When you upload a CSV into ListKit’s Email Verification tool, we verify every address and add a “quality” column next to each email. That column will label every email as Good, Risky, or Bad.
This article explains exactly what each label means and how you should use them.
Quick summary
Good = safe to use
Bad = do not use
Risky = Some tools may mark as uncertain (often catchalls). Use with awareness.
The only column you need to rely on for filtering is “quality.”
What “Good” means
Good emails are confirmed deliverable.
These addresses passed our verification checks and are considered safe to send to.
You can:
Keep them in your list
Use them in campaigns right away
Why it matters:
Good emails won’t harm your sender reputation and have the highest likelihood of reaching a real inbox.
What “Bad” means
Bad emails are not deliverable and should not be used.
These addresses failed verification and are highly likely to bounce.
You should:
Remove them from your list
Never send to them
Why it matters:
Sending to Bad emails increases bounce rates and can damage your domain and inbox reputation.
What “Risky” means
Risky emails are addresses that are harder for most tools to confidently verify, but ListKit still considers them acceptable.
Other verifiers often label these as “risky” because they can’t make a definitive call. A common reason is catchall domains.
What are catchalls?
A catchall domain is set up to accept all email sent to it, even if the specific inbox doesn’t exist.
Because of that, many third-party tools flag them as uncertain.
Why ListKit still marks them as Risky (not Bad)
ListKit runs deeper checks to validate emails that other tools can’t reliably classify.
So a Risky result usually means:
The email likely exists and can receive mail
But the domain setup makes it harder to verify with standard tools
You can:
Keep Risky emails if you want maximum volume
Use them in campaigns, especially if you’re okay with slightly higher uncertainty
Best practice:
If you’re running very high-stakes outreach (tight deliverability targets), you can separate Risky into a different campaign or send to them later. But they are not automatically invalid.
Important note about other CSV columns
In your output CSV you may also see columns like:
result
free
role
These are mostly for internal processing and extra technical context.
They don’t affect how you filter your list.
Bottom line: only focus on the quality column.