AI data referral programs compared: what each pays introducers, and the rules for CPAs and lawyers

AI data referral programs compared

Every program we track is below, in the same order as our directory of company data buyers. Order is not a ranking and is not set by fees. Each referral figure is the company's own advertised term, linked to where it says so.

Two of these numbers have moved recently. micro1's company referral was up to $25,000 when it launched in June 2026 (source: micro1 forum, referral program launch (Jun 16, 2026)) and is now up to $50,000 (source: micro1, company referral). Mercor's page carried "up to $100K per referral" in July 2026, according to a third-party tracker, and that line was gone by September (source: UsagePricing tracker of Mercor's page). If you are relying on a figure, screenshot it and get it in writing.

For the three largest buyers side by side on seller terms as well as referrals, see micro1 vs Mercor vs Handshake. The micro1 data partnership profile covers micro1's referral terms in more detail.

What the published referral formulas pay on a sample deal

Percentages and caps are hard to compare in the abstract. Here is plain arithmetic on each program's published formula for two license sizes. It is not a prediction of what any deal will pay.

Two things stand out. Flat and floor amounts (Handshake, Mode, micro1's ceiling) matter most on smaller deals, and percentage terms (Pewter, HUMXN) matter most on larger ones. And DataSupply's referral comes out of a fee the business itself pays, which is a different arrangement from the others.

How AI data referral fees actually trigger

The headline number matters less than the event that releases it. Programs use three kinds of trigger, and the gap between them can be months.

At close

Handshake AI pays its $10,000 when the referred company's deal closes (source: Handshake AI, refer a company). HUMXN pays within 30 days of close (source: HUMXN partners). This is the simplest trigger: once the company signs, you are owed.

After the business is paid

Pewter pays within 30 days after the business is paid (source: Pewter partners). Mode pays after the transaction for the data is completed, and its 6% is calculated on license fees actually paid (source: BizBuyData, $50K referral). DataSupply pays within 30 days of receiving its own fee (source: DataSupply referral terms). Troveo pays alongside its payments to the licensor (source: Troveo affiliate agreement). If the buyer pays the business in stages, your payment follows those stages.

After a revenue threshold or data acceptance

micro1 pays workflow partnerships only after the company completes onboarding and reaches a minimum revenue threshold, and corpus partnerships after micro1 accepts the data (source: micro1, company referral). Mercor pays when the referred company goes live and starts earning (source: Mercor, Monetize your data). These are the latest triggers, and the threshold itself is not published.

Clawbacks, attribution and consent

• Clawbacks. micro1 can withhold unpaid payouts and require repayment of paid ones if an engagement is cancelled, refunded or reversed, timing is at its sole discretion, and pending payouts are forfeited if it ends your participation (source: micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)).
• First to register wins. Pewter gives credit to the first partner to register a business, for 12 months (source: Pewter partner terms). HUMXN requires the business to be new to it and registered through your link before it makes contact, and the first introduction wins (source: HUMXN partners). Mode reviews competing claims and says creating an account or a draft does not reserve credit (source: BizBuyData, $50K referral). micro1 excludes companies already in its system as a lead or prospect (source: micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)).
• Consent first. micro1 requires the consent of an authorized representative of the company before you refer it (source: micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)). Professional rules, below, require it too.
• No sharing with the client. micro1's terms bar referrers from sharing any part of a payout with the referred company, and require written disclosure if you own, work for or have a financial interest in it (source: micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)). HUMXN pays no commission on your own company's or employer's data (source: HUMXN partners).

Rules for professional introducers: CPAs, lawyers and advisors

Your introduction is valuable because the client trusts you. That is also why professional rules govern being paid for it. This section is general information drawn from the model rules. Your state's version is the one that binds you, so confirm with your state board, state bar or compliance team before you accept any fee.

CPAs and accounting firms

The AICPA's Commissions and Referral Fees Rule, ET 1.520.001, says a member in public practice may not take a commission for recommending or referring a product or service to a client, or a product or service to be supplied by a client, when the member's firm also performs any of these for that client (source: AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, ET 1.520 and 1.700 (through July 2026; copy hosted by the Minnesota Board of Accountancy)):

• an audit or review of a financial statement;
• a compilation, when a third party is expected to use the statements and the compilation report does not disclose a lack of independence;
• an examination of prospective financial information.

