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

# Catch-All Email Validation

> Advanced validation for catch-all email domains

## What Is a Catch-All Email and Why Validation Matters

**Definition:**\
A *catch-all* domain is configured to accept **any** email address, even if the mailbox does not actually exist.\
This means the server always replies "accepted", making standard SMTP validation unreliable.

**Example:**

```
info@company.com        → accepted    
sales@company.com       → accepted    
anyname@company.com     → accepted    
randomtext@company.com  → also accepted  
```

In catch-all domains, an SMTP check cannot determine whether a specific mailbox is real because the server confirms every possible address.

## Why this matters

* It's impossible to confirm real mailbox existence using standard validation
* High risk of bounce rate
* Potential negative impact on your sender reputation
* Harder to filter high-quality contacts for outreach
* Increases campaign risk, especially at scale

## Why additional validation is needed

Generect applies enhanced intelligence signals to estimate whether a catch-all email is *likely* to be deliverable.

The system provides a **confidence score**, helping you decide whether to include such emails in your outreach.

## How Generect Validates Catch-All Emails

Generect uses a combined, multi-layered approach to evaluate catch-all emails more accurately than a standard SMTP check.

### Validation Process

#### SMTP Check (baseline validation)

Checks whether the server accepts emails.\
On catch-all domains the response is always "accepted" → therefore insufficient on its own.

#### Pattern Analysis (AI-driven)

The system analyzes:

* whether the email matches the company's known email pattern
* similarity to other confirmed valid emails from the same domain
* frequency of this email format in previous validations

#### Historical Data Review

Generect checks:

* past successful deliveries to similar addresses
* whether similar formats previously resulted in bounces
* patterns observed across the domain

#### Public Records Matching

Generect searches for external signals verifying the address, including:

* corporate websites
* email signatures
* mentions in public documents
* references in social profiles (e.g., LinkedIn)

#### Deliverability Score (final result)

Every email receives a predicted deliverability score:

* **Low (30–50%)**
* **Medium (50–75%)**
* **High (75–95%)**

This is not a guarantee but provides a realistic risk assessment for catch-all domains.

<Tip>
  Use catch-all validation confidence scores to prioritize your outreach. High confidence scores (75%+) are generally safer to include in campaigns.
</Tip>

<Warning>
  Even with high confidence scores, catch-all emails carry more risk than standard validated emails. Consider this when planning large-scale campaigns.
</Warning>