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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossaryAdtech & ProgrammaticLookalike Audience

Adtech & Programmatic

Lookalike Audience

A modeled audience of new people who resemble an advertiser's existing customers.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

A lookalike audience is a modeled audience of new people who resemble an advertiser's existing customers or another seed group. Platforms analyze the characteristics and behaviors of the seed list and find similar users, letting advertisers expand reach to likely prospects. Larger, higher-quality seed audiences generally produce better-performing lookalikes.