The ban covers the period of the engagement and the period covered by the historical statements involved (source: AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, ET 1.520 and 1.700 (through July 2026; copy hosted by the Minnesota Board of Accountancy)). It also reaches payments routed through an agent or distributor, and taking one of those engagements later, during a period in which you received a commission, is treated as a violation (source: AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, ET 1.520 and 1.700 (through July 2026; copy hosted by the Minnesota Board of Accountancy)). A fee from an AI data buyer for introducing a client whose records it then licenses looks like the kind of payment this rule covers. Check with your state board or the AICPA ethics hotline before you treat it otherwise.

Where the rule does not prohibit the commission, it must be disclosed to the client you refer (source: AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, ET 1.520 and 1.700 (through July 2026; copy hosted by the Minnesota Board of Accountancy)). State boards can be stricter. Kansas, for example, writes the AICPA rule into its own regulations (source: Kansas K.A.R. 74-5-103 (via Cornell LII)), and the NJCPA notes that New Jersey's State Board requires the disclosure in writing, on or before the recommendation, signed and dated by the client (source: NJCPA, commissions and contingent fees).

Two confidentiality rules also apply before you say a word to a program. The AICPA Confidential Client Information Rule bars disclosing confidential client information without the client's specific consent (source: AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, ET 1.520 and 1.700 (through July 2026; copy hosted by the Minnesota Board of Accountancy)). And if you prepare the client's tax returns, IRC 7216 restricts using or disclosing tax return information without the consent it requires (source: 26 U.S.C. 7216 (via Cornell LII)). Don't pull headcount or revenue from a return to qualify a client. Ask the owner. The accounting firm guide covers what a firm can license from its own records.

Lawyers and law firms

• Rule 1.6, confidentiality. A lawyer may not reveal information relating to the representation of a client without informed consent (source: ABA Model Rule 1.6). That includes the fact that a company is your client and anything you learned about its systems and records while representing it. Get informed consent before you name a client to any program.
• Rule 1.7, conflicts. A fee from a buyer is a personal interest. Where there is a significant risk it materially limits your advice to the client, the rule requires the client's informed consent, confirmed in writing (source: ABA Model Rule 1.7). If you would also advise the client on the license itself, think hard about whether you can do both.
• Rule 1.8, current clients. Among other limits, Rule 1.8(b) bars using information relating to a representation to the client's disadvantage without informed consent (source: ABA Model Rule 1.8).
• Rule 7.2(b), paying for recommendations. This rule limits giving anything of value to someone for recommending your services. One exception allows a reciprocal referral arrangement with a nonlawyer professional only if it is not exclusive and the client is told about it (source: ABA Model Rule 7.2). It matters if a program offers to send work back to you.

States adopt these rules with their own variations, and some state bars have opinions on lawyers accepting fees from nonlawyers. Your state bar's ethics hotline is the right first call. If the client is a law firm, read the law firm guide first: only firm-owned, non-client material can ever be in scope.

Financial advisors, bankers, brokers, fractional CFOs, MSPs and consultants

• Disclose the fee to the client in writing, before the introduction. State the program, the amount or formula, and when you get paid. It is the simplest protection you have.
• Check with compliance. If you work at a bank, a broker-dealer or an advisory firm, ask whether the fee counts as outside compensation that needs approval before you take it.
• Business brokers and M&A advisors. If you represent the owner in a sale, a fee from a party buying their data is a payment from the other side of a transaction. Disclose it, and remember that an exclusive data license can matter to whoever buys the business later.
• MSPs and IT providers. You may hold admin access to the client's systems. Never export or share client data yourself. The owner decides what is shared, their counsel reviews it, and the buyer's process handles extraction under a signed agreement.

What to ask a referral program before you refer anyone

1. Written terms. Is there a signed referral agreement, and does it match the marketing page? Mode, for example, says its referral agreement governs, and its full text is not published on the page (source: BizBuyData, $50K referral).
2. The amount, and what it is a percentage of. License value, fees actually paid, or the program's own fee. DataSupply's 30% is a share of its fee, not of the deal (source: DataSupply, refer a company).
3. The trigger. Close, payment to the business, data acceptance, or a revenue threshold.
4. Timing. A number of days after the trigger, or at the program's discretion.
5. Clawbacks and forfeiture. What happens if the deal is unwound, or if the program ends your participation before you are paid.
6. Attribution. How you register a company, how long credit lasts, and what happens if the company already talked to the program.
7. Exclusivity. Whether the license your client signs would stop them licensing the same records elsewhere, and whether your registration ties the client to this one program.
8. Who the buyer is. Whether the program is the buyer or passes the records to someone it does not name, and what that end buyer may do with them.
9. Changes to the terms. Whether a change can reduce what you are owed on introductions already made. HUMXN says its rule changes cannot (source: HUMXN partners).

