How to Automate Lead Generation With HighLevel’s Lead Generation Tool

4 min read

Category: HighLevel Automations

Published: June 10, 2026

You just hired a new virtual assistant to handle local outreach for your agency. You hand them a script, a massive spreadsheet, and tell them to start cold emailing every single plumber in a 50-mile radius.

A week goes by. Your virtual assistant has sent out 500 emails, but your calendar is a complete ghost town. Why? Because you are pitching generic SEO services to business owners who have zero idea they even have a problem. You are basically walking up to a stranger and asking for a thousand dollars without diagnosing their pain first.

Cold pitching without leverage is a massive waste of time and destroys your domain reputation. HighLevel just fixed this completely with the Prospecting Tool.

This feature instantly finds local businesses and automatically generates a highly detailed Marketing Audit Report highlighting exactly where their online presence is bleeding money. Y

ou stop being an annoying salesperson and start being a trusted doctor with an x-ray. Let’s start generating highly qualified leads.

Part 1: Access the Prospecting Engine

Ready to streamline this? Here is exactly how to do it in 60 seconds:

  1. Inside your Agency view, click on the Prospecting tab from the left menu.
  2. If you want to use advanced automations like triggering workflows or adding leads directly to your contacts, deploy this feature inside a sub-account. Go to the Marketing tab in the left menu, then click the Prospecting tab on the top navigation bar.

Part 2: Run Your Local Search

Now you need to find businesses that actually need your help.

  1. Click the Add Prospect button to open the search page.
  2. Use Keyword Search to enter a specific business type like “Dentist” or “Contractor”.
  3. Use Location Search to enter a specific city, postal code, or full address. You can also type “near me” to search your immediate area using your IP address.
  4. Set your Search Radius up to 30 miles from your center location to expand your net.
  5. Select your desired leads from the search results. You can grab up to 60 leads per search and use the Add Bulk Prospect button to save multiple targets at once.
  6. Add any known Point of Contact (POC) details, toggle the setting on, and click Save Location to proceed. (Alternatively, use Search Business Manually if you already have a specific target in mind).

Part 3: Analyze and Send the Audit Report

The system will now generate a complete Marketing Audit Report in seconds.

  1. Click on any saved prospect in your dashboard to view their detailed report.
  2. Review the Listings section. This aggregates data from over 70 online directories to show the prospect exactly where their business information is missing or highly inaccurate.
  3. Review the Reviews section to get a detailed breakdown of their Google My Business and Facebook reputation.
  4. Review the Website Hosting section to see if they are using WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or another provider.
  5. Click Share Report to generate a link and instantly send it to your prospect. Use this undeniable proof of their digital marketing gaps to effortlessly close the deal.

Part 4: Track Your Pipeline

Never lose track of a hot lead again.

  1. Go to your dashboard and look at your Prospect Cards. The default state is always set to Open.
  2. Use the dropdown on the card to mark the lead as Won or Lost to track your outreach outcomes directly inside the tool.
  3. Click the Point of Contacts tab to view deeper lead information, linked social media profiles, and direct contact details.

Stop cold pitching blindly and use automated audit reports to prove your value before the sales call even begins.

If you are tired of building these operational bridges from scratch, visit hlprotools.com to see how we help agencies install world-class systems and automation seamlessly.

Cool Free Thing

You can hand a local business owner a flawless marketing audit that highlights exactly where their online presence is bleeding money.

That report creates massive urgency, but before they actually cut you a check to fix those gaps, they need absolute proof that you can deliver the results you are promising.

Identifying a problem gets your foot in the door. Bulletproof client testimonials are what actually close the deal.

Yet, most agency owners treat gathering reviews like a complete afterthought. They leave their most powerful sales assets buried in old emails instead of structuring them to convert those fresh prospects into paying retainers.

I am handing you the exact, automated machine my team uses to systematically capture, polish, and deploy client success stories so they are primed for your very next audit review call.

👉 Grab the automated testimonial workflow right here.