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 using a seed name and description. 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; an LLM judge scores each returned company for relevance. See the full methodology and matrix →
| Metric | Exa | Standing |
|---|---|---|
| Precision@10 (top-of-list quality) | 95.0% | #2 of 7 |
| Precision@25 | 80.8% | #1 of 6 |
| Precision@100 (long-list quality, headline) | 52.4% | #4 of 5 |
| Relevant companies returned | 2,515 | #4 of 7 |
How Exa finds similar companies
Exa surfaces lookalikes via neural company search using a seed name and description. 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: companykey · free tierExa 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 | 56.5% | Exa vs Ocean.io → |
| Parallel | agentic web research with natural-language lookalike prompts | 67.5% | Exa vs Parallel → |
| PredictLeads | similar companies via shared tech / news / jobs co-signals | — | Exa vs PredictLeads → |
| Extruct | domain-based similar-company ranking from a company index | 61.2% | compare → |
| CUFinder | company lookalike finder using a name, domain, or LinkedIn URL | — | compare → |
| Discolike | domain lookalike discovery over BizData company profiles | 35.2% | compare → |
Exa scores 52.4% Precision@100 on the current cohort. See all vendors on the full benchmark → · What is a company lookalike API? →