diff --git a/src/TrueCV.Infrastructure/Services/CompanyVerifierService.cs b/src/TrueCV.Infrastructure/Services/CompanyVerifierService.cs
index 7201887..766b7b5 100644
--- a/src/TrueCV.Infrastructure/Services/CompanyVerifierService.cs
+++ b/src/TrueCV.Infrastructure/Services/CompanyVerifierService.cs
@@ -617,11 +617,15 @@ public sealed class CompanyVerifierService : ICompanyVerifierService
                 _logger.LogDebug("Selected: {Title} ({Number})", existedAtStartDate[0].Item.Title, existedAtStartDate[0].Item.CompanyNumber);
                 return existedAtStartDate[0];
             }
+
+            // No companies existed at the claimed start date - don't match a wrong company
+            _logger.LogDebug("No companies found that existed at claimed start date {StartDate}, returning no match", claimedStartDate.Value);
+            return null;
         }
 
-        // Fall back to highest score if no temporal match
+        // No start date provided - just use highest score
         var fallback = matches.OrderByDescending(m => m.Score).First();
-        _logger.LogDebug("Falling back to highest score: {Title} ({Number})", fallback.Item.Title, fallback.Item.CompanyNumber);
+        _logger.LogDebug("No start date filter, using highest score: {Title} ({Number})", fallback.Item.Title, fallback.Item.CompanyNumber);
         return fallback;
     }