Exa similar-companies API (lookalikes), independently benchmarked
Exa's similar-companies — or "lookalike" — API finds companies that resemble a seed account using neural company search from a seed-anchored capability query. Here is how it actually scored on the independent Openbenchmarks lookalike benchmark, and the Exa alternatives.
How Exa scored
Same B2B seed companies as every other vendor; a three-model LLM judge panel scores each returned company for relevance. See the full methodology and matrix →
| Metric | Exa | Standing |
|---|---|---|
| Precision@10 (top-of-list quality) | 80.8% | #3 of 9 |
| Precision@100 (long-list quality, headline) | 48.6% | #5 of 6 |
| Relevant companies returned | 2,331 | #5 of 9 |
How Exa finds similar companies
Exa surfaces lookalikes via neural company search from a seed-anchored capability query. On this benchmark every vendor receives the same compact input (company name + domain + a one-line description), which matches how an AI agent would query it.
Using Exa from an agent
How an agent runs a lookalike / company search on Exa — the access model (does the agent get in on its own, or does a human?), the exact call, and the credits.
POST api.exa.ai/search · category: companykeyExa alternatives, benchmarked head-to-head
Every alternative below is scored on the same seeds with the same judge — so you can compare relevance directly instead of trusting vendor claims.
| Alternative | How it works | Precision@100 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean.io | AI-driven lookalike search across a global company graph | 59.5% | Exa vs Ocean.io → |
| Parallel | agentic entity search from the same seed-anchored query as Exa | 56.9% | Exa vs Parallel → |
| Seltz | companies-scope search from a vendor-submitted natural-language query | 63.4% | compare → |
| PredictLeads | similar companies via shared tech / news / jobs co-signals | — | Exa vs PredictLeads → |
| Extruct | domain-based similar-company ranking from a company index | 61.1% | compare → |
| CUFinder | company lookalike finder using a name, domain, or LinkedIn URL | — | compare → |
| Discolike | domain lookalike discovery over BizData company profiles | 34.6% | compare → |
| ZoomInfo | similar-companies lookup over the ZoomInfo company graph | — | compare → |
Exa scores 48.6% Precision@100 on the current cohort. See all vendors on the full benchmark →