diff --git a/app/actions/leads.ts b/app/actions/leads.ts
index b2c378c0..65ff587a 100644
--- a/app/actions/leads.ts
+++ b/app/actions/leads.ts
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export async function findLeadsAction(input: {
   }
 
   let added = 0;
-  let scanning = 0;
+  const scanning = 0;
   for (const candidate of found.prospects.slice(0, limit)) {
     const res = await researchProspect({
       userId: auth.userId,
@@ -87,11 +87,15 @@ export async function findLeadsAction(input: {
       url: candidate.url,
       discoveredVia: candidate.via,
       discoveryLabel: candidate.label,
+      // Finding leads for a project does not scan them. The scan exists to
+      // supply findings for the CrawlProof audit pitch, and firing one at
+      // every discovered business spends worker time on evidence nobody is
+      // going to cite — and points a scanner at people who only turned up in
+      // a search. Campaigns that do pitch an audit turn scanning back on
+      // explicitly.
+      skipScan: true,
     });
-    if (res.status === "scanning") {
-      scanning += 1;
-      added += 1;
-    } else if (res.status === "researched") {
+    if (res.status === "researched") {
       added += 1;
     }
   }
@@ -101,9 +105,7 @@ export async function findLeadsAction(input: {
     ok: true,
     added,
     scanning,
-    note: scanning
-      ? `${added} leads added — ${scanning} are scanning now. Refresh in a minute to see scores.`
-      : `${added} leads added.`,
+    note: `${added} leads added.`,
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/components/leads/campaign-panel.tsx b/components/leads/campaign-panel.tsx
index 22a2321c..e3851403 100644
--- a/components/leads/campaign-panel.tsx
+++ b/components/leads/campaign-panel.tsx
@@ -76,7 +76,11 @@ export function CampaignPanel({
   const [pitchIntro, setPitchIntro] = useState("");
   const [pitchAsk, setPitchAsk] = useState("");
   const [pitchFacts, setPitchFacts] = useState("");
-  const [scanProspects, setScanProspects] = useState(true);
+  // Scanning is off by default now: a project-level campaign is pitching the
+  // project's own offer, not a CrawlProof audit, so there is nothing for a
+  // scan of the prospect to contribute. Selecting the audit pitch turns it
+  // back on, because that pitch is built from findings.
+  const [scanProspects, setScanProspects] = useState(false);
   const [senderName, setSenderName] = useState("");
   const [replyTo, setReplyTo] = useState("");
 
diff --git a/components/leads/lead-finder.tsx b/components/leads/lead-finder.tsx
index 796c0bca..c5b9c6f8 100644
--- a/components/leads/lead-finder.tsx
+++ b/components/leads/lead-finder.tsx
@@ -6,9 +6,14 @@ import { findLeadsAction } from "@/app/actions/leads";
 
 /**
  * The "add leads" box. A search query finds businesses; a directory URL mines
- * one page's outbound links. Both queue a free scan per domain, because a
- * lead with no report is not a lead — every claim in the eventual email has
- * to trace back to one.
+ * one page's outbound links.
+ *
+ * Neither scans the businesses it finds. Scanning exists to supply findings
+ * for the CrawlProof audit pitch, and a project pitching its own offer has no
+ * use for them — so firing a scan at every discovered domain would spend
+ * worker time on evidence nobody cites, and point a scanner at people whose
+ * only involvement was appearing in a search. A campaign that does pitch an
+ * audit turns scanning back on explicitly.
  */
 export function LeadFinder({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
   const router = useRouter();
@@ -88,7 +93,7 @@ export function LeadFinder({ projectId }: { projectId: string }) {
       </div>
       <p className="mt-2 text-xs text-[var(--color-muted)]">
         {mode === "query"
-          ? "Finds businesses, then queues a free scan of each so the pitch can cite real findings."
+          ? "Finds businesses and looks up a contact address for each. It does not scan them."
           : "Every outbound link on that page becomes a candidate. Platforms and aggregators are filtered out."}
       </p>
       {note && <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-[var(--color-fg)]">{note}</p>}