How to build a look-alike company list
Your best future customers look like your best current customers. Look-alike prospecting turns that into a pipeline: start from won deals, find the companies most similar to them, and work the list. Here's the exact workflow.
Step 1 — Pick your seed accounts
Choose 5-20 of your best customers: highest LTV, fastest sales cycles, best retention. Quality beats quantity — each seed generates up to 100 look-alikes, so a focused seed list produces a cleaner output.
Step 2 — Run look-alike searches on each seed
Enter each customer's domain into SimilarIQ (or use bulk research for the whole list at once). Each search returns up to 100 similar companies ranked by a 0-100 match score with a confidence rating.
Step 3 — Merge, dedupe, and threshold
Companies that appear as look-alikes of multiple seed customers are your hottest prospects — they resemble your ICP from several angles. In SimilarIQ, the My Companies workspace holds every result across searches with per-column filters, so filter to match score ≥ 80 and sort. Via API/SDK, dedupe on domain and count seed overlaps.
Step 4 — Export to your CRM
One click exports to CSV, Salesforce (Account import format), or HubSpot (Company import format) — mapped fields, ready to upload. Enrich contacts with your data provider of choice and route to reps.
Step 5 — Refresh on a cadence
Markets move. Re-run seeds monthly or on every closed-won deal (a 5-minute automation with the API or a Zapier recipe) so the list stays alive.
Why this beats firmographic filters
Traditional list-building filters on industry codes and employee counts — blunt instruments that miss what actually made your customers buy. Look-alike scoring captures the whole picture of what a company does and who it serves, which is why the same approach powers Facebook and LinkedIn look-alike audiences — SimilarIQ applies it to companies instead of ad accounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is look-alike prospecting?
Finding new prospects by identifying companies most similar to your best existing customers, instead of filtering by broad firmographics. Similar companies tend to have similar problems, budgets, and buying behavior — so look-alike lists convert better.
How many seed customers do I need?
5-20 strong seeds work well. Each seed generates up to 100 ranked look-alikes, and companies appearing across multiple seeds' results are your highest-priority prospects.
Can I export the list to Salesforce or HubSpot?
Yes — SimilarIQ exports any result set as CSV, Salesforce Account import format, or HubSpot Company import format, with fields pre-mapped.
Can this run automatically?
Yes — the bulk API researches a whole customer list in one job, and a Zapier/Make webhook can trigger a look-alike search on every closed-won deal.