Red flags in an AI data referral program

Each of these is a reason to read the terms closely and ask more questions before you lend a program your name.

• Multi-level payouts. DataSupply's plan includes a seven-level "team share" from your downline and a Fast Start bonus for recruiting other partners (source: DataSupply, refer a company). Mode pays a second-level bonus that stops after two levels (source: BizBuyData, $50K referral), and micro1 runs a one-level sub-affiliate layer that pays 20% of a recruited referrer's payout (source: micro1, sub-affiliate program). The more levels there are, the more of the money rides on recruiting introducers rather than on the deals.
• An unnamed buyer. Pewter runs the sale through one licensing partner it does not name (source: Pewter), and DataSupply licenses to buyers it does not name (source: DataSupply, how it works). Your client should know who ends up with their records.
• Amounts that changed recently. micro1 went from up to $25,000 to up to $50,000 (source: micro1 forum, referral program launch (Jun 16, 2026), micro1, company referral), and Mercor's "up to $100K" disappeared (source: UsagePricing tracker of Mercor's page). Get the figure that applies to your introduction in writing.
• A referral page with no terms. Mercor publishes no amount (source: Mercor, Monetize your data), and Avelence has a referral page without published terms (source: Avelence). Ask for the agreement before the first introduction.
• A fee charged to your client. Where the business pays the program, as with DataSupply's 8% to 20% success fee (source: DataSupply, how it works), your referral is funded by your client. Tell them.
• Signing up through someone else's link. Under a sub-affiliate structure, the person who recruited you earns a share of your payouts (source: micro1, sub-affiliate program). Sign up with the program directly if you want a direct relationship.

Referring a client through a sell-side advisor

A referral program connects your client to one buyer. That buyer then writes the offer, sets the scope and drafts the contract. For a client with records several buyers want, that leaves money and terms on the table.

Regulr works on the seller's side. We shop a company's records to several buyers so the owner gets competing written offers, compare them line by line on price, scope, exclusions, exclusivity and payment schedule, and negotiate. The records themselves go from the company to the buyer it chooses and never pass through us. How we are paid is in the disclosure below.

If you have a client who might fit, email brian@regulr.ai before you register them anywhere else, so the company is introduced once, by one route. If you expect to be paid for an introduction, by us or anyone else, agree it in writing first. To see which programs a client is likely to qualify for, start with the data value checker or the guide to licensing company data for AI.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Program terms checked against each company's own pages on October 15, 2026. AICPA rule text checked against the July 2026 edition of the Code.

1. micro1, company referral
2. micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)
3. micro1 forum, referral program launch (Jun 16, 2026)
4. Mercor, Monetize your data
5. UsagePricing tracker of Mercor's page
6. Handshake AI, refer a company
7. Nyne, sell company data
8. BizBuyData, $50K referral
9. Pewter partners
10. Pewter partner terms
11. HUMXN partners
12. Endless
13. Troveo affiliate agreement
14. Turing, Project Lazarus
15. Centific, enterprise data
16. Polyshares
17. Anthroly
18. SimpleClosure partner program
19. Sunset partners
20. DataSupply, refer a company
21. SHFA.ai
22. Avelence
23. Data Licensing Advisors
24. Sell Business Data
25. Petrarch
26. micro1, sub-affiliate program
27. Pewter
28. Mode, data program
29. DataSupply, how it works
30. DataSupply referral terms
31. AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, ET 1.520 and 1.700 (through July 2026; copy hosted by the Minnesota Board of Accountancy)
32. NJCPA, commissions and contingent fees
33. Kansas K.A.R. 74-5-103 (via Cornell LII)
34. 26 U.S.C. 7216 (via Cornell LII)
35. ABA Model Rule 1.6
36. ABA Model Rule 1.7
37. ABA Model Rule 1.8
38. ABA Model Rule 7.2