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.
The system supports both automatic match strategies and suspect match strategies. Automatic strategies create and enrich profiles automatically when thresholds are met. Suspect strategies flag potential duplicates for your review in the Hub.
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.” |
Automatic match strategies
Automatic strategies enable Reltio Identity Builder to resolve and enrich records without user intervention. These strategies compare combinations of attributes using Exact, Fuzzy, and EON match types.
| Strategy | Description | Match attributes | Match rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
Suspect match strategies
Suspect strategies identify records that are likely, but not certain, to be the same individual. These profiles are flagged as potential matches for review in Hub under the Potential Matches tab.
| Strategy | Description | Match attributes | Match rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| 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) |
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.
Attribute matching hierarchy
The following hierarchy determines the order of attribute importance during comparison:
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. These values must exist in your data model and be populated for each record.
| 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 |
MiddleName (EON) | Middle name of the individual. | String | Exact or fuzzy match key |
NameSuffix (EON) | Name Suffix of the individual | String | Exact or fuzzy match key |
Gender (EON) | Gender of of the individual | String | Exact match key |
YoB | Year of birth | Date / String | Exact match key |
MoB | Month of birth | Date / String | Exact 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
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 |