$ man routing-logic

Routing Logic (Google → Instantly, Non-Google → HeyReach)

The decision tree that determines where a contact goes based on their MX record. Google MX → route to Instantly (email). Non-Google MX → route to HeyReach (LinkedIn). No email found → route to HeyReach (LinkedIn).

I can deliver reliably to Google Workspace inboxes from my Instantly setup. I can't deliver reliably to Microsoft 365 or custom Exchange servers. Instead of forcing bad sends, I route non-Google contacts to LinkedIn outreach via HeyReach. This preserves my email domain reputation and reaches the contact through a channel where provider mismatch doesn't matter.

After the MX record lookup in Clay, a routing formula checks the result. If the MX contains 'google' or 'googlemail,' the contact routes to the Instantly campaign. If it contains 'outlook,' 'protection.outlook,' or anything else, the contact routes to HeyReach for LinkedIn. If there's no email at all, it routes to HeyReach by default. This logic runs automatically. I don't manually sort contacts.