Match strategies and logic
Learn more about the automatic and suspect match strategies used by Reltio Identity Builder to detect and unify duplicate consumer profiles based on Reltio's proprietary reference data.
Reltio Identity Builder™ evaluates entity data in your tenant against the Reltio Intelligent Identity Graph using a combination of deterministic and probabilistic match rules. These rules define how attributes such as FirstName, LastName, Email, Phone, and Address are compared to determine whether two records represent the same individual.
Pick the match strategies that suit your business needs. In your DTSS subscription, assign the match rules for the strategies you want to resolve automatically to the AUTOSUBSCRIBE action, and assign the match rules for strategies you want to review manually to the MANUAL_MATCH action. If you select only strategies under MANUAL_MATCH, no profiles are automatically resolved and enriched — Reltio Identity Builder creates potential matches for your review instead.
Match strategies
The following table lists all 6 match strategies Reltio Identity Builder supports. In your DTSS subscription, assign the match rule URIs for the strategies you select to the AUTOSUBSCRIBE action if you want them to resolve automatically, or to the MANUAL_MATCH action if you want to review them as potential matches in Hub first.
| Strategy | Description | Match attributes | Match rules | Match rule URIs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Exact | Primary deterministic match using full name, birth date, and contact detail. | FirstName, LastName, YoB, MoB, and one of: Address, Email, or Phone | Exact + EON (MiddleName, Suffix, Gender) |
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| 2 — Exact | Alternate deterministic strategy when full date of birth is not present. | FirstName, LastName, and one of: Address, Email, or Phone | EON (YoB, MiddleName, Suffix, Gender) |
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| 3 — Fuzzy + Exact | Probabilistic first name matching with deterministic last name and contact detail comparison. | Fuzzy (FirstName), Exact (LastName, YoB, MoB), Address or Email or Phone | EON (MiddleName, Suffix, Gender) |
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| 4 — Fuzzy + Exact | Comprehensive probabilistic strategy for first and last name variation tolerance. | Fuzzy (FirstName, LastName), Exact (YoB, MoB), Address or Email or Phone | EON (MiddleName, Suffix, Gender) |
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| 5 — Fuzzy + Exact | Compares similar first names and identical last names or contact details. | Fuzzy (FirstName), Exact (LastName, Address or Email or Phone) | EON (YoB, Gender) |
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| 6 — Fuzzy + Exact | Matches similar first and last names with identical contact details. | Fuzzy (FirstName, LastName), Exact (Address or Email or Phone) | EON (YoB, Gender) |
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Match type definitions
| Match type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Exact | Requires identical attribute values for comparison. Used for attributes such as LastName or Email. | “John Smith” matches “John Smith.” |
| Fuzzy | Evaluates similar or variant strings using probabilistic matching for name attributes. | “Jon Smith” matches “John Smyth.” |
| Exact or Null (EON) | Treats attributes as matching if values are identical, or if one or both are null. Used for optional attributes such as MiddleName or Suffix. | “John S Smith” matches “John Smith.” |
How match strategies are applied
When records are created or updated, Reltio Identity Builder continuously evaluates them against all active automatic and suspect strategies. Automatic matches trigger enrichment immediately. Suspect matches are presented for your review in the Hub. If only suspect match strategies are configured, no records are automatically enriched.
In a DTSS subscription, automatic strategies are configured under the AUTOSUBSCRIBE action, and suspect strategies under the MANUAL_MATCH action.
Attribute matching hierarchy
The following hierarchy determines the order of attribute importance during comparison:
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FirstName,LastName,YearOfBirth, andMonthOfBirth(primary identifiers). -
AddressorEmailorPhone(contact linkage) -
MiddleName,Gender, andSuffix(secondary verification using EON)
This hierarchy ensures consistent and explainable matching across all Identity Builder strategies.
Mandatory attributes for matching
The following attributes are required for all matching strategies. FirstName and LastName must be populated for each record, along with at least one of Address, Email, or Phone.
| Attribute | Description | Data type | Match role |
|---|---|---|---|
FirstName | Given name of the individual. | String | Exact or fuzzy match key |
LastName | Family name of the individual. | String | Exact or fuzzy match key |
Address | Primary address line (AddressLine1, City, State, Zip). | String | Exact match or fallback if email/phone missing |
Email | Primary email address of the individual. | String | Alternate exact match key |
Phone | Primary phone number (mobile, landline, or VoIP). | String | Alternate exact match key |
Optional attributes used in enhanced matching
These attributes strengthen probabilistic or fuzzy match accuracy and contribute to enrichment lineage but are not mandatory.
| Attribute | Description | Data type | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
YoB | Year of birth. Required for Strategies 1, 3, and 4; used as an EON confidence booster in Strategies 2, 5, and 6. | Date / String | Strategy-dependent |
MoB | Month of birth. Required for Strategies 1, 3, and 4; not used in Strategies 2, 5, or 6. | Date / String | Strategy-dependent |
MiddleName | Additional name element used for Exact or Null (EON) match evaluation. | String | Optional fuzzy support |
NameSuffix | Suffix (e.g., Jr., Sr., II) used for EON matching. | String | Optional exact or null comparison |
Gender | Used for EON validation; improves disambiguation for common names. | String | Optional EON parameter |