> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.permutive.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Building Audiences

> Combine cohorts with boolean logic to build targeted audiences within plans

## Overview

Audiences are combinations of cohorts connected using boolean logic to define target users for campaign targeting. Within a plan, you can build audiences that combine up to 15 cohorts across 3 groups, with real-time metrics showing unique users and pageviews as you build.

This guide covers how to find relevant cohorts, combine them using boolean logic, and optimize audience reach.

## Creating a New Audience

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open your plan">
    Navigate to **Planning** and select the plan where you want to create an audience.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Create Audience">
    Click **Create a new audience** to open the audience builder.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find cohorts">
    Use one of the cohort discovery methods (see below) to find relevant cohorts for your campaign.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add cohorts to the audience">
    Click the **+** button next to a cohort or use the **Add cohort** button on recommendation cards to add cohorts to your audience.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure boolean logic">
    Adjust the boolean logic (ANY, ALL, NONE) within groups and between groups to define your targeting criteria.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review metrics">
    Check the real-time Unique Users and Pageviews estimates to ensure your audience meets campaign requirements.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name and save">
    Give your audience a descriptive name (usually reflecting the targeting requirements from the brief) and save it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Finding Cohorts

There are four ways to discover cohorts when building an audience:

### Recommendations Tab (AI Required)

The Recommendations tab shows AI-powered suggestions for cohorts likely to be relevant based on:

* The advertiser and plan information you provided
* Likely targeting criteria for the advertiser
* Trending cohorts with recent user growth

<Note>Recommendations require AI products to be enabled for your workspace.</Note>

### AI Search (AI Required)

Use natural language to describe the audience you're trying to build. AI Search finds relevant and adjacent cohorts even if you don't know your exact taxonomy or cohort naming conventions.

Example searches:

* "Users interested in luxury automobiles"
* "Health and fitness enthusiasts"
* "Parents with young children"

<Note>AI Search requires AI products to be enabled for your workspace.</Note>

### Cohort Library

The Cohort Library provides a complete list of all your cohorts with:

* **Search**: Find cohorts by name
* **Filter by tags**: Filter cohorts by taxonomy tags
* **Filter by type**: Filter by cohort type (e.g., behavioral, contextual)

Use the Cohort Library when you know the specific cohorts you want or need to browse your full taxonomy.

### Affinities Tab

The Affinities tab helps you expand reach by finding cohorts that overlap with or index highly to a seed cohort.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select a seed cohort">
    Choose a cohort from the dropdown that most closely matches your targeting requirement.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review related cohorts">
    See all cohorts ranked by overlap or index with your seed cohort.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add high-affinity cohorts">
    Add cohorts with high overlap or index to expand your audience while maintaining relevance.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Boolean Logic

### Within Groups

Each cohort group can use one of three operators:

| Operator | Logic | Description                                               |
| :------- | :---- | :-------------------------------------------------------- |
| ANY      | OR    | Users must be in at least one of the cohorts in the group |
| ALL      | AND   | Users must be in all of the cohorts in the group          |
| NONE     | NAND  | Users must not be in any of the cohorts in the group      |

<Note>NONE logic is only available for groups after the first group. The first group cannot use NONE logic.</Note>

### Between Groups

Groups are combined using:

* **OR**: Users meeting criteria of either group
* **AND**: Users meeting criteria of both groups

Logic is evaluated from the top group to the bottom group.

### Example Combinations

**Targeting car enthusiasts who are also in-market:**

* Group 1 (ANY): Auto Enthusiasts, Car Reviews Readers
* AND
* Group 2 (ALL): In-Market Auto Buyers

**Targeting parents, excluding certain demographics:**

* Group 1 (ANY): Parents with Kids 0-5, Parents with Kids 6-12
* AND
* Group 2 (NONE): Students, College Age

## Managing Cohorts in the Audience Builder

### Limits

* **Maximum 3 groups** per audience
* **Maximum 5 cohorts** per group
* **Maximum 15 cohorts** total per audience

### Reorganizing Cohorts

Cohorts added from the Search or Affinities tabs are automatically added to the latest group. To move cohorts between groups:

1. Click and hold on the cohort you want to move
2. Drag it to the desired group
3. Release to drop the cohort in its new position

## Real-time Metrics

As you build your audience, the following metrics update in real-time:

| Metric            | Description                                                           |
| :---------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Est. Unique Users | Estimated distinct users meeting the audience criteria (last 30 days) |
| Est. Pageviews    | Estimated pageviews from audience users (last 30 days)                |

Metrics are shown for:

* Each individual group
* The total audience

<Tip>Use these real-time metrics to assess whether your audience has sufficient scale for the campaign requirements before saving.</Tip>

## Using the Analyze Tab

The Analyze tab provides visualizations to understand audience composition:

### Browser Breakdown

Shows the percentage of audience unique users across different browsers compared to your total user base. Identify browsers where the audience is over or under-represented.

### Domain Breakdown

Shows the percentage of audience unique users across domains compared to your total user base. Useful for understanding where your audience is most active.

### Cohort Uniqueness

Shows how each cohort contributes to the overall audience:

* **Pink bar**: Users unique to that cohort (not in other cohorts)
* **Grey bar**: Users also included in other cohorts in the audience

Use this to identify which cohorts provide the most incremental reach.

<Note>When using ALL (AND) logic, the Cohort Uniqueness chart won't show incremental users since users must be in all cohorts to qualify.</Note>

## Viewing Targeting Logic

After building your audience, access the targeting logic panel to see:

* **Cohorts List**: Full cohort names with their cohort IDs
* **Boolean Expression**: Standard representation of your audience logic
* **GAM Expression**: Copy-ready expression for Google Ad Manager line items (GAM 360 only)

Use these expressions when activating the audience in your ad server.

## Best Practices

**Start broad, then refine** — Begin with ANY (OR) logic to maximize reach, then add groups with AND logic to narrow the audience if needed.

**Use the Analyze tab** — Check the Cohort Uniqueness visualization to understand which cohorts add incremental reach vs. overlap with existing cohorts.

**Name audiences descriptively** — Use the targeting requirements from the brief as the audience name for easy reference.

**Consider both reach and relevance** — Balance audience size with targeting precision. An audience that's too narrow may not deliver sufficient scale.

## What's Next

After building an audience, explore Plan Insights to analyze your audience in detail:

<Card title="Using Plan Insights" href="/guides/planning/using-plan-insights" icon="chart-mixed">
  Analyze audience reach, overlap, and composition with Plan Insights
</Card>