An intent surge is a sharp rise in a company's interest in a topic above its own normal level, as scored in intent data. The comparison is the company against its own recent past, not against a fixed threshold. Each source sets its own baseline and cut-off, so a surge is only comparable within one source.
Why a company is compared with itself
A fixed score threshold tends to flag large companies all the time, because they produce more signals, and to miss small ones. A company-relative flag removes that bias and shows change. It needs two safeguards: a floor, so that a low score doubling from 6 to 12 is not reported, and a defined baseline period, so that one quiet quarter does not turn every ordinary week into a surge.
Surge in Fokals data
In Intent Scores, the surge flag is set when the topic score is at least 50 and either at least double the company's own average for that topic over the previous twelve weeks or a first strong week. Acme Robotics (illustrative) averages 24 on a topic over twelve weeks and scores 56: a surge. A company that moves from an average of 14 to a score of 38 has more than doubled, yet it is below 50, so there is no surge.
Each score carries the number of signals behind it and the five strongest as dated evidence, with kind and weight. Market Series has an intent surge family with one series per topic, so the share of companies in surge can be followed by topic. The methodology gives the rule in full and the intent dataset lists the topics. The post on how Fokals intent scores are built explains the scoring.
Reading a surge
A surge says a company's public activity on a topic rose sharply. The score is evidence-backed, and the dated signals behind it show what drove the rise. Read the evidence before acting. A surge made of one funding filing is a different thing from one made of a new tool, two postings and a market entry. A surge at an account that never fits your product is not a lead, so combine it with fit, as in prioritising accounts with intent scores.
Related terms
An intent surge is a flag on an intent score. It feeds account scoring and lead scoring, and it is read beside any trigger event at the same company.
Frequently asked questions
What does an intent surge mean?
It means a company's measured activity on a topic has jumped well above its own usual level. For intent built from a company's own public actions, such as a tool added to its site, roles opened, a filing or an announcement, a surge means several of those actions arrived close together. It is a prompt to open the evidence behind the score and check fit.
What evidence stands behind a Fokals intent surge?
Every score carries the dated signals behind it, and the five strongest are delivered with the score. They are public acts of the company itself: a tool added to its site, a role opened, a filing made or an announcement. A surge is therefore measured at company level, and a reviewer or a model can open each source signal and check what drove the rise.
How long does an intent surge last?
A surge lasts only while the score stays at least 50 and at least double the company's own average for the previous twelve weeks. A score that holds high for several weeks raises that average until the comparison fails, and the flag drops even though the topic is still active. Scores also fade by half every 30 days when no new signals arrive. Read the score and its evidence as well as the flag.