Auto-Add from Email

When you send an email to someone who doesn't have a record in Bullhorn, the system automatically creates a new contact record and links them to a company. This is the Auto-Add from Email feature. This article explains how it works and what information gets created.

If you don't see auto-added contacts appearing, this feature may not be enabled for your organization. Contact Bullhorn Support to enable it.

How Auto-Add Creates Records

When you email an unknown person, Bullhorn follows this logic to decide which company to associate them with:

1: Search by Email Domain

Bullhorn looks for existing contacts with the same email domain (e.g., @acmeinc.com).

  • If found, the new contact is added to that company.

  • If multiple companies have contacts from that domain, Bullhorn uses the company with the most active contacts. If there's a tie, Bullhorn uses the company with the lowest ID number.

2: Search Company Records

If no matching contacts exist, Bullhorn searches the Company URL field for the same domain. If found, the new contact is added to that company (using the same tiebreaker logic above).

3: Look up the Company Externally

If no domain match exists in Bullhorn, the system retrieves the company name from external sources.

  • If the company already exists in Bullhorn, the new contact is added to it (exact name match).

  • If the company doesn't exist, Bullhorn creates both the company and contact records.

  • If the domain isn't recognized, no records are created.

What Information Gets Auto-Created

New Contact Records Contain:

  • First and Last Name: If you haven't communicated with this person before, their last name will show their email address until they reply. Once they respond, Bullhorn extracts their real name from the email header.

  • Email Address

  • Source: Auto Add

  • Status: New Lead

  • Owner: You (the person who sent the email)

New Company Records Contain:

  • Name: Retrieved from external sources or matched from your database

  • Company URL

  • Full Address: Address 1, Address 2, City, State, Zip

  • Phone Number

Configuring Auto-Add from Email

Admin Configuration

Admins can configure Auto-Add from Email via Pulse HQ, located on the Bullhorn menu under Tools. Here, you can enable or disable Auto-Add, allow or block specific email domains, and configure default privacy settings.

Allowing and Blocking Domains

Admins can configure Auto-Add to block specific email domains via Menu > Tools > Pulse HQ.

To block a domain from Auto-Add, add it to the Blacklist field. Alternatively, if you prefer to only auto-add contacts from a select group of domains, you can add these domains to the Whitelist field.

Automatically Blocked Domains

In addition to any custom domains you add, the following domains are blocked by default (new contacts from these domains are never auto-added):

  • Free email services (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, AOL, etc.)

  • Business email services (HubSpot, Marriott)

  • All Bullhorn tracker addresses

Employees with the same email domain as your company are never auto-added, even if Auto-Add is enabled. This prevents internal emails from creating public contact records.

End User Configuration

By default, auto-added contacts are public. If you're an end user, you can view and configure your preferences to make them private by default instead.

Setting Privacy Preferences for Auto-Added Contacts

  1. Go to Menu > Preferences.

  2. Under Email Settings, find Auto-Add from Email.

  3. Select Add new Auto-Add Contacts as Private.

  4. Click Save.

Any contacts auto-added going forward will use your privacy preference. This setting doesn't affect existing records.