or that of your competitors on G2, Capterra, Trustpilot in the last 14 days. Meeting conversion 2.3× higher than standard cold prospecting.

Recent negative review of a competitor (S4): Source: G2, Trustpilot, Capterra (automatic alerts). An account expressing dissatisfaction with a direct competitor is in a re-evaluation phase. Angle: empathy + factual differentiation, never disparagement.

Probable expiry of a competitor's contract (S5): Source: subscriptions detected via BuiltWith/Clearbit (technographics), the sector's typical contract duration. Estimate: 12-18 months after the detected signing. Window: D-60 to D+30 of the estimated expiry.

Adoption of a complementary technology (S3): Source: BuiltWith, Clearbit Reveal. E.g. an account that just adopted HubSpot is ready for an enrichment/prospecting solution. An account adopting Slack is looking to digitize its processes.

Publication of an annual report with an identified project (S4): Source: company website, BALO (for listed companies). Listed executives explicitly mention their development priorities — a source of ultra-personalized messaging angles.

For integrating these signals into an AI lead machine, see B2B Intent Signals: 7 signals your competitor detects.

B2B Intent Signals Glossary 2026: 30 Signals Defined and Ranked