# Visitors, prospects and visitor association

*Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist Study Guide · Visitors and Prospects · Last updated November 3, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/marketing-cloud-account-engagement-specialist/visitors-and-prospects/visitors-prospects-and-visitor-association*

How Account Engagement turns a cookied, anonymous visitor into a prospect with an email address, how manual association and duplicate email addresses decide which prospect gets the history, and what visitor association changes, visitor filters and first-party tracking do to that history.

- Certification: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist
- Exam section: Visitors and Prospects
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/marketing-cloud-account-engagement-specialist

**Official exam objective:**

> Describe the relationship between visitors and prospects.

## What the exam expects

- Explain the difference between an anonymous visitor and a prospect, and name the actions that convert a visitor and keep its earlier activity.
- Trace the prospect lifecycle from visitor to won deal and say what moves a prospect into each stage.
- Manually associate a visitor with a prospect, including the role it needs, what the visitor sees afterwards and which prospect wins when several share the email address.
- Predict what a visitor association change does to activities, score, emails and personal data, and pick the fix that prevents one.
- Choose visitor filters, Identified Companies or first-party tracking for a tracking requirement, and plan the first-party upgrade for an older business unit.

Key terms:
- **Visitor**: someone who visited your tracked assets; anonymous until associated with an email address.
- **Prospect**: a visitor that has converted and is identified by an email address.
- **Visitor association change**: a visitor's activities move from one prospect to another.
- **Visitor filter**: excludes matching activity from campaign results and email notifications.
- **Tracker domain**: your own domain that first-party tracking cookies are tied to.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lifecycle stages | Visitor, prospect, MQL (assigned), SQL (on an opportunity), won deal | [Lifecycle Report Metrics](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_reporting_lifecycle_metrics.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Manual association role | Account Engagement Administrator or Marketing role | [Associate a Visitor](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_assign_visitors.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Duplicate address on manual association | Visitor goes to the prospect with the most recent Last Activity value | [Associate a Visitor](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_assign_visitors.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| After manual association | The entered email address is prefilled in Account Engagement forms | [Associate a Visitor](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_assign_visitors.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| AMPSEA default | On for business units created after June 14, 2016; cannot be turned off | [Multiple Prospects, Same Email](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_ampsea_parent.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| VAC and score | Moved activities' points, incl. completion action adjustments, go to the new prospect | [Visitor Association Change](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000268062&language=en_US&type=1) |
| VAC and email | Emails stay recorded against the address they were sent to | [Visitor Association Change](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000268062&language=en_US&type=1) |
| Visitor cookie duration | 365 days by default, configurable | [Configure Cookie Duration](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_max_cookie_duration.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| First-party tracking default | On for business units created after February 13, 2023; all editions | [Enable First-Party Tracking](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_first_party_cookie_enable.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| First-party tracker domains | Need a default campaign; go.pardot.com is not used | [Enable First-Party Tracking](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_first_party_cookie_enable.htm&type=5&language=en_US) |
| Identified Companies | Dashboard list of up to five recent identified-company visitors; More Visitors shows all | [Navigate the Lightning App](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/pardot-basics-lightning/learn-how-to-navigate-pardot-lightning) |

## Check yourself

- Why can reloading the same landing page several times in a few minutes still count as a single page view?
- When a form is submitted from a browser whose cookie belongs to a prospect in the recycle bin, what happens to that prospect?
- Why does Salesforce recommend a landing page over an embedded form for the first touch?
- How long does the visitor_id cookie persist unless an admin changes it?

## Sources

- [Converting Visitors to Prospects](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_converting_visitors_to_prospects.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Associate a Visitor with a Prospect](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_assign_visitors.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Account Engagement Visitor Association Change Overview](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000268062&language=en_US&type=1)
- [Account Engagement Glossary](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_basics_glossary.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Anonymous Visitors](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_visitors.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Cookies and Activity Tracking](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_basics_cookies.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Allowing Multiple Prospects with the Same Email Address](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_ampsea_parent.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Considerations for Visitor Tracking](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_tracker_domain_visitor_tracking.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Enable First-Party Tracking in Account Engagement](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_first_party_cookie_enable.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Considerations for First-Party Tracking](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_first_party_cookie_considerations.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Configure Cookie Duration](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_admin_max_cookie_duration.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Learn How to Navigate Account Engagement Lightning App (Trailhead)](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/pardot-basics-lightning/learn-how-to-navigate-pardot-lightning)
- [Lifecycle Report Metrics](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_reporting_lifecycle_metrics.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Guidelines for Using the Lifecycle Report](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_reporting_lifecycle_guidelines.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Prospect Lifecycle Reporting](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.pardot_reporting_lifecycle_parent.htm&type=5&language=en_US)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 13 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Specialist pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams