The columns you tick are all the AI sees about a record, so they decide how good the matches are. They are also the only part of your data that is sent: every other column stays in Excel.
Usually just the name #
- List A: tick the columns to compare, usually just the name (company, vendor or customer name) or, for products, the description.
- List B: tick the columns the AI picks from, usually just the name as well.
For each row of List A, the AI answers with an entry from List B, or No match. It cannot invent a name that is not in List B.
When to tick a city or country too #
Tick City (or Country) only when the same name in another place is a different business, for example branches that are separate customers. Then Smith Plumbing in Houston and Smith Plumbing in Dallas each get their own match. If the two lists do not agree on places, leave the city out: a card payment at a chain store names the store’s town, not the head office, and a ticked city would turn that row into No match.
When you do tick a place, tick it on both sides. If only one side has it, the AI has less to compare. If branches should count as one business, leave the city out, or say so in the extra rule.
Leave out IDs, amounts, dates and free-text notes. They rarely help decide whether two names are the same, and they use space the AI could spend on the useful parts.
How the record is sent #
Only the values of the ticked columns are sent, joined with a middle dot, for example Kowalski Deli · Chicago. The column headers are not sent. Empty values are skipped. Each value is cut at 200 characters and the whole record at 500, and each List B entry at 150 characters, which is plenty for a name and a location.
Columns to copy (List B) #
For List B you can also choose columns to copy next to each match, such as a vendor ID or an account number. Each gets its own result column named after it, for example “Vendor ID (matched)”. These columns are read inside Excel and are not sent to the AI unless you also tick them as columns the AI picks from.
When the answer is a name that appears more than once in List B, the row gets the status Duplicate in List B and its copied columns stay empty, unless all of those List B rows hold the same value, so no possibly wrong ID lands in your sheet. Pick the right row yourself, or tick another column such as City on both sides so each entry is unique.