A Target Profile tells Lusha's recommendation engine who your ideal customers are. Once saved, it runs continuously in the background and shapes the contacts and companies surfaced in your recommendation lists. You can create up to 10 Target Profiles per user.
Before You Start
You need a Lusha account on any plan (Free, Pro, Premium, or Scale).
To use CRM-based exclusions, your account Admin must first connect and consent to a CRM integration in ICP Hub. See ICP Hub: How AI Recommendations Work for details.
Step 1: Open ICP Hub
Log in to your Lusha account.
Open the Profile dropdown at the top right and select ICP Hub.
Click + New ICP or, if this is your first time, follow the onboarding prompt to define your first profile.
💡 Note: If you haven't set up an ICP yet, you'll already have a feed on your Home page — labeled "Lusha generated" — based on your account history. Creating a Target Profile replaces this with a scored feed tailored to your actual targets.
Step 2: Name Your Target Profile
Enter a name for this profile in the Profile Name field.
Choose a name that reflects the segment you're targeting — for example, "Mid-Market SaaS – VP Sales" or "Enterprise EMEA".
Step 3: Set Your Account Criteria
Account Criteria define the types of companies you want to reach.
Under Inclusion Rules → Account Criteria, add the filters that describe your target accounts.
Supported filters include:
HQ company location
Industry and sub-industry
Specialties and keywords
Employee headcount
Revenue
Technology used
For each filter, set the Preference to either Must Include (strict filter) or Preferred (ranking booster).
💡 Note: Filters like HQ location, industry, and headcount default to Must Include. Filters like specialties, revenue, and technology default to Preferred. You can change these at any time.
Step 4: Set Your Persona Criteria
Persona Criteria define the contacts — the specific buyers or decision-makers — within your target accounts.
Under Target Audience, define the attributes for your first persona.
Supported filters include:
Job title
Department
Seniority
Contact location
Contact details (e.g., has direct dial, has email)
2. To add a second buyer persona (e.g., both VP of Sales and Head of Marketing), click Add Persona. You can add up to 4 personas per Target Profile. Multiple personas are treated as OR logic — a contact matching any one persona is eligible.
3. Set each filter's Preference to Must Include or Preferred.
Step 5: Review Your Potential Population
As you build your Target Profile, Lusha displays the estimated number of contacts and companies that match your Must Include criteria.
If the count is rounded to 0 (below 100), your criteria are too narrow. Relax one or more Must Include filters before saving.
If the count shows in the thousands, your targeting is broad — consider tightening your criteria.
💡 Note: The preview shows a limited set of matching contacts and companies so you can verify relevance before saving.
Step 6: Configure Exclusion Rules (Optional)
Exclusion Rules prevent certain contacts or companies from appearing in your recommendations.
1. Under Exclusion Rules, choose what to exclude for contacts:
Shown contacts — exclude contacts already shown to you, to any user, or no one (default: shown by me).
Saved contacts — exclude contacts already saved (default: none).
2. Choose what to exclude for companies:
Companies with shown contacts — exclude companies where a threshold of contacts has already been revealed.
Saved companies — exclude companies already saved.
3. To exclude based on CRM records, select the CRM objects (Lead, Contact, Opportunity, Account) you want to use as exclusion criteria.
💡 Note: CRM-based exclusions are only available if your account Admin has connected a CRM and provided consent in ICP Hub. If you see a Connect CRM prompt, reach out to your admin.
Supported CRMs at launch: Salesforce, HubSpot. Coming soon: Pipedrive, Zoho, Bullhorn, and Outreach. Click Notify me on the coming-soon CRM card to join the waitlist.
To revoke a permission, go to Integrations → Manage and disable CRM-based AI recommendations.
Step 7: Add Intent Topics (Optional)
If your account has intent topics configured, you can include them in your Target Profile to boost recommendations from companies showing buying signals.
Under Intent, select the relevant intent topics for this profile.
If no intent topics are configured for your account yet, click the prompt to set them up. Intent topics act as ranking boosters — they don't exclude non-matching results.
Step 8: Save Your Target Profile
Review your configuration.
Click Save.
Once saved, your Target Profile is active. Lusha's recommendation engine will begin using it to generate and refresh your recommendation lists.
💡 Note: Check your Home page the following day to see your updated feed. The Signals column shows you exactly why each lead surfaced based on your new profile.
Managing Your Target Profiles
From the ICP Hub, you can manage all your Target Profiles:
Edit — modify any aspect of an existing profile.
Duplicate — copy a profile to use as a starting point for a new segment. The copy is saved with the same name plus "copy".
Deactivate — temporarily pause a profile. Deactivated profiles don't generate recommendations but can be reactivated later.
Delete — permanently remove a profile. You'll be asked to confirm if the profile is linked to any active configuration.
💡 Note: Admins can share their Target Profiles with all users in the account. Shared profiles appear as read-only for non-admin users, but can be selected and used. Non-admins can create their own profiles and disable the shared profile if they want.
You're all set! Your Target Profile is now live and guiding your AI recommendations. Check your recommendation lists within 24 hours to see your results.