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AI Data Payout

Updated October 2026

What happens on the first call

Independent and sourced. We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. How we earn

Someone has booked a call about your company's data, and you want to know what to expect. It is short, usually 15 to 30 minutes: a round of questions about your size, history, tools and anything sensitive, then a rough range. Have your headcount, years of records and systems list ready, and come with your own questions about who gets the data and how it is cleaned.1,2,3

Match my companyWhat is it worth?

What they will ask

The questions you will hear

The core set is short: how many employees, how many years of data, how many business entities, what share is in English, where you are headquartered, and whether anything is regulated or sensitive. Some buyers also ask whether you have licensed or sold data before.3,4

Then the systems. Expect to name your email (Gmail or Outlook), chat (Slack or Teams), accounting (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite), CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) and job or project tools (Asana, Jira). Those are the names on most buyers' lists.5,6,7

Have this ready

A one-page cheat sheet

Employees today, and at your peak. Years in business, and years of records in each system. Which systems hold what. Rough volume, such as mailboxes or tickets per year. Any health, financial or HR records mixed in. Folders you will not include. A list like this is often called a data manifest, and it takes about 1-3 hours to build. The quiz asks for most of it and introduces you to the buyers we work with that fit, so your first calls are with companies that already take a business like yours.8

What you ask back

Seven questions to ask them

Are you the buyer or a broker, and how are you paid? Which AI labs will receive the data, and will you tell us? MIT Technology Review found sellers often cannot see the end buyer. Do you connect to our systems or do we export? Frankfurt Kurnit advises no direct system access.9,10

How are names and personal details removed, and do we review samples first? When are raw files deleted? Is the license exclusive? Do we get a written offer before anything leaves?11,12,13,1,14

After the call

What should happen next

A range, then a request for samples, then a written offer, which usually follows within a few days to two weeks. If the next step is a request for money, a login to your live systems, or pressure to sign before you have seen terms, stop. Most buyers charge sellers nothing.15,16,17,18,19,20

FAQ

Questions, answered with sources

  • Your headcount, years of records, location, how much is in English and whether anything is sensitive. Then which systems you use, such as email, chat, accounting and your CRM.3,7

  • Short, usually 15 to 30 minutes. Have your numbers ready so it ends with a rough range.1,2

  • A one-page list of headcount, years, systems, rough volumes and exclusions. It takes about 1-3 hours to put together.8

  • Who receives the data, how it is cleaned, whether you review samples, when raw files are deleted and whether the license is exclusive. Ask about the end buyer early, since sellers often cannot see it.9,11

  • Usually a range at most. A written offer usually follows within a few days to two weeks, once the buyer has seen samples.15,18,19

  • Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.

Before you sign

Questions to talk through with your buyer

Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.

Questions for this kind of business

  • What do we agree to, if anything, by sharing samples before a contract?
  • Do customer, vendor or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?

Questions for any buyer

  • Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
  • Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
  • Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
  • How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
  • What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
  • Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
  • Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?

How this page was made

Figures come from the published sources listed below, and what a buyer says about itself is its own claim. Anything marked as our estimate is ours, not a buyer quote. Drafted with AI help from our research, then checked against each source. Updated October 2026.

We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. See how we earn and how we rank. This site does not give legal, tax or financial advice.

Sources (20)

  1. 1.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  2. 2.Meta Ad Library, Your Data Value, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.micro1 data payout estimator. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai, published 26 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  6. 6.Grepped website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Nyne sell-company-data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.Summary of micro1's video "How to earn up to $2M training AI models with anonymized company data". Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  10. 10.Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  11. 11.beri.net, published 10 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  12. 12.Grepped security page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  13. 13.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.Meta Ad Library, Supersoniq, published 14 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.Ventra company data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.Cognor Labs manufacturing page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  20. 20.Ventra terms of service, published 30 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.